November 2025 Information Technology Standards: Key Updates in Health Informatics, BIM, Cryptography, and More

The Information Technology sector continues to move at a lightning pace, and international standards play a critical role in ensuring interoperability, security, and quality across an ever-expanding landscape. November 2025 marks the publication of five essential standards across domains including health informatics, building information modeling, keyboard interfaces, secure financial transactions, and immersive media. For professionals in IT, healthcare, engineering, and financial services, these updates provide both opportunities and compliance challenges. In this article, we’ll break down each standard, explain their technical impact, and outline how your organization can benefit from proactive adoption.

Overview

The Information Technology and Office Equipment sector is experiencing rapid transformation, powered by the development and continual revision of international standards. These frameworks underpin product development, software integration, security protocols, documentation practices, and ensure that processes across the globe align with best practices. Standards like those released this November represent the consensus of industry experts and offer immense value for:

• Ensuring compatibility and interoperability between systems and devices
• Improving information sharing in multidisciplinary and multinational projects
• Safeguarding data and digital assets with state-of-the-art cryptography
• Supporting regulatory and market requirements

In this article, you’ll find detailed insights into each of the five newly published standards, key takeaways for industry professionals, and practical recommendations for compliance and adoption.

Detailed Standards Coverage

ISO 16843-1:2025 - Health Informatics: Categorial Structures for Representation of Acupuncture Points

Health informatics - Categorial structures for representation of acupuncture - Part 1: Acupuncture points

In an increasingly data-driven healthcare environment, consistent representation of traditional medicine concepts like acupuncture is essential for integration into modern informatics systems. ISO 16843-1:2025 addresses this need by defining a categorial structure for acupuncture points, harmonizing disparate terminologies across medical traditions such as Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), Ayurveda, and more.

Key requirements include:

• Domain constraints for sanctioned characteristics of acupuncture points (e.g., location, stimulation type, anatomical landmarks)
• Use of semantic links (e.g., “identifies,” “locates,” “is_located_at”) for mapping
• Distinction between named and anonymous points, anatomical features, and measuring systems
• Harmonization of terminology to facilitate meta-analysis, knowledge acquisition, and data exchange

This standard is vital for:

• EHR and health informatics system vendors needing to support acupuncture data
• Healthcare organizations integrating traditional medicine records
• Researchers conducting meta-analyses of acupuncture outcomes
• Public health authorities collecting and comparing international data

Noteworthy revision: The 2025 edition streamlines categorial diagrams to ensure consistency with related standards and removes or simplifies ambiguous categories previously included.

Key highlights:

• Clear structure for representing complex acupuncture concepts
• Enhanced support for mapping and semantic interoperability
• Enables international harmonization in health informatics and clinical data exchange

Access the full standard:View ISO 16843-1:2025 on iTeh Standards

ISO 29481-1:2025 - Building Information Models: Information Delivery Manual – Methodology and Format

Building information models - Information delivery manual - Part 1: Methodology and format

Effective collaboration in construction and infrastructure projects hinges on clear, reliable information exchanges. ISO 29481-1:2025 introduces a robust methodology for developing and documenting use cases, business contexts, and information exchanges through an Information Delivery Manual (IDM). This framework is designed to:

• Set out the requirements and format for IDM documentation
• Identify and specify information exchanges needed during asset lifecycles (from design through operation)
• Promote interoperability among a diversity of software tools and platforms used for Buildings and Infrastructure Asset Management

Organizations responsible for large-scale construction, facility management, or digital twin solutions will benefit from the clarity and alignment provided by this standard. Key sectors include:

• Architecture, engineering, and construction firms
• Asset owners and operators
• Digital solution providers developing BIM and infrastructure management tools
• Regulatory bodies enforcing information management requirements

Notable changes include expanded coverage for infrastructure assets (not just buildings) and alignment with related standards such as ISO 19650 and ISO 21597. The standard also simplifies annexes and strengthens guidance for national and local adaptation.

Key highlights:

• Unified methodology for specifying interdisciplinary information exchanges
• Supports digital collaboration and quality assurance throughout asset lifecycles
• Facilitates regulatory compliance and adoption of digital best practices

Access the full standard:View ISO 29481-1:2025 on iTeh Standards

ISO/IEC 9995-10:2025 - Keyboard Layouts: Conventional Symbols for Graphic Characters

Information technology - Keyboard layouts for text and office systems - Part 10: Conventional symbols and methods to represent graphic characters not uniquely recognizable by their glyph on keyboards and in documentation

With the rise of globalized software development and cross-platform products, standardized keyboard labeling is crucial for usability and documentation. ISO/IEC 9995-10:2025 specifies universal symbols and methods to uniquely represent graphic characters—such as dashes, accents, and punctuation—that may otherwise appear ambiguous due to similar glyphs on keyboards or in technical documentation.

Key aspects include:

• A catalog of graphical symbols and explicit methods for unambiguous character representation
• Coverage of physical, software, and virtual keyboards, improving user experience and accessibility
• Application for hardware manufacturers, software developers, documentation authors, and localization teams

The 2025 version introduces new general remarks and expands symbol applicability, addressing gaps identified in previous editions.

Key highlights:

• Universal symbol set for clear keyboard and documentation labeling
• Reduces ambiguity in globalized text input and software products
• Facilitates consistent user interface design and localization

Access the full standard:View ISO/IEC 9995-10:2025 on iTeh Standards

ISO/TS 14742:2025 - Financial Services: Recommendations and Requirements on Cryptographic Algorithms and Their Use

Financial services - Recommendations and requirements on cryptographic algorithms and their use

Robust cryptography is the backbone of modern financial systems, ensuring transaction integrity, privacy, and security. ISO/TS 14742:2025 delivers updated recommendations for core cryptographic algorithms, including:

• Block and stream ciphers (e.g., AES, Camellia, SM4)
• Hash functions, message authentication codes (MACs), and digital signatures
• Authenticated encryption, key derivation and agreement, key wrapping, and post-quantum algorithms

This technical specification guides:

• Banks and financial institutions deploying secure payment and authentication infrastructures
• Security solution providers
• Compliance leaders responsible for regulatory adherence

Notably, the new edition expands post-quantum algorithm consideration, lengthens key wrap coverage, and updates strategic guidance for migration and key management—helping organizations stay ahead of both regulatory and threat landscapes.

Key highlights:

• Current, fit-for-purpose crypto algorithm recommendations
• Strategic guidance on algorithm selection, migration, and retirement
• Essential for secure financial technology and regulatory compliance

Access the full standard:View ISO/TS 14742:2025 on iTeh Standards

ISO/IEC 23090-16:2025 - Coded Representation of Immersive Media: Reference Software for Versatile Video Coding

Information technology - Coded representation of immersive media - Part 16: Reference software for versatile video coding

The emergence of immersive media and next-generation video experiences demands advanced standards for encoding, decoding, and interoperability across platforms. ISO/IEC 23090-16:2025 provides authoritative reference software (encoder and decoder) supporting the H.266 | ISO/IEC 23090-3 versatile video coding specification. This resource serves:

• Developers building media processing applications
• Test labs and certification bodies validating conformance for immersive video systems
• Software integrators requiring a benchmark implementation for compatibility and demonstration

The 2025 update enhances software to include new message types, runtime optimizations, and configuration options, with demonstrable improvements in compression and flexibility.

Key highlights:

• Official reference implementation for state-of-the-art video coding
• Aid for debugging, conformance testing, and developer education
• Supports next-gen immersive and high-efficiency media applications

Access the full standard:View ISO/IEC 23090-16:2025 on iTeh Standards

Industry Impact & Compliance

For IT businesses, compliance officers, and professionals serving in highly regulated environments, adherence to the latest standards offers very real advantages:

• Improved interoperability and global market access: Embrace common language and methodologies for cross-border and cross-sector technology integration.
• Risk reduction: Minimize vulnerabilities linked to outdated cryptography, ambiguous data formats, or inconsistent information flows.
• Operational efficiency: Reduce documentation and error correction overhead with harmonized guidelines and reference software.
• Regulatory alignment: Draw on international best practices to meet or exceed sectoral legal requirements, especially in finance, health, and engineering.

Compliance considerations and timelines:

• Early adoption is encouraged, particularly when integrating new or revised standards into development lifecycles or procurement specifications.
• For sectors with heavy regulatory overlay (e.g., healthcare, finance, construction), consult with legal and compliance teams to verify transition policies and certification necessities.
• Training and documentation updates should be scheduled alongside technical implementation to ensure organization-wide readiness.

Risks of non-compliance:

• Increased cost of late-stage rework
• Technical debt and product obsolescence
• Loss of trust or market access due to incompatibility or inadequate security

Technical Insights

Across these five standards, common technical themes emerge:

• Semantics and interoperability: Whether in healthcare data exchange, construction information management, or keyboard layouts, semantics are being codified for clarity and interoperability.
• Information flow and process mapping: Methodical documentation of roles, responsibilities, and information exchanges is increasingly central, especially in construction and asset management (see ISO 29481-1:2025).
• Reference implementations: Providing source code and typical use cases (as with ISO/IEC 23090-16:2025) accelerates adoption and ensures robust conformance testing.
• Security and cryptographic resilience: Continual updates to cryptographic recommendations ensure resilience against emerging threats, and support migration planning.

Implementation best practices:

1. Begin with a gap analysis: map current processes against new standards’ requirements;
2. Update or design documentation, software, and hardware in line with provisions;
3. Engage with cross-functional teams (legal, IT, engineering);
4. Pilot new implementations in controlled environments;
5. Train stakeholders and obtain certification where needed.

Testing and certification considerations:

• Leverage reference implementations and test suites where available (especially for video coding and cryptography).
• Participate in industry or regulatory certification programs to speed market clearance.

Conclusion / Next Steps

Staying ahead in Information Technology requires ongoing alignment with the latest international standards. The five standards highlighted here—from health informatics through to immersive media—offer actionable frameworks, technical resources, and compliance assurance across a spectrum of critical domains. Organizations are encouraged to:

• Review and assess internal policies and procedures in light of these updates
• Train technical and compliance teams to understand and implement the new requirements
• Explore the full text of each standard via iTeh Standards for authoritative guidance
• Monitor forthcoming parts of this coverage for continued insight into evolving industry best practices

Explore more standards and updates at iTeh Standards and ensure your organization achieves excellence, security, and compliance in the fast-changing IT landscape.