Rolling Plan for Ict Standardisation
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
ROLLING PLAN FOR ICT STANDARDISATION 2021 ICT Standardisation European Commission DG Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs Standards for Growth INTRODUCTION The Rolling Plan for ICT Standardisation provides a unique The Rolling Plan 2021 identifies around 180 actions bridge between EU policies and standardisation activities grouped into 37 technological or application domains in the field of information and communication technolo- under four thematic areas: key enablers and security, gies (ICT). This allows for increased convergence of stand- societal challenges, innovation for the single market and ardisation makers’ efforts towards achieving EU policy sustainable growth. In the 2021 edition four new chapters goals. This document is the result of an annual dialogue were added. “COVID-19” and “Safety, transparency and involving a wide-range of interested parties as represent- due process online” under the societal challenges theme ed by the European multi-stakeholder platform on ICT and “Circular economy” and “U-space” under sustainable standardisation (MSP). The Rolling Plan focuses on actions growth. Digital technologies and data play a paramount that can support EU policies and does not claim to be as role in fighting the pandemic and are at the heart of the complete as the work programmes of the various stand- digital transformation that is needed to convert our econ- ardisation bodies. omy to a low emission, circular one. Challenges with re- spect to cybersecurity, safety, privacy, transparency and Standardisation actions identified in this document to sup- integrity of digital processes arise at every step of digital- port EU policies are complementary to other instruments, isation and policy makers need to be more aware that ICT in particular the Annual Union Work Programme (AUWP). standardisation is the tool to tackle them. T The Rolling Plan attempts to list all known areas where ICT standardisation could support EU policy objectives. It also details the requirements for ICT standardisation, trans- lates them into actions and provides a follow-up mecha- nism for the actions. 2021 • THE COMMISSION WOULD LIKE TO THANK ALL MEMBERS OF THE EUROPEAN MULTI-STAKEHOLDER PLATFORM ON ICT STANDARDISATION FOR THEIR ACTIVE COLLABORATION AND FOR MAKING THIS DOCUMENT POSSIBLE: THE EU MEMBER STATES, EFTA STATES, STANDARDS DEVELOPING ORGANISATIONS (ETSI, CEN, CENELEC, ISO, IEEE, IEC, ITU, GS1, IETF/IAB, OASIS, ECMA, W3C/ERCIM, UN/CEFACT), INDUSTRY ASSOCIATIONS (BUSINESS ROLLING PLAN FOR ICT STANDARDISATION STANDARDISATION ICT FOR PLAN ROLLING EUROPE, CER, DIGITALEUROPE, ECIS, ECSO,ETNO,EUROSMART,FREE ICT EUROPE, GERMAN INSURANCE ASSOCIATION,GSMA, OFE, ORGALIM) AND STAKEHOLDER ASSOCIATIONS ( ANEC, ECOS, EDF, ETUC, SBS). 3 ICT ‑ standardisation has dramatically changed over the THE STRATEGIC last decades. Alongside the traditional standardisation or- ganisations, specialised and mostly global fora and con- sortia have emerged as world-leading ICT standard devel- ROLE OF opment bodies that have developed the vast majority of standards for the internet, the World Wide Web and more STANDARDISATION recently for cloud computing, data processing and analysis IN THE CONTEXT and blockchain. The Rolling Plan addresses technology areas in need of ICT standards and explores the role that standards and OF EU POLICY technical specifications can play in achieving the policy ob- jectives. It reaches out to both European Standardisation MAKING Organisations (ESOs) -ETSI, CEN and CENELEC- and afore- mentioned global standard development bodies that can respond to the proposed actions and support the respec- Standards1 play a critical role in supporting EU policies and tive policy objectives with standardisation deliverables. legislation. The European standardisation system is gov- The Commission publishes the Rolling Plan for ICT Stand- erned by the Regulation on European standardisation2 and ardisation to consolidate the different ICT standardisation implemented through the public-private-partnership with needs and activities in support of EU policies into a single the European Standardisation Organisations (ESOs) and document. their members. Its uniqueness lies in the use of harmo- nised European Standards. When referenced in the Official The Annual Union Work Programme (AUWP) for European Journal and when used, harmonised European Stand- standardisation is another EU planning tool that is more ards provide manufacturers across the Single Market high-level and not only focused on ICT. It is adopted by a with a presumption of conformity with the requirements Commission Decision in accordance with Article 8 of the of harmonised EU legislation. The Commission stressed EU regulation 1025/2012 and “shall identify strategic pri- the importance of standardisation in the Communication orities for European standardisation, taking into account “Shaping Europe’s Digital Future”3 issued in February 2020 Union long-term strategies for growth. It shall indicate the and it is working together with the ESOs to improve the European standards and European standardisation de- efficiency, transparency and legal certainty of the system. liverables that the Commission intends to request from the European standardisation organisations in accordance Innovation and technology adoption provide critical with Article 10”. support to the EU to face the challenges of a changing geo-political landscape, ageing society, digital transfor- The European multi-stakeholder platform on ICT stand- mation and climate change. EU policy making relies on ardisation (MSP) is a group of experts set-up by Commis- standards and technical specifications to reap the benefits sion Decision 2011/C349/04 to advise the Commission on of broader, more interoperable markets and systems, and all matters related to ICT standardisation. The MSP is com- 2021 • greater network effects. ICT technical specifications ensure posed of Member States and EFTA countries and all oth- the interoperability of digital technologies and form the er relevant stakeholders, including standards developing cornerstone of an effective Digital Single Market. organisations, industry, SMEs and societal stakeholders in the area of ICT standardisation. Its tasks include, among other things, providing advice on the content of the Rolling Plan and on the ICT technical specifications to be identified by the Commission for referencing in public procurement (Regulation EU 1025/2012, Art. 13 and 14). 1 The term “standards” is used in this document in a generic way for all In addition there are a number of other Commission tech- such deliverables from both recognised standards organisations and from standardisation fora and consortia – or the terms “standards and technical nical advisory groups that are involved in standardisation specifications” are used. Yet, whenever required in this document the terms In a number of cases they come under sectorial regulation are specified in a more detailed way drawing on the definitions given in the Regulation on European standardisation (1025/2012/EU). (e.g. energy, environment, trade and transport). 2 Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012 of the European Parliament and of the ROLLING PLAN FOR ICT STANDARDISATION STANDARDISATION ICT FOR PLAN ROLLING Council of 25 October 2012 on European standardisation 3 https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/communication-shaping-eu- 4 ropes-digital-future-feb2020_en_4.pdf BRIDGING RESEARCH AND THE USE OF ICT STANDARDISATION IN STANDARDISATION SUPPORT OF POLICY MAKING Research is a rich source for new standards or standards A key objective of the Rolling Plan is to create awareness components and for applying available standards in ad- of the importance of ICT standards in the context of pol- vanced technology contexts. The new knowledge result- icy making. Another objective is to promote the use and ing from publicly funded research and innovation pro- uptake of standards in general in order to increase ICT grammes can be included in new or improved standards, interoperability in those policy areas identified as need- contributing both to the implementation of the research ing ICT standardisation activities. Standards and technical outcomes and the usage of standards. Historically, many specifications in ICT ensure interoperability and promote European ICT research and pilot projects under EU R&D open ICT ecosystems. Standardisation may therefore play Framework Programmes have used standards or contrib- an important role in promoting the uptake of new tech- uted to their development. EU funded pilot projects are nologies or the transformation of technologies and sys- also an important tool to test standards and provide feed- tems into new, innovative complex systems, including ICT back to SDOs for improvement. technologies, and combining them with other technologies and technology layers. Initiatives linking ICT standardisation and ICT R&I appear to be most effective when carried out at the research With the emergence of new technologies and ICT domains planning stage. Standardisation awareness is therefore like artificial intelligence, big data, robotics, blockchain/DLT essential in the research life cycle. Standardisation bod- cloud computing and IoT, the importance of standardisa- ies have partially set up links into research activities for tion goes beyond interoperability required for completing facilitating the uptake of standardisation deliverables the Digital Single Market. Given the fast pace of change in research projects and the transfer