The special characteristics of natural languages and the commonly accepted rules for their use (especially in written form) which are particular to a society or geographic area. Examples are: national characters and associated elements (such as hyphens, dashes, and punctuation marks), correct transformation of characters, dates and measures, sorting and searching rules, coding of national entities (such as country and currency codes), presentation of telephone numbers, and keyboard layouts.
The requirement for JTC 1 standards to enhance and ensure Interoperability is consistent with the approved JTC 1 Policy on Interoperability.
These characteristics are from the attributes identified in ISO/IEC JTC 1 GII N 123, ISO/IEC JTC 1 GII Roadmap: Guidelines for Evolution, Management and Development of GII Standards. While all the attributes in this document are important and should be taken into account as appropriate, we believe Interoperability, Portability and Cultural Adaptability are critical to the success of JTC 1 standards.
The applicability of these three requirements will vary across the technology directions. Work in each of the technology directions must properly take in account these requirements.