Prof. Knut Blind is reappointed as Chair of working group STAIR (Standards, Innovation & Research)

Knut Blind is Professor for Innovation Economics at the Technical University Berlin and coordinator of the Business Unit Regulation and Innovation at Fraunhofer ISI. His research activity provides knowledge for shaping innovation-friendly frameworks focusing on regulation and standardization.

Prof. Knut Blind has been supporting Working Group STAIR since its creation in 2009. STAIR was initially created to be the focal point within CEN and CENELEC for discussing how standardizers can strengthen their link with the EC Framework Programmes for Research and Innovation and support the market uptake of the projects’ outcomes. Since then, CEN and CENELEC approach to strengthen the link with researchers and innovators has evolved, with a strong push coming from the CEN and CENELEC Innovation Plan adopted in 2018. More recently, CEN-CENELEC Strategy 2030 has given further impetus to encourage the use of CEN and CENELEC deliverables as tools to enhance the impact of research and innovation projects and to develop an inclusive European standardization system where research actors are encouraged to bring forward their ideas for the development of new standards.

STAIR activities, which are aimed at supporting Strategy 2030 objectives and implementation, are focusing on three dimensions:

• Identifying new topics for standardization – using and reinforcing channels and sources to identify new standardization areas for CEN and CENELEC
• Integrating standardization and research – bringing standardization closer to researchers and research activities, seizing opportunities for standardization to bridge the gap between research outcomes and the market
• Building capacity and connections – ensuring the CEN and the CENELEC system, Members, and internal process are equipped to engage with research and innovation

Prof Knut Blind commented on his reappointment “I thank the CEN and CENELEC Technical Boards very much for their confidence in my capacities in chairing STAIR. I am very happy to chair, but more important to support STAIR for the next 3 years. In particular, the recently launched HORIZON Europe is a great opportunity following HORIZON 2020 to strengthen standardization as an effective channel for knowledge and technology transfer. And even more important, research- and innovation-based standards have to consider to address effectively the Sustainable Development Goals, in particular the challenges of climate change in the next few years.”