What is ISO/IEC 25059?
ISO/IEC 25059 is the SQuaRE quality model for AI systems. It extends the general product quality and quality-in-use models with AI-specific characteristics: user controllability, functional adaptability, functional correctness, robustness, transparency and intervenability. It is a model for specifying, measuring and evaluating quality, not a certification standard.
The short answer
ISO/IEC 25059 is an International Standard from ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 42 that defines a quality model for AI systems. It is an application-specific extension to the SQuaRE series: it adds and modifies sub-characteristics where AI behaviour demands it, and inherits the rest from the general product and quality-in-use models.
What it contains
The published edition has a scope, a short set of terms, a product quality model and a quality-in-use model. The product model adds user controllability, functional adaptability and robustness, amends functional correctness, and places transparency and intervenability in the model. The quality-in-use model adds societal and ethical risk mitigation and transparency.
What it is not
It is not a management system standard, not a certification scheme and not a regulation. There is no audit a body can pass. The value is a common vocabulary and a completeness check against which a stated quality requirement set can be compared.
Why it matters now
The second edition is at FDIS and will replace the published edition. It aligns the model to the 2023 base standards and adds a service quality model and environmental sustainability. The revision record states what is confirmed and what is not.
Where to go next
- Run the free readiness check on your own requirement set.
- Read the model element the answer rests on.
- See the kit and the watch.