Innovation Europe > News > Innovation EU Vol1-1 > Raising the standard for innovation

On the face of it, standards and innovation make uneasy bedfellows. Many people regard standardisation as a slow and rigid process. Innovation is perceived as the total opposite, being the fast-driving force of technological change. But look further and you’ll see the situation isn’t quite that simple.

Standards play a crucial role in defining market conditions in many industry sectors, not only high-technology ones. They influence technological advances and determine innovation performance. In particular, they influence the innovation process by setting the direction for future technological developments. And they can be a catalyst for innovative thinking and creativity.

Hence, far from being a barrier to innovation, standards can be an important driver.

Standards give innovators a level playing field, allowing solutions from different suppliers to work together (known as “interoperability”) and competition between new and existing products, services and processes. They also help diffuse knowledge and encourage technology to be applied in new ways, which may trigger innovation. Standards provide legal security for innovative companies, creating large-scale markets and building confidence among consumers.

Europe INNOVA Standards Networks

Recognising this important role, standards were the focus of six networks supported under the first phase of the Europe INNOVA initiative. The Europe INNOVA Standards Networks focused on integrating standards in innovative products, services and business practices and on demonstrating the benefits of using standards in six different industry and services areas.

This sectoral approach enabled each of them to address the best use of standards in their sector and to develop the close relationships with stakeholders necessary to guarantee successful transfer and use of the results.

Each of the networks mapped and analysed the standards landscape within a specific business sector or cross-sectoral process. STEPPIN, for instance, was concerned with public procurement; DEPUIS with environmentally friendly product design; and BIOHEALTH with the eHealth sector. Three of the networks addressed traditional sectors, namely: furniture supply chain (INNOVAFUN); shipbuilding (EUROMIND); and building and construction (STAND-INN).

Over a two-year period (2006-2008), the networks were able to interact with, and have an impact on, a great number of stakeholder groups. Companies, decision-makers, end-users, and trade and consumer associations were reached by frequent workshops, expert meetings, policy recommendations and partnering events.

Using existing standards better

One of the areas explored by the networks was how to make better use of existing standards. The starting point was to identify market failures and potential public interventions that might improve innovation performance in the design of new products and services.

The use of standards in EU public procurement processes and those used by large multinational companies were also assessed with a view to enabling bidding companies to be more innovative in their product and service designs and offerings.

In STAND-INN, for instance, mapping exercises were carried out that looked into various examples where Building Information Modelling (BIM) and IFC standards were used. Seventeen good practice examples of innovative sustainable housing were identified from eight different countries.

The project has actively disseminated, showing how BIM, founded on the building SMART open standards and standards for sustainable construction, can change the whole building production business process and lead to much more efficient and environmentally friendly production.

The project culminated in Build London Live, an event that set out to showcase how “building” – collaborative working using open standards – can make international collaboration possible in real time.

It took the form of a competition, with many of the teams working together from different locations and countries, where the design teams were asked to design a mixeduse development consisting of office space, conference facilities, 250 homes, retail space and a hotel.

All the teams created BIMs and demonstrated sustainability scenarios, such as energy analysis, heating performance and associated costs, thermal comfort, constructability, facilities management and also lifecycle costs.

The STAND-INN project was rewarded with the”Network of the Year” Award at the Europe INNOVA Conference 2008.

Award-winning project

Also with an emphasis on eco-innovation, DEPUIS aimed to enable more SMEs to use lifecycle thinking in the design of new products and processes, and thus reduce their environmental impact.

As a demonstration case, the partners developed a small domestic building, showing the importance and usefulness of using international standards to optimise the construction from the environmental point of view by minimising the CO2 emissions over the building’s lifecycle.

Other activities included the preparation of a multimedia handbook on Product Data Technology and the organisation of workshops for software developers on how to produce software that is compatible with the international standards.

The Standards networks have already shown that intelligent use of standards can initiate new methods, services and products

Networking for eHealth

In the eHealth sector, the BIOHEALTH network promoted knowledge about eHealth standards and organised specific conferences related to identity management and biometrics so as to connect eHealth tools and their potential users.

“eHealth is a new field and much is still under discussion,” notes Claudia Hildebrand, BioHealth’s co-ordinator. “There are unclear and different legal regulations between countries, and competing standards exist . . . When it came to networking, workshops and sharing information to the stakeholders, the diversity of knowledge and backgrounds proved a real asset.”

The network developed a standards repository which can be used as a decision-making tool for start-ups and SMEs that want to integrate interoperability standards into their products and services to reach larger markets. The tool is also for buyers or procurers looking to integrate new products or services into complex existing systems using the same standards.

The tool is already validated by the standards bodies ETSI and CEN and has the potential to be used by other European standards-related initiatives.

Standards for better products

Having identified and analysed numerous open standards in the maritime sector, the EUROMIND network organised workshops in different countries on how best to apply these to improve supply chain collaboration in European shipbuilding.

The goal was to optimise communication, co-operation, speed, cost-effectiveness, quality and security. Various standards and scenarios were also investigated, in some cases to test the standard itself, whilst in others there was more focus on quantifying the effort needed to implement a given standard within the maritime industry.

INNOVAFUN mainly targeted SMEs through information sessions in sector-specific meetings and trade fairs so as to train them in the use of the fun Step standard (ISO 10303-236) and explain its benefits. As a result, products and services based on the funStep standard have been integrated into furniture-related enterprises right from the supplier to the retailer.

Such enterprises include the biggest Spanish furniture retailer, El Corte Inglés, which receives catalogue data from its suppliers in a standardised way. Another beneficiary is the Scandinavian region, where the funStep solution is being used by software companies for interior decoration and home appliance manufacturers.

Finally, STEPPIN conducted a survey and had extensive discussions with stakeholders regarding the usage of standards in public tenders. The results reveal that standards are regularly used, but mainly for reducing risks and legal obligations; the purchasers are not directly interested in “innovation,” as novelties are often considered too risky.

The project placed particular emphasis, therefore, on involving procurement officers themselves, so that they are in the position to use the existing methods and to influence future changes in procurement processes towards more innovative tendering.

Spreading the word

One of the networks’ most tangible outcomes was a set of Good Practice Handbooks. Based on the experiences gathered from the “hands-on’” work, these sum up the know-how collected and present practical solutions for European companies on how to use standards in their business processes to improve their competitiveness. As such they capture the insights of the different networks in the ingenious use of standards to foster innovation.

Many of the lessons are universal or adaptable and so will benefit market players in all industry sectors, not just those addressed by the networks. For example, the utilisation of standards for product data representation and exchange play a central role, as the challenges in communication and information exchange are very similar in the health sector, the modelling of buildings, or the design of furniture and many others.

Shaping future policies

The findings clearly show European companies need proper incentives to use standards more effectively. Currently the application of standards is often considered costly and time consuming, especially in smaller enterprises. Possible incentives could take the form of regulations, creation of support networks, making way for potentially free-of-charge standards and implementing them on a digitalised, not paper form. The focus should also lie in the extension of already existing, successful open standards, and in the development of tools that are based on them.

A strong encouragement at the European and national level is required to adjust the standardisation system so that it plays a more proactive role in developing innovative solutions. The Standards networks have already shown that intelligent use of standards and combination of standards from different fields can initiate new methods, services and products.

Without a clear communication strategy showcasing the benefits of using standards and demonstrating how to apply them, the unused potential will not be employed.

Mike Sharpe

For more information see:
www.europe-innova.eu/archive/standardsnetworks