COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS ICT Standardisation Priorities for the Digital Single Market
Date: 2016-04-19
Institutions: Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, European Commission
Subjects: digital technology, information technology, information technology applications, information technology industry, single market, standardisation, technical specification

EN 

   EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 19.4.2016  COM(2016) 176 final   COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS ICT Standardisation Priorities for the Digital Single Market  
 
 
1. 

ICT STANDARDS AS THE CORNERSTONE OF THE DIGITAL SINGLE MARKET 

The  transformation  of  the  global  economy  to  a  digital  economy  affects  all  industrial  and  service 
sectors.  Europe's competitiveness and productivity crucially depends on its ability to generate, scale-
up,  and  effectively  harness  digital  innovations  across  all  sectors  of  the  economy  including  Europe's 
traditional  strengths  such  as  vehicle  manufacturing,  automation,  machine  equipment  or  financial 
services.  To  support  Europe’s  role  in  the  global  digital  economy,  the  European  Commission  has 
adopted  a  communication  on  a  Digital  Single  Market  strategy,  and  has  made  it  one  of  its  key 
priorities. 

Common standards ensure the interoperability of digital technologies and are the foundation of 
an  effective  Digital  Single  Market.  They  guarantee  that  technologies  work  smoothly  and  reliably 
together, provide economies of scale, foster research and innovation and keep markets open. Effective 
interoperability  guarantees  that  connected  devices  such  as  cars,  phones,  appliances  and  industrial 
equipment  can  communicate  seamlessly  with  each  other,  regardless  of  manufacturer,  operating 
system,  or  other  technical  components.  Open  standards  ensure  such  interoperability,  and  foster 
innovation and low market entry barriers in the Digital Single Market, including for access to media, 
cultural  and  educational  content.  Differing  national  standards1  may  significantly  slow  down 
innovation and put European businesses at a disadvantage vis-à-vis the rest of the world. 

The  recent  revision  of  the  EU's  standardisation  policy  resulted  in  the  adoption  of  Regulation 
1025/2012  on  European  Standardisation2  and  the  creation  of  a  framework  for  a  more  transparent, 
efficient  and  effective  European  standardisation  system  for  all  industry  sectors.  This  Regulation 
emphasised the fast evolution of ICT and the way in which new products and services, such as ‘smart’ 
or connected devices (referred to as the ‘Internet of Things’ or IoT) or the Cloud, transform markets. 

To  address  the  challenges  related  to  ICT  standardisation,  the  Commission  announced  that  it  would 
“launch  an  integrated  standardisation  plan  to  identify  and  define  key  priorities  for  standardisation 
with  a  focus  on  the  technologies  and  domains  that  are  deemed  to  be  critical  to  the  Digital  Single 
Market”. In its Conclusions of 25 and 26 June 2015, the European Council "agreed that action must 
be taken (…) on key components of the Commission communication, notably to identify and deliver 
rapidly on the key ICT standardisation priorities"3.  

This Communication builds on Regulation 1025/2012 and is linked to the planned Joint Initiative on 
Standardisation that is part of the wider Single Market Strategy4.  

This Communication sets out a comprehensive strategic and political approach to standardisation for 
priority ICT technologies that are critical to the completion of the Digital Single Market. The goal is 
to  ensure  that  ICT-related  standards  are  set  in  a  way  that  is  more  responsive to  policy  needs,  agile, 
open, more strongly linked to research and innovation, better joined-up, and thus that they ultimately 
have more impact for the wider European economy as it transforms into a digital one. 

2. 

SETTING  STANDARDS  FOR  ICT:  A  FAST-CHANGING  AND  CHALLENGING  GLOBAL 
CONTEXT 

The development of ICT standards faces several new challenges that require a focused and sustained 
European response.  

1 Regulation (EU) 1025/2012 on European standardisation defines the meaning of the terms “standard” and “technical specification”. In this 
document the term “standard” is used with both meanings for the sake of brevity. 
2 Regulation (EU) 1025/2012 OJ L 316, 14.11.2012, p. 12. 
3  http://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2015/06/26-euco-conclusions/ 
4 COM (2015) 550: Upgrading the Single Market: more opportunities for people and business. 

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Firstly, all sectors of the economy increasingly rely on digital technologies that change ever faster, 
frequently  dramatically  exceeding  the  pace  of  change  in  more  traditional  sectors  and  industries. 
Timely and harmonised setting of ICT standards would enable European innovators to compete and to 
bring  new  products  to  the  global  market.  Flexible,  coordinated,  and  sufficiently  fast  standardisation 
processes are an essential requirement of Europe's Digital Single Market.  

Secondly, the value of digital systems increasingly derives from cross-sector applications, data and 
technology convergence. This, and the convergence of physical and digital worlds, in turn, blurs the 
boundaries  between  traditional  sectors  and  industries,  products  and  services,  consumption  and 
production,  online  and  offline,  and  therefore  challenges  standard  setting  processes.  Interoperable 
solutions based on open systems and interfaces keep markets open, boost innovation and allow service 
portability in the Digital Single Market. 

For example, mobile health apps currently rely on a wide range of ICT areas, including safety, data-
exchange, and security and privacy. These are handled by a host of different standard-setting bodies, 
involving different stakeholders5 – which puts a strain on resources and time. It is therefore necessary 
to  bring  together  the  different  stakeholders,  and  to  strike  a  balance  between  the  manufacturing 
industry and service sectors. 

Thirdly,  the  increasing  complexity  resulting  from  a  proliferation  of  standards,  and  the  diversity  of 
technical communities involved in standard setting can slow down innovation. For example, there are 
already more than 600 closely related standards in the IoT area. In such cases, it is essential to first 
clearly map all relevant standards to help researchers and innovators and standard setters navigate 
this complexity. Collaborative research and innovation carried out through experimental platforms or 
large-scale  pilots  also  delivers  results  that  can  improve  standard  setting  in  complex  technology 
environments. Such research can also help define increasingly important reference architectures and 
identify and address standardisation gaps, while reducing barriers to entry. 

This  increased  complexity  also  impacts  access  rights  to  standards.  The  convergence  and  resulting 
complexity of many technologies can lead to a risk of uncertainty in relation as to the identification of 
the  relevant  community  of  standard  essential  patents  holders,  the  costs  of  cumulated  intellectual 
property rights (IPR), and the methodology used to calculate the value of the licensing terms6.  

Fourthly,  there  are  ever  more  bodies  and  organisations  involved  in  standard  or  technical 
specification  setting  around  the  world.  European  leadership  through  improved  cooperation,  deeper 
involvement and increased focus is needed to ensure that the EU's standardisation priorities and the 
Digital Single Market are sufficiently represented worldwide.  

Fifthly, European work on standardisation cannot be viewed in isolation. Most of the EU's main 
trading partners, including notably some large emerging economies, have recognised how important 
standard-setting is for market access, and for boosting the competitiveness of their industries, and so 
they  invest  heavily  in  standard-setting  and  certification  infrastructures.  In  the  European  Union, 
however,  the  Commission  considers  that  standardisation  has  not  received  the  necessary  level  of 
political support. 

Finally, the actions to address the challenges mentioned above needs to ensure a proper balancing in 
view of their compliance with fundamental rights, as standardisation may have implications in this 
area. For instance, the actions need to ensure full respect of the rights to private life and personal data 

5 In this illustrative example, CEN/CENELEC, ETSI, ITU-T, HL7, IHE, ISO are all simultaneously involved. 
6 See JRC-IPTS report: Intellectual Property and Innovation in Information Communication Technology (ICT). Stefano Comino and Fabio 
Maria Manenti. Editor: Nikolaus Thumm, 2015, available at:  http://is.jrc.ec.europa.eu/pages/ISG/EURIPIDIS/EURIPIDIS.index.html 
discusses in more details intellectual property in the ICT sector. 

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protection7, and should also take into account other fundamental rights, including freedom to provide 
business and right to property8.  

The potential consequences of these challenges include a dispersal of limited resources, lack of 
efficiency, and more broadly a dampening of Europe's innovative capacity.  

ICT standardisation will continue to be primarily industry-led, voluntary and consensus-driven, based 
on principles of transparency, openness, impartiality and consensus, effectiveness and relevance and 
coherence.  However,  a  clearer  set  of  priorities  for  ICT  standardisation,  together  with  high-level 
political support, will boost competitiveness and contribute significantly to achieving the goals of the 
Digital Single Market. 

Defining key priority areas in the context of the Digital Single Market is an opportunity to inspire for 
standardisation  organisations  in  the  ICT  area  to  work  in  new  ways,  with  more  cross-sector 
partnerships, strengthened cooperation with European standardisation organisations (ESOs) and other 
standards development organisations (SDOs), as well as more validation of standards through R&D 
experiments. 

The  Commission  considers  that  these  actions  will  benefit  from  the  reinforced  dialogue  with  the 
standardisation  community,  in  particular  the  European  Standardisation  Organisations,  envisaged  by 
the foreseen Joint Initiative on European Standardisation to be concluded with all actors with the aim 
of  improving  the  efficiency  and  effectiveness  of  the  European  standardisation  system  as  set  up  by 
Regulation (EU) 1025/2012. 

3. 

 EUROPE'S  RESPONSE:  A  TWO-PILLAR  PLAN  TO  PRIORITISE  AND  DELIVER  ICT 
STANDARD-SETTING FOR THE DIGITAL SINGLE MARKET 

In the face of these new challenges, this Communication presents a priority action plan for the next 
wave of technology standardisation in the digital economy9.  

The Commission proposes the following approach:  

Firstly, this Communication identifies a list of priority building blocks for the Digital Single Market 
where improved ICT standardisation is most urgent, accompanied by deliverables and a timeline. This 
list of priorities was subject to a wide public consultation. 

Secondly,  as  this  cannot  be  a  one-off,  isolated,  exercise,  the  Commission  proposes  a  high-level 
political process, to validate, monitor, and – where necessary – adapt the list of priorities.   

This process will make use of the instruments10 of the European Standardisation System, and involve 
a  wide  range  of  stakeholders,  both  within  the  EU  and  at  international  level,  to  ensure  delivery  of 
improved  standard-setting  processes,  in  line  with  the  Joint  initiative  of  European  Standardisation. 
Both parts of this  priority  plan will need to be taken forward together, to ensure that the EU 
becomes a leader in the global digital economy. 

7 Article 7 and 8 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. 

8 Article 16 and 17 of the Charter. 

9 Possible legislative proposals will be subject to Commission better regulation requirements, in line with Commission’s Better Regulation 
Guidelines, SWD(2015) 111. 

10 The Annual Union Work Programme adopted pursuant to Article 8 of Regulation 1025/2012, the Rolling Plan for ICT Standardisation, 
the Committee on Standards and the European Multi-stakeholders Platform. 

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3.1. 

Five priority domains: the building blocks of ICT standard setting 

The Commission has identified the following priority areas: 5G communications, cloud computing, 
the  internet  of  things  (IoT),  (big)  data  technologies  and  cybersecurity.  These  are  the  essential 
technology building blocks of the Digital Single Market.  

Stronger European leadership in standard setting in these areas should increase competitiveness and 
help European innovations better access the global market. 

These  areas  were  selected  based  on  advice  from  the  European  Multi-stakeholders  Platform  on  ICT 
Standardisation11, which brings together industry stakeholders, standard setters, governments and civil 
society  representatives.  A  public  consultation  process12  confirmed  a  broad  consensus  around  the 
prioritisation presented here. 

As technologies converge, stronger European leadership in standard setting in these priority areas will 
also  significantly  impact  many  other  technology  areas.  Therefore,  the  ICT  standardisation  actions 
outlined in this Communication are not restricted to a single area. 

Areas  such  as  eHealth,  smart  energy,  intelligent  transport  systems  and  connected  and 
automated  vehicles,  including  trains,  advanced  manufacturing,  smart  homes  and  cities  and 
smart farming will significantly benefit from the proposed prioritisation of standards, as they rely 
on  the  essential  building  blocks  identified.  A  regular  review  of  the  priorities  is  planned  so  as  to 
respond to changes in technology and society. 

The  figure  below  shows  this  context,  including  the  different  layers  of  technology  areas,  enablers, 
services and applications.  

11  https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/en/european-multi-stakeholder-platform-ict-standardisation 
12 https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/news/contributions-and-preliminary-trends-public-consultation-standards-digital-single-market  

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The actions identified in this Communication aim to raise the political and strategic importance 
of ICT standardisation as a crucial element of the Digital Single Market, in response to growing 
global  competition.  They  aim  to  improve  the  focus,  agility  and  efficiency  of  the  standards  setting 
system  in  ICT.  They  encourage  new  approaches  in  standardisation,  such  as  promoting  community 
building, attracting new sectors, promoting open standards and platforms where needed, strengthening 
the link between research and standardisation, including testing of the standards, promoting consistent 
application  of  standards  and  their  uptake  by  the  market,  developing  when  needed  certification 
schemes.  

The  priorities  selected  will  complement  other  standardisation  instruments  used  to  implement 
European  standardisation  policy.  In  addition  to  the  planned  Joint  Initiative  on  European 
standardisation,  these  are  the  Rolling  Plan  for  ICT  Standardisation,  and  the  Annual  Union  Work 
Programme.  

Certain aspects of this priority plan also complement and develop specific public sector requirements 
identified  in  the  revised  version  of  the  European  Interoperability  Framework  for  European  Public 
Services13, taking on board the standardisation needs of the European public administrations.  

3.1.1.  Cloud Computing 

Cloud  computing  supports  new  digital  services  by  providing  the  massive  data  storage  and 
computational power needed for the digitisation of European industry and science. This is recognised 
in the Communication on the European Cloud Initiative14 which highlights the value of widening the 
user  base  of  research  and  education  networks.  These  networks  are  ideal  for  designing,  specifying, 
testing and deploying standards.  

Proprietary solutions, purely national approaches and standards that limit interoperability can severely 
hamper  the  potential  of  the  Digital  Single  Market.  The  take-up  of  cloud  computing  services  by 
businesses, consumers, public administrations and the scientific sector requires seamless user-friendly 
access,  but  also  trust  and  confidence,  in  particular  regarding  cloud  providers'  compliance  with 
appropriate  levels  of  data  protection,  security,  and  service  levels.  The  Communication  on  the 
European  Cloud  Initiative  highlights  the  need  for  the  use  of  existing  relevant  certification  and 
standards as well as – where appropriate – the creation of European-level certification and labelling.  

Common  open  standards  will  help  users  access  new  innovative  services,  especially  for  SMEs,  the 
public  sector  and  the  scientific  community.  In  particular,  the  portability  of  applications  and  data 
between  different  providers  is  essential  to  avoid  lock-in.  This  will  require  a  mapping  of  cloud 
standards and guidelines for end users (especially SMEs and the public sector).  

The Commission  

- intends to support funding the development and use of the ICT standards needed to further improve 
the  interoperability  and  portability  of  the  cloud.  This  includes  making  more  use  of  open  source 
elements  by better  integrating  open  source  communities15  into  SDOs'  standard  setting  processes,  by 
the end of 2016. 

-  will  facilitate  the  adoption  of  cloud  computing  services  by  supporting  the  finalisation  of 
international standards on service level agreements, by mid-2017. This will ensure transparency and 
quality for end users, especially SMEs. 

13 Current EIF version in http://ec.europa.eu/isa/documents/isa_annex_ii_eif_en.pdf.  

14 COM (2016)178 

15  Examples for Open Source communities active in the area of Cloud are the OpenStack Foundation, Cloud Foundry and the Eclipse 

Foundation.  

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- will request ESOs to update the mapping of cloud standards and guidelines for end users (especially 
SMEs and the public sector), in collaboration with international SDOs, cloud providers and end users, 
by mid-2017. 

Internet of things (IoT) 

3.1.2. 
The IoT16 is an emerging technology that connects more objects to the internet – including household 
equipment,  wearable  electronics,  vehicles  and  sensors.  The  number  of  such  connected  devices  is 
expected to exceed 20 billion by 2020. Besides the innovation potential in many industrial sectors, the 
IoT also has the potential to help address many societal challenges including climate change, resource 
and energy efficiency and ageing.  

However, the IoT landscape is currently fragmented  because there are so many proprietary or semi-
closed  solutions  alongside  a  plethora  of  existing  standards.  This  can  limit  innovations  that  span 
several  application  areas.  Large-scale  implementation  and  validation  of  cross-cutting  solutions  and 
standards is now the key to interoperability, reliability and security in the EU and globally. 

The European Union needs an open platform approach that supports multiple application domains and 
cuts across silos to create competitive IoT ecosystems. This requires open standards that support the 
entire value chain, integrating  multiple technologies, based on streamlined international cooperation 
that build on an IPR framework enabling easy and fair access to standard essential patents (SEPs). 

The Commission will: 

- Foster an interoperable environment for the Internet of Things, working with ESOs and international 
SDOs. This will develop consensus under the umbrella of the Alliance of IoT innovation (AIOTI17), 
targeting  reference  architectures,  protocols  and  interfaces,  the  promotion  of  open  application 
programming interfaces (APIs), support of innovation activities related to reference implementations 
and  experimentation  and  the  development  of  missing  interoperability  standards18.  As  part  of  its 
progress  review,  the  Commission  will  assess  if  further  steps  are  needed  to  tackle  identified 
interoperability failures, and if necessary, consider using legal measures to recommend appropriate 
standards. 

-  Promote  an  interoperable  IoT  numbering  space  that  transcends  geographical  limits,  and  an  open 

system for object identification and authentication. 

- Explore options and guiding principles, including developing standards, for trust, privacy and end-

to-end security, e.g. through a 'trusted IoT label'. 

- Promote the uptake of IoT standards in public procurement to avoid lock-in, notably in the area of 

smart city services, transport and utilities, including water and energy. 

3.1.3. 

5G communication networks 

5G  communication  networks  enable  seamless  global  communication  between  different  kind  of 
'nodes', connecting data, vehicles and other objects, smart sensors or voice. 5G is expected to become 
the essential global infrastructure for communication.  

Given its global nature, and the connections it creates between ICT and non-ICT sectors, 5G critically 
depends  on  standards  to  ensure  interoperability  and  security,  privacy  and  data  protection.  The 

16 The Staff Working Document on Advancing the Internet of Things in Europe provides further evidence for this section. 

17 http://www.aioti.eu/ 

18 Especially in the cross sector domain of semantic interoperability 

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Commission intends to develop a 5G Action Plan for EU wide deployment of 5G networks beyond 
2020 which will leverage take up of 5G standards.  

One  of  the  Commission's  priorities  is  to  ensure  that  the  industry-driven  5G  standardisation  process 
supports innovative digital business models of vertical markets19 from the outset. This means that the 
standardisation  process  and  priorities  will  include  new  radio  access  technologies  but  not  limited  to 
these, as promoted by some non-EU countries. For what concerns new Radio Access standards,  the 
priority is for solutions that ensure backward compatibility with existing xG20 ecosystems and greatly 
improve  spectrum  efficiency  usage  in  line  with  the  EU  Spectrum  Policy.  Global  consensus  and 
alignment  of  standard  roadmaps  will  be  fostered  through  cooperation  with  major  trading  partners. 
This  will  be  complemented  by  a  joint  approach  to  facilitate  the  future  use  of  globally  available  5G 
frequency bands, including at new high-frequency ranges.  

The Commission will: 

-  Foster  the  emergence  of  global  industry  standards  under  EU  leadership  for  key  5G  technologies 
(radio access network, core network) and network architectures notably through the exploitation of 
the  5G  public-private  partnership  results  at  the  level  of  key  EU  and  international  standardisation 
bodies (3GPP, ITU, OPNFV)21.  

- Ensure  that  5G  standards  are  compatible  with  innovative  use  cases  of  vertical  industries,  notably 
through  broader  participation  of  industries  with  sector-specific  needs,  in  5G  standardisation 
organisations. This work will begin in 2016. 

3.1.4.  Cybersecurity 

Cybersecurity provides the bedrock of trust and reliability on which the Digital Single Market will be 
built.  As  the  number  of  connected  objects  grows,  and  communication  channels  multiply,  European 
citizens and businesses will expect a very high quality of security standards to be built-in to any new 
technology or service.  

Cybersecurity  requires  a  collective  effort.  Supply  chains  are  increasingly  complex  and  key  market 
operators  and  digital  service  providers  are  increasingly  interconnected  and  interdependent.  Each 
organisation, big and small, public or private, is expected to appropriately manage cybersecurity risks 
and, where necessary, be in a position to show that it does so successfully.  

Innovative  communication  technologies,  widespread  use  of  smart  objects,  distributed  computing 
devices and data services will provide even bigger business and growth opportunities if they are fully 
integrated  into  the  Digital  Single  Market.  To  this  end,  seamless  and  interoperable  secure 
authentication  across  objects,  devices,  individuals  and  entities  is  needed  to  enable  secure  and 
transparent access to and  exchange of data. This may need  new authentication protocols in order to 
build trust in seamless electronic identification and authentication, supported by global cross-domain 
interoperability standards based on comparable authentication schemes.  

Incorporating security-by-design principles is essential to mainstreaming cybersecurity considerations 
into  all  emerging  ICT  standards  and  reference  architectures.  Real-life  implementation  pilots  are 
needed  to  test  and  validate  the  performance  of  these  standards,  in  conjunction  with  a  coordinated 
approach to cybersecurity labels and certification.  

19 E.g. automotive, heath, manufacturing industries. 

20 2G, 3G, 4G backward compatibility. 

21 3GPP is the 3rd Generation Partnership Project, see http://www.3gpp.org/about-3gpp; ITU is the International Telecommunication Union; 
OPNFV is the Open Platform for Network Function Virtualisation, see https://www.opnfv.org/ 

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The Commission will: 

-  Invite  ESOs,  other  SDOs  and  relevant  stakeholders  to  draw  up  practical  guidelines  covering  IoT, 
5G,  Cloud,  Big  Data  and  smart  factories,  by  the  end  of  2016.  These  should  aim  to  ensure  that 
security  and  seamless  secure  authentication  are  considered  from  the  outset  in  the  development  of 
ICT standards. They should highlight best practices and gaps to be addressed.  Based on the degree 
of  uptake  and  progress,  the  Commission  will  consider  adopting  a  Recommendation by  end  2017 
regarding  the integration of cyber security and application of privacy and personal  data protection 
requirements including data protection-by-design and data protection-by-default.  

- Invite ESOs and other SDOs and relevant stakeholders to develop standards by the end of 2018 that 
support global  interoperability and seamless trustworthy authentication across objects, devices and 
natural and legal persons based on comparable trust models. This work should be based on technical 
standards aligned with the eIDAS regulatory framework22.  

-  Over  the  next  three  years,  support  ESOs,  SDOs,  European  regulators  as  well  as  public-private 
initiatives,  including  those  in  support of  the  NIS  Directive  implementation,  in  the  development  of 
standards-based  cybersecurity  risk  management  guidelines  for  organisations  and  of  corresponding 
audit guidelines for authorities or regulators with oversight responsibilities. 

3.1.5.  Data 

Data is the fuel of the digital economy. Efficient sharing and exchange of data across national borders, 
within 'data value chains' (e.g. data exchange on spare parts between vehicle manufacturers and the 
aftermarket,  access to vehicle data for service providers, or ensuring cross-border energy trading) and 
across sectors (e.g. sharing traffic data with parcel services) will be key for the Digital Single Market. 
Better  interoperability  of  scientific  research  data  is  equally  important  to  ensure  that  the  R&D  data 
ecosystem can contribute fully to future economic growth.  

Open standards, as well as initiatives such as Open  Data Portal,  can help overcome barriers to  data 
sharing  between  technologies,  scientific  disciplines  and  countries.  Future  data  infrastructures  - 
including the European Data Infrastructure announced in the Communication on the European Cloud 
Initiative  -  will  require  standards  not  only  for  security  and  privacy,  but  also  for  metadata,  data 
preservation,  semantics,  data  values,  and  others.  In  the  context  of  scientific  research  data,  the 
Commission  supports  the  Research  Data  Alliance  (RDA)23  in  building  both  social  and  technical 
bridges  that  enable  open  sharing  of  research  data,  with  a  view  to  work  effectively  across  multiple 
disciplines,  and  to  define  options  for  data  storage  for  sustainable  use  and  re-use.  In  the  context  of 
public  sector  information  and  open  government  data,  the  Commission  supports  the  use  of  data 
standards promoted under the ISA programme24.  

The Commission will: 

- Increase R&D&I investment specifically for data interoperability and standards as of 2016. This will 
cover  areas  such  as  (i)  cross-sectorial  data  integration  (e.g.  for  entity  identifiers,  data  models, 
multilingual  data  management,  etc);  (ii)  better  interoperability  of  data  and  associated  metadata25. 
This will also be used to contribute to global standardisation in the field of data. 

22 In particular the implementing acts on interoperability and assurance levels (i.e. (EU) 2015/1501 and (EU) 2015/1502). 

23  Research  Data  Alliance  is  a  strategic  initiative  supported  by  the  European  Commission,  the  US  NSF/NIST  and  Australian  Ministry  of 
Research responding to the need of research communities and operators of research infrastructures to have interoperable global research data 
infrastructure.[replace it by hyperlink]  
24 E.g. the DCAT-AP and the Core Vocabularies. 

25 This will include, inter alia, the exploitation of INSPIRE  geospatial metadata in various EU policy domains 

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- Bring the European data community together, including through the H2020 Big Data Value public-
private  partnership,  to  identify  missing  standards  and  design  options  for  a  big  data  reference 
architecture, taking into account existing international approaches, by 2018. 

- Support, as of 2016, together  with stakeholders and relevant global initiatives26, data and software 
infrastructure  services  for  access  and  long-term  preservation  of  scientific  data.  Such  data 
infrastructures will address meta-data for discoverability, best practices for Data Management Plans, 
certification of repositories for quality, trust and transparency, in line with the requirements on data 
infrastructure and open science cloud from the European Cloud Initiative. 

3.1.6.  The wider impact on the digital transformation on industry and consumers 

The prioritised technology areas for ICT standardisation appear in several industrial sectors, and form 
the backbone of the future digital transformation of European industry, including the manufacturing 
industry, the agricultural sector, and future consumer products.  It is essential for the Digital Single 
Market  that  future  connected  devices  can  seamlessly  and  reliably  work  together  –  both  in  the 
industrial  context  and  for  consumer  goods.  This  should  be  regardless  of  manufacturer,  operating 
system or other technical details, and include the possibilities for data interoperability and portability 
between platforms. 

Some of the expected impact of the prioritised technologies in specific sectors can be seen from the 
examples below. 

- 

eHealth systems are instrumental to meeting patients’ expectations, improving patient safety and 
achieving  greater  health  systems’  responsiveness.  Likewise,  interoperable  eHealth  systems  will 
support  the  implementation  of  European  Reference  Networks  envisaged  by  the  Directive  on 
patients' rights in cross-border care27, which will have to deploy telemedicine at a large scale to 
be successful in providing treatment.  Better interoperability will bring more efficiency, smarter 
use of health data and better access to safety and security in the medical domain, while avoiding 
small scale implementations in fragmented markets. 

Better interoperability would make it possible to exchange electronic health records, starting with 
patient  summary  data  and  e-prescriptions,  in  line  with  personal  data  requirements.  This  would 
provide new opportunities for digital scale-ups and foster large scale deployment and uptake of 
eHealth solutions. Crucial success factors include the involvement of a broad set of stakeholders, 
strong end-user engagement and open international collaboration. 

The Commission will continue to encourage strong collaboration between Member States in the 
eHealth  Network  and  in  the  research  community  to  address  the  challenges  of  interoperability 
between health systems. This will enable patients and health care providers to fully benefit from 
the  Digital  Single  Market  in  health.  Moreover,  the  Commission  will  encourage  actions  to 
promote the security, safety and interoperability of  mHealth apps, accelerate the deployment and 
scaling  up  of  tele-medicine  and  tele-monitoring  and  support  the  development  and  adoption  of 
international standards and terminologies. 

-  There is significant potential to improve the performance, safety and efficiency of the transport 
system  by  supporting  and  promoting  the  seamless  deployment  of  connected  and  automated 
vehicles  across  Europe.    New  business  models  based  on  digital  services  provided  via  vehicles 
will  also  emerge.  A  significant  part  of  a  car's  value  already  comes  from  the  digital  technology 

26    E.g., RDA. 

27 http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2011:088:0045:0065:EN:PDF 

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that  is  inside.  Connected  vehicles  already  generate  large  and  increasing  quantities  of  data,  and 
communicate through wireless networks with other vehicles and traffic infrastructure.  

Representatives  of  the  relevant  stakeholders  present  in  the  Cooperative  ITS  Platform,  the 
automotive-telecommunication  Round  Table  and  the  Gear  2030  High-Level  Group  have 
committed  to  working  together  to  develop  and  drive  forward  the  necessary  standards.  These 
include:  (i)  connectivity  and  security  standards;  (ii)  an  advanced  and  secure  interface  that 
provides fair and non-discriminatory access to in-vehicle data making connected and automated 
driving services possible; (iii) and the elaboration of test standards and profiling of standards to 
ensure interoperability in implementations. Cooperation with ESOs and between SDOs active in 
these fields is also critical.  

High-quality standards are also needed for future automated vehicles, building on the work done 
for  connected  vehicles  standards,  and  allowing  reliable,  safe  and  secure  automated  vehicle 
functions.  Digital technology is already a key element  of rail transport and EU companies are 
among the leading suppliers. Rail sector will also benefit from ICT standardisation, including for 
cross-transport modes. 

The  Commission  is  considering  the  set-up  of  a  large-scale  cross-border  and  federated 
deployment  project  that  will  validate  the  interoperability  of  standard  based  solutions,  business 
models and data issues necessary for the deployment of connected and automated vehicles. 

Furthermore,  in  the  freight  transport  sector  the  broad  range  of  actors  and  approaches  to 
digitalisation leads to a wide range of systems lacking interoperability. This hinders the reuse of 
data  across  transport  modes  and  countries  and  hampers  the  development  of  new  and  reliable 
multimodal digital applications and services.  

There  is  a  need  to  develop  standards  for  data  exchange  in  logistics,  including  the  cross-modal 
harmonisation of standards, the definition of a common vocabulary, and agreement on standard 
messages and content of transport documents for various transport modes. 

- 

In the area of smart energy more than 70% of standards are ICT standards. Implementing them 
will  empower  consumers  and  improve  the  overall  system  by  making  retail  markets  more 
transparent and competitive, and supporting new services and businesses.  Smart grid solutions 
will lead to system cost savings and, in combination with smart appliances, will allow consumers 
to manage and reduce their energy consumption. High quality security standards guarantee that 
our  energy  systems  are  kept  safe.  Major  achievements  have  been  made  by  the  Commission's 
Smart Grids Task Force28 and in relation to smart appliances, while new standardisation-related 
work, including for smart homes and buildings, is ongoing. 

Additional work is needed in this area to address the lack of interoperability between solutions 
implemented  by  Member  States,  agree  on  functional  specifications,  understand  new  service 
models, and continually improve cooperation between SDOs. 

-  The uptake of advanced manufacturing technologies by European industry including agriculture 
and the agro-food sector, will incorporate intelligent production and intelligent process handling 
and integration, including optimisation solutions to improve productivity and flexibility, decrease 
waste and pollution, and/or lower costs in the entire manufacturing lifecycle.  

Standardisation  is  a  challenge  for  the  success  of  advanced  manufacturing  which  demands  an 
unprecedented degree of system integration across disciplines, hierarchies and life cycle phases. 
The  Commission  will  encourage  close  cooperation  between  researchers,  industry  and 

28 https://ec.europa.eu/energy/en/topics/markets-and-consumers/smart-grids-and-meters/smart-grids-task-force 

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standardisation  bodies  to  create  the  necessary  conditions  for  innovation,  methodical  soundness 
and functionality, stability and security of investments, practicability and market relevance. 

The Commission will work with ESOs and other ICT SDOs to ensure that their strategies and activity 
roadmaps take into account the new requirements emerging from the digitisation of industries such as 
vehicles, energy and eHealth. 

In the broader context of digitising industry, several national and regional initiatives, such as Industrie 
4.0  (DE),  Smart  Industry  (NL),  Catapults  (UK)  and  Industrie  du  Futur  (FR),  have  developed  a 
comprehensive standardisation plan and started working on reference architectures29. However, since 
markets and value chains are global, national initiatives need to be brought to a European and global 
level.  

Public-private partnerships and other large scale, industry-driven research initiatives enable European 
companies to link their research to standardisation. In the light of the accompanying Communication, 
"Digitising European Industry - Reaping the full benefits of a Digital Single Market " there is a need 
for  further  collaboration  between  the  relevant  stakeholders,  including  European  industry,  European 
and  international  SDOs,  and  forums  like  AIOTI30  and  IIC31,  aiming  at  a  comprehensive 
standardisation roadmap.  

The Commission will: 

- Promote the development of interoperability standards and European reference architectures, as well 
including 
as  open  cross-sectorial  platforms 
experimentation,  validation,  interoperability  testing  facilities  and  trusted  labels  and  certification 
schemes; 

the  digitisation  of  European 

industry, 

for 

-  Launch  lighthouse  pilot  projects  in  the  framework  of  the  Joint  Undertaking  on  Electronic 
Components  and  Systems  for  European  Leadership  to  validate  the  standards  for  future  markets, 
including large scale experimental test-beds.  

3.2. 

A high-level commitment to deliver and ensure leadership through standards 

Setting  priorities  for  ICT  standards  for  the  Digital  Single  Market  alone  will  not  suffice.  Success 
depends on a high-level commitment to standardisation from a broad stakeholder base, including from 
industry, standard-setting organisations, and the research community, as well as from EU institutions 
and  national  administrations.  Specific  and  strategic  actions  can  address  the  challenges  of  the  global 
transformation towards the digital economy.  

The  Commission  therefore  proposes  a  high-level  process  to  achieve  the  prioritised  actions.  This 
process  will  build  on  and  complement  the  European  Multi-stakeholders  Platform,  the  ICT  Rolling 
Plan on ICT Standardisation and the Annual Union Work Programme for European Standardisation as 
delivery mechanisms for standards and standardisation deliverables. The new elements of this process 
are as follows:  

29  See, e.g. the German Standardisation Roadmap https://www.dke.de/de/std/documents/rz_roadmap%20industrie%204-0_engl_web.pdf,  
30 Alliance for Internet of Things Innovation.  https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/en/alliance-internet-things-innovation-aioti 

31 Industrial Internet Consortium http://www.iiconsortium.org/ 

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1) Validation of priorities and improving the efficiency of the standard-setting process in Europe: 

The  Commission  will  work  with  the  standardisation  community,  in  particular  ESOs,  to  draw  up 
annual  timetables  and  roadmaps  for  each  of  the  deliverables  set  out  in  this  Communication,  in  line 
with the planned Joint Initiative on Standardisation. The Commission will also work with the ESOs 
and  their  members  to  identify  pathways  to  a  more  agile  response  to  ICT  standardisation  needs  in 
Europe including the needs of the European public sector.  

To  address  issues  around  the  convergence  of  technologies,  ESOs  should  build  on  recent  successes 
such as in intelligent transport systems and home appliances, to take more systematic account of the 
requirements of non-ICT sectors in their work on developing standards. They should strike a balance 
between  the  interests  of  the  digital  and  manufacturing  communities,  and  build  on  work  to  map 
research and innovation-related standardisation activities. 

2) Regularly reviewing and monitoring progress: 

Building  upon  the  reporting  obligations  to  which  European  standardisation  organisations  are 
submitted  under  Article  24  of  Regulation  1025/2012,  the  Commission  will  inform  the  European 
Parliament  and  Council  regularly,  highlighting  especially  the  prioritisation  of  ICT  standards  to 
achieve  the  Digital  Single  Market.  The  Commission  will  involve  industry  representatives,  other 
relevant  stakeholders  and  the  European  standardisation  organisations  in  the  process  of  monitoring 
progress  on  the  deliverables  for  each  of  the  priority  domains,  taking  due  account  of  the  reporting 
obligations. The Commission intends to include such regular dialogue in the foreseen Joint Initiative 
on Standardisation.  

 3) Improving EU support to ICT priority standardisation: 

As of 2016, the Commission intends to use its Horizon 2020 and Connecting Europe Facility funds to 
strengthen existing and deploy forward-looking standardisation activities. H2020 will put a particular 
focus  on  promoting  open  standards.  The  Commission  will  continue  to  support  effective  knowledge 
transfer between R&D&I projects and the standardisation organisations. Moreover, through its Joint 
Research  Centre,  the  Commission  will  provide  pro-active  scientific  and  technical  support  in  the 
priority standardisation areas. In addition  the Commission will fund large-scale pilot projects in the 
priority areas identified, in order to validate and improve the take-up of standards.  

When allocating grants to the ESOs, the Commission will take into account the prioritisation in ICT 
standardisation.  The  planned  Joint  Initiative  on  Standardisation  is  also  expected  to  support  the 
delivery of the actions in this priority plan. 

4) Ensuring fair and non-discriminatory access  

ICT  standardisation  requires  a  balanced  IPR  policy,  based  on  FRAND  licensing  terms.  Various 
debates at European and international level are currently taking place with varying approaches being 
considered. A balanced policy should take into account a variety of needs: fair return on investment to 
incentivise  R&D  and  innovation,  a  sustainable  standardisation  process,  wide  availability  of 
technologies in an open and competitive market, and the difficulty for SMEs to participate.  

With the many technologies involved in  implementing  complete digital value chains, notably in the 
area  of  IoT,  there  is  uncertainty  in  particular  in  relation  to:  (i)  who  is  the  relevant  community  of 
standard essential patent holders; (ii) the cost of the cumulated IPR needed to implement the standard; 
(iii) the methodology applied to calculate the value of the licensing terms; (iv) the regime regarding 
the  settlement  of  disputes.  Against  this  background,  a  fast,  predictable,  efficient  and  globally 
acceptable licensing approach, which ensures a fair return on investment for standard essential patent 
(SEPs)  holders  and  fair  access  to  SEPs  for  all  players  –  and  especially  SMEs  -  of  the  value  chain 
would be beneficial.  

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5) Strengthening the EU's presence in international dialogue and cooperation on ICT standards:  

Reflecting  the  global  nature  of  digital  technology  development,  the  Commission  will  continue  to 
proactively  engage  with  key  international  partners  (such  as  the  US,  China,  Japan,  South  Korea)  to 
ensure global alignment of priorities in the ICT domain, and a consistent approach to standard setting. 
The  Commission  intends  to  identify,  by  mid-2016,  possibilities  for  setting-up  and  funding  a 
supporting mechanism to monitor on-going work and support the participation of European experts in 
the relevant international standardisation and other fora working on the ICT priority areas.  

EU institutions, Member States, and industry need to better understand in which standardisation work 
to  invest  and  increase  and  optimise  the  European  presence  and  coordination  in  international 
standardisation bodies, in close coordination with EU Member States.  

Regular  dialogue  between  international  SDOs  and  ESOs  working  on  the  priority  areas  identified  in 
this  Communication  will  avoid  duplication  of  activities  and  support  work  towards  internationally 
coherent standards. 

In summary, the Commission will:  

-  launch  by  2017  a  regular  inter-institutional  dialogue  on  European  standardisation,  highlighting  – 
inter alia – ICT priorities in order  to take stock of progress  on the deliverables – and where necessary 
–  to  adapt  the  priorities.    The  Commission  intends  to  include  such  regular  dialogue  in  the  foreseen 
Joint Initiative on Standardisation. 

 -  work  in  collaboration  with  stakeholders  including  ESOs,  EPO,  industry  and  research,  on  the 
identification, by 2017, of possible measures to (i) improve accessibility and reliability of information 
on  patent  scope,  including  measures  to  increase  the  transparency  and  quality  of  standard  essential 
patent declarations as well as  (ii) to clarify core elements of an equitable, effective and enforceable 
licensing  methodology  around  FRAND  principles  and  (iii)  to  facilitate  the  efficient  and  balanced 
settlement of disputes.  

–  as  of  mid-2016,  investigate  possibilities  for  setting  up  and  funding  supporting  mechanism  to 
strengthen  European  participation  in  global  standard  setting,  by  monitoring  global  standardisation 
activities in the ICT domain, and support the wider participation of European experts. 

14