On Tuesday March 8th the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission (JRC), together with the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) and the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC) held a virtual event to celebrate the renewal of their Cooperation Agreement which took place at the end of 2021.
The event gathered 100 participants from 21 different countries representing standard development organizations, European Commission Services, industry and research organizations.
The celebration started with opening remarks from Stephen Quest, JRC Director-General, and Stefano Calzolari, President of CEN and Innovation Champion for both CEN and CENELEC. The two speakers underlined the value of the collaboration and the mutual benefits it brings for their organizations.
The event further engaged in a panel discussion moderated by Fabio Taucer, Deputy Head of Scientific Development Unit of JRC, with four panellists: Bernard Gindroz, Chair of CEN-CENELC JTC 6 ‘Hydrogen in energy systems’; Claudius Klein, Coordination and Support Action Quantum Flagship – VDI TZ; Maurice Whelan, Head of JRC Chemical Safety and Alternative Methods Unit and EURL ECVAM; and Shannon Kiernan, CEN and CENELEC Manager Digital Projects. The four speakers, who had been involved in the collaboration between CEN and CENELEC and JRC through different Putting-Science-into-Standards initiatives, shared ingredients of success and lessons learned from their experiences. All the speakers underlined the importance of merging scientific knowledge and standardization expertise early on to build a competitive advantage, also relying on new knowledge developed by research and innovation projects.
The discussion also revolved around the importance of innovating the standard development process itself, by making processes faster and more agile. Digitalizing the standards development processes and deliverables is paramount in a world with rapidly changing technologies and shorter product development cycles.
The event concluded with closing remarks from Maive Rute, DG GROW Deputy Director General, and Elena Santiago Cid, CEN and CENELEC’s Director General. During their speeches, they reminded the value of this collaboration in supporting the European Standardization Strategy and CEN and CENELEC Strategy 2030, with both speakers appreciating the strong consistency between the two strategic frameworks.
Another topic they highlighted was the importance of better anticipating and prioritising future standardization needs for ensuring a better positioning of Europe at a global level by promoting European values and interests in international standardization.
The full recording of the event is available on the CEN-CENELEC website.
Livia MIAN
lmian@cencenelec.eu
