EVALUATION OF THE QUALITY OF EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY

INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS FOR SOFTWARE QUALITY

BY:

YOBELY ABRIL SANCHEZ

TEACHER:

JAVIER MEDINA CRUZ

CONSULTING TEACHER

UNIVERSITY OF SANTANDER
VIRTUAL PROGRAM
MASTER IN EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT
BOGOTA
2015
 INTRODUCTION

There are more and more consumer demands in an accelerated, technological and
changing environment, which seeks to minimize the time and resources to carry
out any task, since achieving higher standards at a competitive level is the
fundamental vision of every company or institution. Reason Therefore, successful
companies are increasingly identified with standardizing their goals in terms of
efficiency and effectiveness in the quality of their products and services.
Modern management is very committed to responding to the demands of the
environment, which is increasingly more dynamic and more demanding in terms of
quality.
In an attempt to compete effectively, software companies find themselves in the
need to improve their products and services offered, both in their completion and in
their development.
Quality management is the set of activities to direct and control an organization
and/or project in relation to quality and part of this is quality assurance, which
seeks to provide confidence that quality requirements will be met. In software,
according to Fuggeta (2000) “quality depends on the people, the organization and
the procedures to obtain it .”
Software quality can be observed in a characteristic or attribute. As an attribute,
quality refers to characteristics that can be compared to standards, such as length,
color, electrical properties, and malleability, in any product. However, software,
which is an intellectual entity, has the complexity of characterizing physical objects.
However, there are measurements that allow us to evaluate the characteristics of a
program. These properties include psychosomatic complexity, number of function
points, lines of code, among others. In software development, design quality
includes requirements, specifications, and system design. Match quality is an issue
focused primarily on implementation. If the design and the resulting system satisfy
the requirements and performance goals, the quality of agreement is high.
Due to the above and to guarantee the quality of the software, organizations
emerge worldwide that favor its standardization or normalization. Among the most
representative are: International Standards Organization (ISO), Software
Engineering Institute (SEI), International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC),
International Telecommunications Union (ITU), American National Standards
Institute (ANSI), British Standard Institution (BS ), Association Française de
Normalization (AFNOR), Spanish Association for Standardization and Certification
(AENOR), Mercosur Association for Standardization (AMN), Asia Pacific Economic
Cooperation (APEC), Pan-American Commission for Technical Standards
(COPANT), European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC),
European Committee for Standardization (CEN) and the Colombian Institute of
Technical Standards and Certification (Icontec), an entity that manages quality
aspects in Colombia, which has recently taken on an important projection at the
regional level.
1. ISO International Organization for Standardization
The ISO is in charge of promoting standardization in the world. Established in
1947, it operates as a network of standards associations spanning more than 140
countries, working in collaboration with governments, businesses and user
organizations. The headquarters are located in Geneva, Switzerland, but it has
delegated offices in different countries; Only one organization can be a member of
each country.
For the evaluation of software quality, ISO has formulated the standards
ISO/IEC 9126, ISO/IEC 14598, ISO/IEC 25000 and ISO/IEC 15504:
 The ISO 9126 standard: Initially formulated in 1991, it establishes a quality
model and its use as a framework for software evaluation. The purpose of
 this standard is to propose a quality model that serves as a central element
in an evaluation process. This standard distinguishes between internal
quality and external quality, and also introduces the concept of quality in
use. The original version of this standard was replaced in 2001 by two
related standards: ISO/IEC 9126 for software quality and ISO/IEC 14598 for
the evaluation of software products.
ISO/IEC 9126 ISO/IEC 14598
Establishes a framework for This standard defines a series of
evaluating the quality of software stages that must be carried out in the
products software evaluation process.

Provides metrics and requirements This standard is made up of 5 parts:

for their evaluation processes. ISO/IEC 14598-1
ISO/IEC 14598-2
ISO/IEC 14598-3
ISO/IEC 14598-4
ISO/IEC 14598-5
provides the guidelines to carry out ISO/IEC 14598-1: Overview, ISO/IEC
the evaluation process taking into 14598-2: Management and Planning.
consideration the possible actors ISO/IEC 14598-3: Process for
that may be present, such as developers.
developers, evaluators, or buyers. ISO/IEC 14598-4: Process for buyers.
ISO/IEC 14598-5: Process for
evaluators.

 The ISO/IEC 25000 standard , known as SQuaRE (System and

Software Quality Requirements and Evaluation) , has the purpose of
guiding the development of software products with the specification and
evaluation of quality requirements. It can be understood as the second
generation of standards. quality assessment.
SQUARE is basically a revision of the ISO 9126-1 standard that inherits its
characteristics, but focuses more on the software product side,
contemplating three main phases in its life cycle:
2. Product under development.
3. Product in operation and
4. Product in use.

The ISO/IEC 25000 family of standards is made up of five divisions.

ISO/IEC 15504 or SPICE is an international standard that allows
evaluating the capacity and maturity of an organization's software
processes. The processes evaluated with this standard are included in the
 ISO/IEC 12207 standard. This standard contains a set of processes that
cover the complete cycle of a software project, from the definition of a
project to its delivery and closure.

2. CMMI (Integrated Capability Maturity Model) as an evolution of CMM, is

a model focused on the SEI software process for process improvement,
whose purpose is to evaluate the maturity of an organization's processes
and provide guidance regarding how to improve processes that will lead to
better products, provides organizations with the essential elements for
software development and maintenance processes and classifies
companies into maturity levels. The model approach allows us to evolve
from a process in crisis to a controlled, standardized, measured and
optimized process that lays the foundations for continuous improvement
and allows the organization to adopt new practices on a stable and
controlled process.

3. The American National Standards Institute ( ANSI ) is a nonprofit

organization that oversees the development of standards for products,
services, processes, and systems in the United States. ANSI is a member
of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the
International Electrotechnical Commission ( IEC ). The organization also
coordinates US standards with international standards, so that US
products can be used around the world. For example, the standards
ensure that the manufacture of everyday objects, such as cameras, is
carried out in such a way that these objects can use accessories
manufactured anywhere in the world by companies other than the original
manufacturer. In this way, and continuing with the example of the camera,
people can buy film for it regardless of the country where they are located
and the supplier.

4. The British Standards Institution , whose acronym corresponds to BSI ,

is a multinational whose purpose is based on the creation of standards for
the standardization of processes. BSI is an ISO collaborating body and
provider of these standards, notably ISO 9001 , ISO 14001 and ISO 27001
. Its main activities include certification, auditing and training in standards

There are many national and regional standardization organizations, but

the three international organizations that have the most international
recognition are the Organization ( ISO ), the International Electrotechnical
Commission ( IEC ), and the International Telecommunications Union ( ITU
 ). All three have been around for over 50 years (founded in 1947, 1906,
and 1865, respectively) and are all based in Geneva , Switzerland . They
have established tens of thousands of standards covering almost every
conceivable topic.
5. The ITU is the specialized agency of the United Nations for Information
and Communication Technologies – ICT. They allocate radio spectrum and
satellite orbits on a global scale, develop technical standards that ensure
the continuous interconnection of networks and technologies, and strive to
improve access to ICTs for underserved communities around the world.
ITU is committed to connecting the entire world's population wherever they
live and whatever means they have at their disposal. Through our work, we
protect and support everyone's fundamental right to communicate.

6. The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), better known by

its acronym in English: IEC ( International Electrotechnical Commission ),
is a standardization organization in the fields: electrical, electronic and
related technologies.
The IEC is made up of the national standardization organizations, in the
indicated areas, of the member countries. In 2003, more than 60 member
countries belonged to the CIS. In 2015, there are 83 members, each
representing a country: there are 60 “Full Members” and 23 “Associate
Members”.
Founded in 1906, the IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) is
the world's leading organization for the development and publication of
International Standards for all electrical, electronic and related
technologies. These are collectively known as "electrotechnics."
7. AMN: Mercosur Association for Standardization : It is a non-profit,
non-governmental civil association, recognized by the GMC Common
Market Group. It is the only body responsible for the management of
voluntary standardization within Mercosur.
The purpose of the AMN is to promote the development of technical
standardization, as well as the technological improvement of the quality
of products and services manufactured and marketed in the
MERCOSUR countries.
8. APEC, Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation : It is a governmental
cooperation mechanism. One of its peculiarities is its informality and the
high level of those who define long-term policies. APEC operates based
on consensus. Members conduct their activities and work programs
based on open dialogue and equality and respect for the points of view
of all participants. It was established in Canberra, Australia, in November
1989, during a Meeting of Trade and Foreign Ministers of Australia,
Brunei, Canada, South Korea, the Philippines, Indonesia, Japan,
Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore and the United States. This meeting
constituted the I APEC Ministerial Meeting.

9. COPANT Pan American Technical Standards Commission is a non-

profit civil association that operates with full autonomy and without a
term term. It brings together the National Standardization Organizations (
NSO ) of the Americas that currently have 34 active members and 10
adherent members. It is the reference for technical standardization and
evaluation of the countries of the Americas and their international peers.

10. CENELEC is a non-profit technical organization created by Belgian law.

CENELEC is the European Committee for Electrotechnical
Standardization and is responsible for standardization in the field of
electrotechnical engineering. CENELEC develops voluntary standards,
which help facilitate trade between countries, create new markets,
reduce compliance costs and support the development of a single
European market.

CENELEC acts as an expert platform to develop European Standards

(EN), which facilitate global trade by removing barriers to trade, fostering
economic growth and leading to new markets.

11. The European Committee for Standardization (CEN), in French

Comité Européen de Normalisation , is a private non-profit organization
whose mission is to promote the European economy in global business,
the well-being of European citizens and the environment by providing
efficient infrastructure to the parties. stakeholders for the development,
maintenance and distribution of consistent standard systems and
specifications.
CEN was founded in 1961. Its thirty-three national members (2015) work
together to develop European Standards ( EN ) in various sectors to
improve the environment of the European single market for goods and
 services and to place Europe in the global economy. More than 60,000
technical experts as well as business federations, consumers and other
interested social organizations are involved in the CEN network that
reaches over 460 million people. CEN is the officially recognized
representative of standardization for the sectors except electrotechnical
(CENELEC) and telecommunications (ETSI).
At the Colombian level, the one who governs the norms and quality
standards is Icontec
12. ICONTEC Colombian Institute of Technical Standards and
Certification. is a private, non-profit, multinational organization that
works to promote standardization, certification, metrology and quality
management in Colombia. In the field of standardization, the Institute's
mission is to promote, develop and guide the application of Colombian
Technical Standards (NTC) and other regulatory documents, in order to
achieve optimal overall economy, quality improvement and also facilitate
client-supplier relationships, in the national or international business
environment.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Chapter I. Quality and International Standards. University of Santander. Retrieved from:

http://aulavirtual.eaie.cvudes.edu.co/publico/lems/L.000.008.MG/Documentos/cap1/
Capitulo_Completo.pdf

Rojas, S., & Borja, J. (1999). Software Quality: path towards a true software industry. Magazine of the
School of Business Administration, 38, 38-57 Consulted on: April 6, 2013. Taken from:
http://aulavirtual.eaie.cvudes.edu.co/publico/lems/L.000.008.MG/Documentos /Annexes/Cap1/1.pdf

Icontec. http://www.icontec.org/index.php/en/