Standardization is a collaborative process involving all interested stakeholders.

The research and innovation community has strong influence on the evolution of technology, industry, and society.

The world is constantly evolving and moving forward, making innovation essential to this process. The same is true of the world of standardization. New standards are constantly developed and published while existing standards undergo revisions to keep up with technological progress. Therefore, strengthening the bonds between standardization and the research and innovation communities is essential. 

The benefits of integrating standards into research and innovation activities is twofold. First, integration facilitates early identification of emerging science and technology where standardization can play a role in their deployment and thereby ensures the timely inclusion of research results in standardisation activities. Second, bringing forth research and innovation-based ideas for the development of new standards can facilitate market acceptance of innovative products while increasing their relevance.

Transferring innovation and research outcomes into standards can have a significant impact on the subsequent use of those outcomes by industry. Standardization helps with clarifying not only what the results are but also how to implement them ensuring compatibility and interoperability with existing technologies and processes.

For all these reasons, the European Commission is also strongly advocating the valorisation of research outcomes through standardization. To this effect, on March 1st, 2023, the European Commission published a Code of Practice on standardization in the European Research Area. CEN and CENELEC welcome the publication of the Code of Practice, which fully aligns with the CEN and CENELEC ambitions to become the natural standardization partners of researchers and innovators in Europe.