Expert Talks 2022
Austrian Standards recently welcomed around 80 high-calibre experts to a series of exciting talks to shed light on various aspects and implications of the new EU standardisation strategy.
In her keynote speech, Sophie Müller, Head of Unit, Standards Policy, DG GROW European Commission, provided insight into how the new standardisation strategy has come about and how China has contributed to it.
One clear finding is that standards have a key role to play in Austria and Europe remaining competitive and future-proofed in an international context.
There is still some work to be done in order for Austria and Europe to remain competitive and future-proofed in an international context and standards have a key role to play here.
There was agreement on the following findings
Standards – the (still) unknown entity
Standards are a part of our daily life, but many people are unaware of their importance. There needs to be greater understanding of standards and the benefits of standardisation.
Standardisation is a matter for the boss
The current single market would cease to function without standardisation. Standardisation therefore increasingly needs to be tackled at the management level, as decisions regarding participation are made there. Even in the European Parliament, there are barely any representatives who are familiar with standardisation. This understanding has been neglected at the political level over the last few years and more focus should now be placed on communicating this issue effectively.
The race against time
Existing problems have to be remedied swiftly, including the time until a new standard is published. When significant investment decisions are being taken, the necessary standardisation should be taken into account from the outset – it is too late once projects are complete.
Digitalisation and legislation
When comparing the new European standardisation strategy with the Austrian one, Austria is well positioned in the traditional area, but lags behind when it comes to new technologies. Digitalisation is particularly impacted here, which is why AI is a big and important issue for the future.
There are intense discussions surrounding Internet protocols, surveillance and democratic values. Even the best legislation will be rendered useless if the technical implementation does not work properly. Data handling must be worked out in the standardisation.
China on the way to the top
The Chinese standardisation strategy was presented by the Premier and has top political priority. China's intention is to become the global leader in international standardisation. China is already involved at the forefront of the new standardisation suggestions.
While the German Institute for Standardization (DIN) is currently still in first place, China has worked its way up from 6 to 75 secretariats at the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in just a few years. There aren't enough experts to keep up with this in Europe.
Wanted: experts for the future
If there is no new blood when it comes to experts in standardisation, Austria – as well as Europe – will fall behind. A method of counteracting this is to embed it in training. The provision of resources and expertise presents a big challenge.
Further information on the EU standardisation strategy:
