After three years of activities the Joint Initiative on Standardisation recently published its findings and recommendations to improve and modernise the European standardisation system. This combined effort has been supported by a group of diverse organisations, including national and European standardisation bodies, like CEN, CENELEC and ETSI. It also included representatives of industry, SMEs and societal stakeholders. In all, the Joint Initiative on Standardisation is considered a unique voluntary collaborative effort bringing together a wide range of partners to the “European standardisation table”.

 

Oliver Grun, on behalf of the European DIGITAL SME Alliance was one of the first signatories of the Joint Initiative on Standardisation. Oliver spoke about positive achievements and benefits of an active network: “SMEs in the technology sector benefit from standards as key enablers for interoperability. Likewise, the Joint Initiative of Standardsation contributed to an ‘interoperability’ among all interested stakeholders in the context of a constructive dialogue. This joint effort paved the way for concrete initiatives for inclusiveness, such as the ETSI 3SI programme and the ETSI Technology Awareness Roadshow for SMEs.”

 

The Joint Initiative outlines priorities for the modernisation of the European standardisation system. It also aims to continue the engagement as a network for structured dialogue to deepen cooperation in the standardisation world. Considerable resolution is set on facilitating the effective participation of SMEs and society stakeholders at all levels of standardisation development.

 

Not only key contributors of the Joint Initiative on Standardisation. The European DIGITAL SME Alliance and its partner SBS were also enablers of the new ETSI program for SMEs inclusion. In this context of collaboration, ETSI launched the new 3SI Programme to cover Societal Stakeholders, SMEs and Inclusiveness. Standards are not simple technical documents but represent a choice in technology which can have great impact in society. The 3SI Program was designed to increase the visibility of the societal stakeholders’ and SMEs’ interests in ETSI standardization work. The programme combines a 3SI Advocate for societal and SME interests, together with a regular high-level exchange on issues related to societal stakeholders, SMEs and inclusiveness.

 

Another important activity triggered from this network is the ETSI Technology Roadshow for SMEs. The first national pilot is taking place in Turin, Italy on the 4^thof July at the TIM Open Labs.Together with other ETSI members, such as the Italian telecom operator TIM and the defence company LEONARDO, the European Digital SME Alliance set in motion a series of events aiming to provide SMEs with direct evidence of new technologies based on standards, such as IoT, 5G e NB-IoT.