Overview
ISO/TR 13519:2012 - "Guidance on the development and use of ISO statistical publications supported by software" - provides practical guidance for developing and using ISO publications that rely on software for numerical and statistical calculations. Produced by ISO/TC 69 (Application of statistical methods), the Technical Report addresses software specification, traceability of data products, software support categories, and software performance (including the use of reference data sets for testing). The report includes illustrative examples and refers to established practices for expressing numerical accuracy and data provenance.
Key topics and technical requirements
- Traceability of data products
- Record source data and all data transformations so figures, tables and numerical results are reproducible.
- Include explicit reference to software used to generate data products (data provenance).
- Specification of software
- Describe software inputs, outputs, mapping from inputs to outputs, intermediate values, and numerical performance requirements.
- Relate software variables and computations directly to clauses or formulas in the ISO publication.
- Categories of software support
- Defined support levels 0–5, from no support (0) to fully specified algorithms for independent implementation (5). Examples include third‑party general-purpose tools, stand‑alone companion software, sample code, or algorithm descriptions.
- Software quality and performance
- Require stable numerical methods, defined domains of applicability, and guidance on numerical accuracy and rounding (referencing appropriate ISO rounding rules).
- Use reference data and reference results to validate implementations and assess unit roundoff or floating-point behaviour (IEEE 754 considerations).
- Maintenance and legal implications
- Address software maintenance expectations and note potential intellectual property or licensing matters related to software distributed with ISO publications.
- Illustrative examples
- Practical examples (e.g., ISO 13528 and ISO/TS 28037) demonstrate how to link algorithms, code, and published data products.
Practical applications and who uses it
ISO/TR 13519:2012 is useful for:
- ISO technical committees and standards authors drafting statistical or numerically intensive standards.
- Software developers implementing standards‑based statistical methods.
- Quality managers, metrologists, and laboratories ensuring reproducible published results.
- Vendors providing companion software or reference implementations for standards.
- Reviewers and auditors assessing traceability, numerical accuracy and test coverage.
Benefits include improved reproducibility, clearer software requirements in standards, and more reliable validation through reference data sets.
Related standards
- ISO 13528 (statistical methods for proficiency testing)
- ISO/TS 28037 (calibration functions example)
- ISO 19115 (data metadata/traceability)
- ISO 80000‑1 (rounding rules)
- IEEE 754 (floating‑point arithmetic considerations)
Keywords: ISO/TR 13519:2012, ISO statistical publications, software specification, data traceability, reference data sets, numerical accuracy, ISO/TC 69.