Even though Artificial Intelligence (AI) has existed since the 1950s, the rapid developments in the past years have turned it into one of the most promising sectors within ICT. There has been an enormous growth in investments and use of AI systems in many sectors such as automobile, health and aeronautics, creating new challenges for both industry and society.

To ensure the development of trustworthy AI systems that respect fundamental values and human rights recognised in Europe, standardization is needed. For this reason, CEN and CENELEC have established the new CEN-CENELEC Joint Technical Committee 21 ‘Artificial Intelligence’, based on the recommendations presented in the CEN-CENELEC response to the EC White Paper on AI and the German Standardization Roadmap for Artificial Intelligence. The Joint Technical Committee, whose Secretariat is held by DS, the Danish Standardization Body, will be responsible for the development and adoption of standards for AI and related data, as well as provide guidance to other Technical Committees concerned with AI.

CEN - CLC/JTC 21 will proceed with the identification and adoption of international standards already available or under development from other organizations like ISO/IEC JTC 1 and its subcommittees, such as SC 42 Artificial Intelligence. Furthermore, CEN-CLC/JTC 21 will focus on producing standardization deliverables that address European market and societal needs, as well as underpinning EU legislation, policies, principles, and values.

The European Commission presents a vision, targets and avenues for a successful digital transformation of Europe by 2030. This is also critical to achieve the transition towards a climate neutral, circular and resilient economy. The EU's ambition is to be digitally sovereign in an open and interconnected world, and to pursue digital policies that empower people and businesses to seize a human centred, sustainable and more prosperous digital future. This includes addressing vulnerabilities and dependencies as well as accelerating investment.

To make the next years Europe's ‘Digital Decade'; responds to the European Council's call for a ‘Digital Compass'; and builds on the Commission's digital strategy of February 2020. The Communication proposes to agree on a set of digital principles, to rapidly launch important multi-country projects, and to prepare a legislative proposal setting out a robust governance framework, to monitor progress – the Digital Compass.

Europe's Digital Compass: The Commission proposes a Digital Compass to translate the EU?s digital ambitions for 2030 into concrete terms. They evolve around four cardinal points:

1. Digitally skilled citizens and highly skilled digital professionals: By 2030, at least 80% of all adults should have basic digital skills, and there should be 20 million employed ICT.
2. Secure, performant and sustainable digital infrastructures: By 2030, all EU households should have gigabit connectivity and all populated areas should be covered by 5G.
3. Digital transformation of businesses: By 2030, three out of four companies should use cloud computing services, big data, and Artificial Intelligence.
4. Digitalization of public services: By 2030, all key public services should be available online; all citizens will have access to their e-medical records; and 80% citizens should use an eID solution.

The European Commission adopted the first strategic plan for Horizon Europe, the new EU research and innovation programme worth €95.5 billion in current prices. The strategic plan is a novelty in Horizon Europe and sets the strategic orientations for the targeting of investments in the programme's first four years. It ensures that EU research and innovation actions contribute to EU priorities, including a climate-neutral and green Europe, a Europe fit for the digital age, and an economy that works for people. An ambitious plan for an ambitious programme: The strategic plan sets out four strategic orientations for research and innovation investments under Horizon Europe for the next four years:

• Promoting an open strategic autonomy by leading the development of key digital, enabling and emerging technologies, sectors and value chains;
• Restoring Europe's ecosystems and biodiversity, and managing sustainably natural resources;
• Making Europe the first digitally enabled circular, climate-neutral and sustainable economy;
• Creating a more resilient, inclusive and democratic European society.

International cooperation underpins all four orientations, as it is essential for tackling many global challenges. The strategic plan also identifies the European co-funded and co-programmed partnerships and the EU missions to be supported though Horizon Europe. The partnerships will cover critical areas such as energy, transport, biodiversity, health, food & circularity, will complement the ten Institutionalised European Partnerships  proposed by the Commission in February.

In the 5G and cloud era, IPv6 will grow rapidly. Strengthening new generation IP network technologies based on IPv6 and its innovative technologies has become the common direction of the IP industry. To tackle the increasing Industry needs for IPv6 adoption in multiple Use Cases and Scenarios, ETSI has recently launched ISG IPv6 Enhanced innovation (IPE). IPE aims to drive full connectivity of IPv6 on everything and facilitate the business success of this technology. IPE members include 43 organizations to date, comprising carriers, vendors, and academia, working together to improve the industry ecosystem and accelerate innovation.

The group will first analyse the current landscape of existing IPv6 standards deployed on prime technologies such as 5G, IoT and Cloud Computing to identify gaps and thus accelerate IPv6-based innovations. Two other reports will cover data centre and Cloud use cases on one hand and 5G Transport use cases on the other hand. The last pieces of work will define Industrial IoT/enterprise requirements and IPv6 only transition requirements across new and evolving technology domains and areas.

To help EU consumers cut their energy bills and carbon footprint, a brand-new version of the widely-recognised EU energy label will be applicable in all shops and online retailers from 1 March 2021. The new labels will initially apply to four product categories – fridges and freezers, dishwashers, washing machines, and television sets (and other external monitors). New labels for light bulbs and lamps with fixed light sources will follow on 1 September, and other products will follow in the coming years.

With more and more products achieving ratings as A+, A++ or A+++ according to the current scale, the most important change is to return to a simpler A-G scale. This scale is stricter and designed so that very few products are initially able to achieve the “A” rating, leaving space for more efficient products to be included in the future. The most energy efficient products currently on the market will typically now be labelled as “B”, “C” or “D”. A number of new elements will be included on the labels, including a QR link to an EU-wide database, which will allow consumers to find more details about the product. A number of ecodesign rules will also come into force from 1 March – notably on reparability and the need for manufacturers to keep spare parts available for a number of years after products are no longer on the market.

Our world is changing faster than ever, driven by environmental and geopolitical changes and technological innovation. Such structural trends raise a variety of challenges across different regions and industries, and make for an unpredictable, at times even turbulent, market environment. However, these rapid changes also offer opportunities for growth and innovation.  Through the new Strategy, the CEN and CENELEC community aims at “Building a safer, more sustainable and competitive Europe through European and International Standardization”. To achieve this, the organisations state as their mission: “through our stakeholders’ networks, we create consensus-based standards in order to generate trust, fulfil market requirements, enable market access and innovations for a better, safer and more sustainable Europe”. 

The Strategy 2030 establishes a series of five goals that will guide CEN and CENELEC’s actions in the next decade:

1. EU and EFTA recognize and use the strategic value of the European standardization system
2. Our customers and stakeholders benefit from state-of-the-art digital solutions
3. Increase the use and awareness of CEN and CENELEC deliverables
4. The CEN and CENELEC system to be the preferred choice for standardization in Europe
5. Strengthen our leadership and ambition at the international level

As a strategic framework for CEN, CENELEC and their respective members, the Strategy 2030 will provide a frame of reference to ensure complementarity, coherence and consistency across the strategic exercises and long-term objectives of all actors in the CEN and CENELEC community.

Climate change impacts are already affecting ecological and socio-economic systems, and it is anticipated that these impacts will continue well into the future. A recently published standard, EN ISO 14091:2021 ‘Adaptation to climate change - Guidelines on vulnerability, impacts and risk assessment (ISO 14091:2021)’ offers organisations a consistent, structured and pragmatic approach to understanding their vulnerabilities and to preventing or mitigating negative consequences caused by climate change, while taking advantage of opportunities. 

Preparing, implementing and reporting a climate change risk assessment: EN ISO 14091:2021 supports organisations in the use of systematic and replicable risk assessment tools, allowing for qualitative and quantitative analysis. It describes how to understand vulnerability and how to develop and implement a sound risk assessment and is applicable to organisations of all types and sizes, whether doing so for the first time or conducting advanced risk assessments. The standard offers guidance on the use of different approaches, namely screening assessments and impact chains. It covers the different steps required for a solid climate risk assessment, including the preparation, implementation and reporting of such an assessment. Further details are provided regarding the use of indicators, data management and assessment of adaptive capacity.

ETSI has successfully completed its international emergency communications interoperability testing event. 285 test pairings, with 87% demonstrating interoperability, were run from 22 February to 5 March 2021, both in Europe and across the Atlantic to assess the compatibility of products for mission-critical public safety services. This remote event was a cooperation between ETSI, EENA, the European Emergency Number Association and for the first time NENA, the 9-1-1 Association.

Vendors of emergency communication equipment connected to test Next Generation 112 and NG9-1-1 technologies, responding to the increasing requirements and demands of content-rich, IP-based emergency calling. Stakeholders included NGCS vendors, Forest Guide developers, user agents, mobile operators and call handling vendors. Government bodies, policy makers and local authorities also joined in to discuss implementation in their countries. Participants tested components of the emergency communication chain such as location and location-based call routing, audio, video, real-time text, policy based routing and core services based on ETSI TS 103 479, developed by the ETSI EMTEL Special Committee.

The European Commission welcomes the agreement reached by the European Parliament and the Council on the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) proposal, as part of the next long-term EU budget 2021-2027.

The Connecting Europe Facility programme supports investment in Europe's transport, energy and digital infrastructure networks. It will support the twin green and digital transition, by contributing to the ambitious targets for the European Green Deal and the Digital Decade.

It will support the goals of the Smart and Sustainable Mobility Strategy laying the foundation for how the EU transport system can achieve its green and digital transformation and become more resilient to future crises. As outlined in the European Green Deal, the result will be a 90% cut in emissions by 2050, delivered by a smart, competitive, safe, accessible and affordable transport system. It will also prioritise environmentally friendly modes such as rail and the development of charging points for vehicles using alternative fuels.

The European Standards Organizations, CEN, CENELEC and ETSI, joined forces with ENISA, the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity, to organize its annual conference virtually this year. The event, which took place from 2 to 4 February, attracted over 2000 participants from the EU and from around the world. The conference addressed standardization in relation to the Radio Equipment Directive (RED) and certification under the provisions of the Cybersecurity Act (CSA). The ultimate objective of the exercise is to enable an effective implementation of the Cybersecurity Act. The objectives of the presentations and key topics addressed by the conference panels were the following:

• Cybersecurity requirements and standardization activities under the scope of the Radio Equipment Directive
• Standardization supporting the Cybersecurity Act
• Developments on standardization in the area of Consumer IoT
• Standardization of 5G

The slides presented during the conference are available on the website of the Cybersecurity Standardization Conference.