Fernando Utrilla, head of R&D&I at the Spanish Association for Standardization, UNE, took part on Wednesday 18 February in a meeting of the ITRE (Industry, Research and Energy) Committee of the European Parliament, in its Working Group on the R&D&I funding programme, Horizon Europe.
Accompanied by Sibylle Gabler of the standardisation body DIN, Andreea Gulacsi of the European standardisation bodies CEN and CENELEC, and Kirsi Haavisto of the European Commission, they outlined to several Members of Parliament the benefits that standardisation brings to valorise the results of research and innovation and bridge the innovation gap, often cited as one of the major problems of the European economy.
They also pointed out that this tool is underused at present notwithstanding recent efforts to promote it, and put forward tangible ideas for harnessing the benefits of standardisation more efficiently in the future Framework Programme for Research and Innovation, FP10, which is scheduled to replace Horizon Europe in 2028 and is currently under design.
These measures are contained in the recent CEN and CENELEC position paper on FP10, which UNE has contributed to.
