Standardisation landscape analyses tool (CSA)

Expected Outcome:

• Provide an information tool on the standardisation landscape accessible for all actors of the R&I ecosystem which includes a search instrument for standardisation deliverables at national, European and international level;
• Improve valorisation mechanisms for ensuring the market relevance and scalability of R&I results.

Scope:

Standards play a pivotal strategic role, serving as the silent foundation of our Single Market, ensuring a high-level of safety, functionality and inter-operability for EU products. They guarantee adherence to policy and legal objectives. At the same time, standards can facilitate access to global markets when they are state-of-the-art and developed within international organisations. This underscores the significant role of standards on the EU policy agenda, including initiatives such as the European Green Deal, Digital Decade, New Industrial Strategy for Europe, the Commission’s EU standardisation strategy^[1], and the Communication European Economic Security Strategy^[2]. Future Commission actions – whether it is the implementation of legal frameworks, like the AI and Data Act or the roll-out of the Commission Recommendation on critical technology areas for the EU’s economic security – will depend on standards.

To support the valorisation of research and innovation results, it is essential to ensure that investments in R&I fully leverage the substantial benefits of standardisation for policy and legal objectives. In line with the Commission Recommendation on a Code of Practice on standardisation^[3], structured information on the existing standardisation landscape should be accessible for R&I actors. This is crucial as available information is fragmented, standardisation processes are often uncoordinated, and financial impacts are insufficiently understood.

Furthermore, the diverse array of standard development organisations contributes to a varied landscape, each with distinct procedures, priorities, and stakeholders. This decentralised approach often results in duplicated efforts, and difficulties in navigating the plethora of available standards. Moreover, the absence of a centralised database or repository makes it challenging for researchers to access relevant standards efficiently, hindering their ability to incorporate standardisation into their research and innovation endeavours effectively.

The overarching objective of the action is to develop a landscape analyses tool supporting all actors in the R&I ecosystem in identifying relevant existing standards. This will enable R&I actors to consider the existing standards landscape as a key state-of-the-art input when planning their R&I project activities, thereby avoiding reinventing the wheel. The tool to be developed shall include mechanisms to keep the standards up-to-date automatically as far as possible. In addition, state of the art standards give new impetus for technological developments and help R&I actors comply with existing regulatory frameworks. Efforts should be made to develop standards that align with international and European standards, as well as with industrial and commerce consortia, to reduce the number of standards and have a broader acceptance.

In order to develop such a comprehensive open-access information tool effectively benefitting a variety of R&I actors, the project should be carried out by experts representing different stakeholders covering industry, academia and standard development organisations.

[1] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A52022DC0031

[2] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A52023JC0020…

[3] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32023H0498&…