On Thursday October 14 from 3pm GMT (5pm CET / 11am EST / 8am PST), Talkstandards will be hosting an online forum on issues related to interoperability within European standardization. Framed against the backdrop of the current EU activities, the event will build both upon Talkstandards’ successful July event – “Transparency in EU Standardization” – and our September mini event – “The Future of European Standardisation“. The motivating goal of the event is the facilitation of a common dialogue between European policy makers and experts working in and around European standardization such as industry leaders and academics.

Structure:

Discussion material for the event will be posted here including keynote contributions, a featured interview and background material. This will lay the foundation and help focus the discussion’s direction.

The discussion itself will take place at this page: www.talkstandards.com/questions-for-event-reforming-eu-standardization/

Questions to be addressed include:

• How timely are current EU reform proposals and how should the emphasis be divided among issues such as interoperability, transparency and efficiency?
• Do the proposals bestow a large enough role upon informal industry fora and consortia?
• What roles does interoperability play in achieving a single European market, particularly with regard to infra-national standardization system based upon national standards bodies with greatly varying degrees of knowledge, experience and resources?
• How can access by all relevant stakeholders, particularly SME, to the standardization process be guaranteed?
• Within European standardization reform initiatives, how much emphasis should be placed upon international integration and interoperability?

Outline:

The European Parliament’s “Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection” (IMCO) has drafted a report on the future of European standardization which will see an EU vote in October. The report builds upon the EU Whitepaper from July 2009, “Modernising ICT Standardisation in the EU – the Way Forward” – a short summary by Talkstandards can be found here: www.talkstandards.com/modernizing-ict-standardization-in-the-eu/ – and recommends building upon the strengths of the existing European system as opposed to a complete overhaul.

A link to the draft report and other background material, such as an interview with IMCO Rapporteur Edvard Kožušník, can be found on “the Future of European Standardisation” event page: talkstandards.com/the-future-of-european-standardisation/

I invite you to take part in the discussion, please contact Junior Editor Peter Gray for additional information/feedback.

Mattias Ganslandt, Editor

Image from Wikimedia Commons by user Aktron