How can standards contribute to today's needs of buyers and providers of translation?

Standards provide harmonization insofar as they are agreed means of doing something. They define requirements for offering a service, specifications for data exchange, compatibility conditions, security measures, or process qualifications. Standards deal, then, with numerous activities where organizations and customers are involved. The translation and localization industry is also guided by standards, set by experts representing sellers, buyers, customers, associations, users or regulators. This special issue of Tradumatica, co-edited by Willem Stoeller and Celia Rico, gathers contributions from some of these experts, addressing standards in translation and localization both from an academic perspective and the industry point of view.