The legacy of StandICT.eu 2026: Driving European leadership in ICT standardisation
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The EU-funded project StandICT.eu 2026 recently concluded, reinforcing Europe’s strategic presence in global ICT standardisation through 342 funded Expert Fellowships and a €2.9 million euro distributed to them.
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The project gathered a community of over 5,000 members in the ICT standardisation ecosystem, with SMEs representing the majority and playing a key role in shaping international ICT standards.
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By supporting European experts in key European and global standardisation organisations, StandICT.eu reinforced the EU’s role and technological sovereignty, ensuring that critical digital standards reflect European values, policy priorities, and industrial interests.
A flagship EU initiative shaping global standards
After three years of implementation, StandICT.eu 2026 has successfully concluded, marking another milestone in Europe’s coordinated effort to reinforce its role in international ICT standardisation. As Europe’s flagship project in this field, StandICT.eu has become the recognised “go-to” initiative for aligning standardisation activities with EU policy priorities and strengthening the EU’s position in global standard-setting fora.
Since its launch in 2018, StandICT.eu has channelled over €7 million to more than 900 European experts. The 2026 edition alone received an unprecedented 961 applications, funding 342 fellowships (35%) through a €2.9 million budget. The selection process is especially competitive, given the excellent quality of proposals received, and the very high number of applications signifies both a strong interest in standardisation as well as the need to reinforce StandICT.eu to extend its support to even more applicants. These fellowships enabled European professionals to access and maintain key leadership roles in international and European Standards Developing Organisations (SDOs), to contribute or lead key projects and to ensure that global standards are aligned with EU priorities.
In an era of geopolitical tensions, digital dependencies, and increasing competition over critical technologies, ICT standardisation is not only a technical domain, but a strategic instrument of industrial policy and technological sovereignty. Standards define interoperability frameworks, common infrastructure, legal compliance and technical requirements. Ensuring strong European participation in these efforts is essential to reduce dependency risks across the technological stack and to safeguard Europe’s competitiveness and values.
The role of standards in critical technology domains
StandICT.eu 2026 has enabled experts’ contributions that underpin the EU’s Rolling Plan for ICT Standardisation and the Multi-Stakeholder Platform (MSP) on ICT Standardisation. Primary areas are also directly linked to EU legislative initiatives such as the AI Act, Cybersecurity Act, and Data Act, demonstrating how StandICT.eu effectively supported alignment between policy and technical implementation.
Throughout StandICT.eu 2026, funded experts contributed to over 24 European and international standardisation organisations, including ISO, IEC, ITU, IEEE, IETF, W3C, ETSI, CEN-CENELEC.
In particular, 61% of funded fellowships focused on global SDOs, reinforcing Europe’s international influence. Almost half of the funded experts held leadership roles such as chair, co-chair, or convener in Working Groups or Technical Committees.
The contributions addressed key digital domains such as AI, cybersecurity, 5G/6G connectivity, internet of things, electronic identification, blockchain, quantum, data governance and interoperability.
In total, fellows delivered 243 direct contributions to new standards and 84 revisions of existing standards, while contributing to the establishment of 47 new Working Groups across emerging ICT fields. Through dedicated webinars and monitoring efforts, the project achieved measurable progress in gender representation, significantly increasing the share of funded women experts in the 2026 edition.
An ICT standardisation ecosystem with SMEs at the core
A defining feature of StandICT.eu 2026 has been its community of over 5,000 stakeholders, with SMEs representing the majority. This SME-centred approach is fully aligned with the contribution of DIGITAL SME as a key project partner, which consistently engaged its extensive network of standardisation and SME experts.
By supporting SME experts to contribute actively, often in leadership positions, StandICT.eu directly strengthened Europe’s innovation ecosystem, promoted the interests of SMEs and reinforced the EU’s strategic autonomy in digital technologies.
Knowledge creation, ecosystem-support and SME onboarding
Beyond financial support, StandICT.eu 2026 has reinforced its support to the ecosystem through several initiatives, including:
- Through the EUOS Observatory, the project mapped and curated 2,040 selected ICT standards, supported by the work of Technical Working Groups (TWGs). Across the editions, 10 TWG landscape reports were produced, including five during the final reporting period, covering topics such as Digital Twins in Data Spaces, Robotics, Semiconductor and Chips Technologies, IoT, and Edge Computing.
- The StandICT Academy further strengthened capacity-building by offering structured training materials, webinars on geopolitical dimensions of standardisation, and practical guidance for experts engaging in international fora.
- The Mentorship Programme, led by DIGITAL SME, was piloted under the 2026 edition, aimed at supporting generational renewal and capacity building in European standardisation. With over 300 applications received, more than 90 mentees and 110 mentors were selected, leading to over 140 mentor–mentee matches. This initiative particularly targeted SMEs, early-career professionals, and first-time standardisation participants, promoting the onboarding of new European experts in technical groups.
Looking ahead: StandICT.eu 2029 continues the legacy and redoubles the efforts
Building on this foundation, StandICT.eu 2029 is already fully operational, with a €4.2 million budget to support over 300 additional experts through a new series of Open Calls. The new edition expands capacity building activities, strengthens policy alignment with the Rolling Plan for ICT Standardisation, and introduces the Foresight Committee Board to further enhance alignment between policy objectives and standardisation efforts.
StandICT.eu 2026 has demonstrated that coordinated EU support, strong SME engagement, and structured capacity-building are essential instruments to safeguard Europe’s technological sovereignty and industrial competitiveness. Through continued efforts under StandICT.eu 2029, Europe’s ICT standardisation ecosystem remains strong, industry-oriented, and strategically positioned to address the challenges of the digital landscape.
