CEN and CENELEC held the high-level 1- day Standards + Innovation Conference ‘Boosting Innovation Through Standards’ with the aim of fostering the market uptake of innovation and research outcomes by using standardization as an enabler. Leading experts in innovation and standardization presented their experiences in linking the two worlds and highlighted how each one is benefiting from the other. Know more about the conference and how standards can boost innovation thanks to the new dedicated webpage.

Discover how European standards contribute to the success of research and innovation activities, facilitating market uptake, finding partners (e.g. industry, policy, consumer) for your activities, using existing knowledge, transferring know-how or easing the access to financial resources.

Know more about the conference and how standards can boost innovation thanks to the new dedicated webpage

CEN and CENELEC announced that, after two years of continuous dialogue with all actors involved in the citation process, the EC has cited in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) several lists of Harmonised European Standards (hENs). This important development signals a relevant turn in the process of reducing the citation backlog of harmonised standards, to the benefit of the industry and consumers.

In particular, the lists of standards cited cover the following sectors: Toys safety, New Legislative Framework, Electromagnetic Compatibility, Explosives Atmospheres, Pressure Equipment, and General Product Safety. Overall, this citation exercise includes more than 60 new references.

CEN and CENELEC Members have identified India as a key priority market. The objective of CEN and CENELEC is to cooperate more closely with the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and other relevant Indian standardization bodies on various topics of mutual interest, in order to create synergies. As a first step towards creating a close working relationship with BIS and to understand the commonalities and gaps on standardization strategy and the standards development process, a two-day joint workshop was organised by BIS and CEN & CENELEC on 26th and 27th November 2019 in New Delhi, India. The workshop helped identify significant common areas of mutual interest between BIS and CEN & CENELEC, which will be explored further for collaboration between the two regions. 

CEN, CENELEC and ETSI, the three European Standardization Organizations (ESOs), jointly developed EN 301549:2019 ‘Accessibility requirements for ICT products and services’. The new standard is intended in particular for use by public authorities and other public sector bodies during procurement, to ensure that websites, software and digital devices are more accessible – so they can be used by persons with a wide range of disabilities.

EN 301549:2019 sets out the functional accessibility requirements that can be applied to all digital technology, including websites, software, electronic devices, and mobile apps. The aim is to ensure that ICT products and services are accessible either directly or through compatibility with assistive technologies such as text-to-speech, so that everyone can access information and use services that are being delivered electronically. The new standard is a revision of a previous version, published in 2018. It sets out the functional accessibility requirements that can be applied to all digital technology, including websites, software, electronic devices, and mobile apps.   

Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLTs) are among the most promising developments in ICT for sharing data and managing transactions in a decentralised, controlled manner. The use of Blockchain and DLTs continues to grow rapidly, notably in the context of Industry 4.0, thus creating both new opportunities and challenges for business and society. In order to contribute to ensuring a smooth and safe adoption of new technologies in Europe, CEN and CENELEC recently established new CEN-CENELEC JTC 19 ‘Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technologies’, based on the recommendations presented in the CEN-CENELEC White Paper on ‘Recommendations for Successful Adoption in Europe of Emerging Technical Standards on Distributed Ledger/Blockchain Technologies’.