Today, the German Strategy Forum for Standardisation chaired by Parliamentary State Secretary Dr Franziska Brantner presented initial results at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action. Since the beginning of 2023, the body set up by the Economic Affairs Ministry, which comprises senior representatives from business, associations, academia, standardisation organisations, administration and society, has been advising the Federal Government on how to strengthen the role of Germany in international standardisation. In addition to the key issues of hydrogen, the circular economy, AI, data, quantum technologies and direct current, the Forum has dealt with the recruitment of urgently needed experts and drawn up initial recommendations.

International standards are a key factor for the digital and sustainable transition. They help companies to meet policy requirements regarding the circular economy and energy efficiency and they ensure the global interoperability of technical and digital solutions as far as possible. They are thus also an important instrument of a successful policy to strengthen Germany as a competitive centre for business: participating in the shaping of international standards means creating a clear competitive edge on global markets for domestic companies. Germany is one of the leading nations when it comes to the direction of technical standardisation bodies at international level.

Franziska Brantner said: "The Strategy Forum clearly focuses on the European and international level: at this level, we need to become much stronger in some areas, including data and hydrogen. But we also need to examine the adoption of existing international standards of the ISO, IEC, ITU and other organisations in the near future in order to rapidly implement the digital transition of our economy, including AI standards, to bring important applications faster to the market. The Forum’s work has also shown that a horizontal Digital Product Passport accelerates the transition of the economy and creates an essential competitive advantage for Germany. It guarantees digital access to important product information along the entire value chain. Our Forum brings all groups of stakeholders together with the aim of close cooperation between players from standardisation and regulation in the field of forward-looking technologies. As regards hydrogen, we are therefore building on a coordination platform in Germany to pool our resources and activities also at EU level with a strategic focus on international standardisation."

The strategic issue of direct current is another priority of the Forum for the efficient use of renewable energy and the success of the energy transition: the aim is to quickly identify needs for standardisation and regulation to be able to play a leading role at international level. Financial support for participation in standardisation work and support for young scientists are also important horizontal issues in the Forum to guarantee the influence of German experts at European and international level. At the same time, financial support makes it easier for important new interested parties, including academia and innovative startups, to participate in standardisation work. Furthermore, the German Strategy Forum for Standardisation works closely together with its European counterpart, the High-Level Forum on European Standardisation, in which Ms Franziska Brantner represents Germany.

The German Strategy Forum for Standardisation, which was set up following a call for expressions of interest, comprises 42 members. You can find the list of members here (PDF, 106 KB) . A summary of the work results (in German) is available here (PDF, 151 KB).