D.2.
How to include standardization in an R&I project or proposal
To standardize
or not to standardize
There is no one right way to include standardization in your R&I project or proposal.
It all depends on what your project needs and what you want to achieve.
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Standard (ISO, IEC, EN, DIN, AFNOR, etc)"Standards are the results of work at national, European or international level. They are drawn up according to set rules of procedure, by the relevant Technical Committee. The maximum time allowed to their development is 3 years. They are approved by balloting of all the national members. Their revision shall be considered every 5 years.
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Technical Specification (TS)A TS is a standardization deliverable which provides specifications in experimental circumstances and/or evolving technologies. Those documents are developed by a TC, with a maximum development time of 21 months. They are approved by balloting of all the national members. They shall be reviewed after a maximum of 6 years to be upgraded to standards or deleted.
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Technical Report (TR)A TR is an informative document recording some knowledge that can be interesting for the users (e.g. data obtained from a survey or from an informative report, or information of the perceived “state of the art”). It is elaborated in a TC. It is approved by balloting of all the national members. Their time of elaboration is free and has no set requirements for revision.
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CEN CENELEC Workshop Agreement (CWA)CWA is a standardization deliverable that is developed and approved in a CEN CENELEC Workshop, an ad hoc working group not linked to any TC, which is open to the direct participation of anyone. A CWA is fast and flexible to develop, and is a first step to a future standard, especially recommended for new knowledge and results of R&I activities. The average timeframe for the delivery of a CWA is 6-12 months. It shall be revised after a maximum of 6 years to evaluate its upgrade to standard or deletion.
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Identify existing standards and information on ongoing standardization initiatives and relevant Technical Committees which are relevant to the project.
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This provides an overview of the state of the art and existing practices, especially in industrial environment, allows apply existing knowledge to the project activities and identify standardization gaps to be revealed.
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All R&I projects can profit from this kind of information.
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Most information is available in search engines on the webpages of the different standardization organizations or through specific applications (e.g. Perinorm).
1.
Screening
existing standards
Standardization planning
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Identify, analyze, discuss and elaborate a structured plan for future standardization development in a sector or topic.
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This can raise awareness about standardization needs and opportunities discovered in the project, build up networks or link with other projects and approaches.
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The project can organize events for meeting stakeholders and discussing needs, lead a CEN-CENELEC STAIR Platform or elaborate a standardization roadmap.
Influence ongoing standardization
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Join ongoing standardization work relevant for the project, to integrate some of the results in them, either for new standards or for the modification of existing ones.
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This allows to gain visibility, applicability and long-term impact of the project results, using the momentum of existing works instead of starting new ones.
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The project can contact the relevant Technical Committees and provide some informed suggestions, recommendations or proposals, join the TC works by participating as an expert through the relevant National Standardization Body or ask for a Project Liaison.
Proposal and elaboration of existing standards
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Directly engage standardization organizations to lead the elaboration of new standards which support the project results.
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This increases long-term impact of the project and sets the basis for future innovation, especially where different sectors and stakeholders can benefit from it.
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The project can propose the creation of a CEN-CENELEC Workshop to develop a CWA or propose the elaboration of a TS or TR in a Technical Committee.
2.
Contributing
to new standards
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A specific partner can be recruited for taking care of the above standardization activities in the projects.
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This complements the consortium with expertise and knowledge about standardization procedures, provide visibility and reliability to the standardization activities included in the project.
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The best suited stakeholder to perform this kind of activities is a National Standards Body, member of the European and international organization, which can guide through all activities explained above and support decision making. They also perform the secretariat roles in new standardization proposals.
