Standardisation in research and innovation: the case of CHARISMA project
By Iván Moya Alcón (UNE)
Standardization is a term that has different meanings depending on the context where it is used. Perhaps what first comes up is that standardization is the harmonization, the agreement in the way a specific activity or product is made or performed. But this harmonization can be put in the form of a document developed under specific rules that assure that any interested stakeholder can take part in the drafting process and that guarantee that the final text is the result of the consensus among these stakeholders. This resulting document is called a ‘standard’ and the process of drafting and agreeing on the content of this document is (also) called ‘standardization’.
So, why link this standardization with research and innovation?
One of the major challenges of innovation is bridging the gap between the results of the projects and the market uptake of these outputs. Standards are tools that industry and market players are used to, it is a language they understand and a reference they trust; so, integrating standardization in research and innovation (R&I) projects can help with this challenge. Indeed, the European Commission supports this approach in the European Framework Programmes (Horizon Europe, H2020, even Framework Programme 7) where standardization is referred to in both general documents and specific calls, as one of the tools to facilitate the transfer of the results from the innovation environment to the market with the aim of making the most of these public funds.
The next question is: how to integrate standardization in an R&I project like CHARISMA?
The project aims to harmonize Raman characterization of materials from a holistic approach (spectrum recording and normalization, post-acquisition spectra processing and analysis and representation of spectra) so it is essential to first gather relevant existing knowledge to set the basis for this harmonization. The identification of the relevant CEN/CENELEC/ISO/IEC standards is part of the analysis of the state of the art performed allowing to acknowledge and use the currently accepted practises in this environment and identify missing topics that may need to be standardized. A very nice and complete analysis on that was published in this article by the CHARISMA partners.
On the other hand, different categories of stakeholders in the field at the European/international level are represented in the standardization committees where these standards are developed. The standardization community is therefore an efficient and wide dissemination channel to raise awareness about CHARISMA and get valuable views and advice from. Additionally, the interaction with the relevant standardization committees is a key step for what is usually the major benefit of integrating standardization activities in R&I projects.
“There is no doubt that the outcomes expected from CHARISMA will be highly valuable for Raman users enhancing and promoting the further use of this characterization technique.”
There is no doubt that the outcomes expected from CHARISMA will be highly valuable for Raman users enhancing and promoting the further use of this characterization technique. However, the impact of these outcomes can be significantly boosted if they are integrated in a document widely recognized by the industry developed in a system broader than the consortium participants, in an open and consensus-based process and with impact beyond the lifetime of the project, that is, a standard.
So, a key step of the standardization activities included in CHARISMA is to promote the transfer of selected results to existing or new standards. This requires the analysis of the available results, the selection of results that contain a key innovation element of the project and the consideration of the current standardization landscape. Once the results to be standardized are selected a formal proposal must be done to the relevant standardization organisations. The time needed for transferring the results to a standard depends on the standardization route to be followed but it shall be noticed that a specific type of standardization deliverable (the Workshop Agreement) is promoted for the R&I results covering their specific needs of developing a standard in a commonly not fully mature topic and the requirement of a standardization process that can be accomplished within the typical lifetime of these projects.
UNE and CHARISMA project
These steps can be performed by consortium members by themselves if they have enough knowledge of the standardization system and resources to be dedicated to this task or can (very commonly) be led by a National Standardization Body, which is the case of CHARISMA in which this role is played by UNE (Spanish Standardization Body). Described activities that provide benefits for R&I projects is, indeed, a win-win situation, since the standardization system also benefits from this process, updating the standard catalogue with innovative topics.
