The IAF acts as a sounding board on strategic standardization priority topics for industry and proposes recommendations on which CEN and CENELEC can further act. The objective is to ensure that the CEN and CENELEC deliverables and activities provide an agile and innovative response and support European industry and market needs for a resilient and sustainable system.
The first mandate of the IAF (2018-2021) provided CEN and CENELEC governing bodies and relevant groups with an industry perspective, its needs and challenges regarding strategic issues such as the New Legislative Framework, the Construction Product Regulation, the Cooperation with other SDOs, the Digitalization of Industries, the Standards development processes & digitalization of standards, etc.
The second mandate of the IAF (2022-2025) gathered 18 high-level industry representatives from diverse sectors, with strategic knowledge and experience as to particularly support the implementation of the CEN and CENELEC Strategy 2030 objectives and projects. During the first two terms, the IAF managed 15 strategic and focus Working Groups to deliver hundreds of recommendations on strategic topics.
The third mandate officially kicked-off in March 2025 for 3 years, gathering 14 high-level industry representatives from diverse sectors, with strategic knowledge and experience as to particularly support the implementation of the CEN and CENELEC Strategy 2030 objectives and projects. The IAF's role includes identifying and discussing forward-looking issues where standardization can support European industry to adapt to disruptive changes and leverage standardization as a competitive advantage.