28.12.2016   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 487/92

Rapporteur:

Gundars STRAUTMANIS

1.1.

The EESC broadly welcomes the document drafted by the Commission, as it provides a starting point for plans and initiatives promoting ICT standardisation; it establishes priority domains and key actions, accompanied by a timetable (roadmap).

1.2.

The EESC believes that standardisation should help to increase added value, secure employment in all areas and improve the wellbeing of society as a whole. It is therefore particularly important to identify the priority domains where standardisation is to be carried out, including in the information technology and communication (ICT) sector, so as to resolve these issues which are vital for everyone. This demonstrates that this Commission communication is truly necessary, and also clearly shows why the drafting of this document is crucial for further ICT standardisation — and, in turn, the development of the Digital Single Market.

1.3.

The EESC wishes to put forward a number of recommendations which could help the Commission further improve the communications and other accompanying documents that it has drawn up.

1.4.

While the Committee supports the Commission communication as a whole, the EESC would nevertheless suggest evaluating:

2.1.

On 19 April 2016, the European Commission adopted its communication to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on ICT Standardisation Priorities for the Digital Single Market (COM(2016) 176 final).

2.2.

Objectives of the Commission communication:

2.3.

Spirit of the Commission communication:

2.4.

Context of the Commission communication:

2.5.

Key issues of the Commission communication:

3.1.1.

Point 1 of the Commission communication states that the transformation of the global economy to a digital economy affects all industrial and service sectors. Similarly, point 1 addresses the general issues relating to the communication, such as:

3.2.1.

Point 2 of the Commission communication states that development of ICT standards faces several new challenges that require a focused and sustained EU-level solution.

3.2.2.

The communication stresses that the potential consequences of these challenges could be a dispersal of limited resources, relatively poor efficiency and, more broadly, a dampening of Europe’s innovative capacity.

3.3.1.

Point 3 of the Commission communication presents a priority action plan for the next wave of technology standardisation in the digital economy.

3.3.2.

Approach proposed by the Commission:

3.4.1.

In point 3.1 of the communication, the Commission identifies the five priority domains that constitute the fundamental technological building blocks of the Digital Single Market (order of listed domains is not important):

3.4.2.

The priority areas were selected based on advice from the European Multi-stakeholders Platform on ICT Standardisation, which brings together industry stakeholders, standard-setters, governments and civil society representatives.

3.4.3.

The digital transformation has important implications for different sectors as well as consumers. Many important areas of ICT application (for example: e-health, intelligent transport systems, smart energy, advanced manufacturing, smart cities, etc.) are based directly on the five selected priorities of ICT standardisation.

3.4.4.

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.

3.5.1.

Point 3.2 of the Commission communication states that 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.

3.5.2.

The Commission proposes a high-level process to achieve the prioritised actions. This process will build on and complement the European Multi-stakeholders Platform, the Rolling Plan for ICT Standardisation and the Annual Union Work Programme for European Standardisation as a mechanism to implement and disseminate standards. The Commission communication describes each element of the process and all related activities.

4.1.1.

From the perspective of the Commission communication, standardisation is not an end in itself, but simply a means; one of its aims is to encourage research and innovation in ICT.

4.1.2.

Standards are not just about opportunities; they also lay down frameworks and limitations. Standards may facilitate development, but they may also slow it down, particularly in sectors that are developing very rapidly, such as ICT.

4.1.3.

Point 2 of the communication, entitled ‘Setting standards for ICT: a fast-changing and challenging global context’, which discusses the problems encountered in the standardisation process, states that: ‘… the increasing complexity resulting from a proliferation of standards, and the diversity of technical communities involved in standard setting can slow down innovation’.

4.1.4.

The findings of the public consultation (Synopsis report on the public consultation ‘Standards in the Digital Single Market: setting priorities and ensuring delivery’) reveal the views of the concerned stakeholder groups, such as the ICT sector. This sector wants a ‘bottom-up’ standardisation process.

4.1.5.

It is clear that imposing overly strict standards, or imposing them prematurely, may

4.1.6.

This means that, during the standardisation process, the situation should be carefully assessed as regards the design, adoption and implementation of each standard and a reasonable balance must be struck between standards as a restricting factor versus creativity, i.e. leaving open the possibility to express oneself freely in order to create new ‘non-standard’ solutions.

4.2.1.

Point 3.1 of the Commission communication sets out the aforementioned five priority domains for ICT standardisation:

4.2.2.

At the same time, the communication refers to the annual Rolling Plan for ICT Standardisation. The different areas identified and described in the annual Rolling Plan for ICT Standardisation 2016 are listed below:

4.2.3.

Although these two documents — the Commission communication and the Rolling Plan for ICT Standardisation 2016 — are related and complementary, they use different terminology. Neither of the two documents makes a link between similar domains of standardisation.

4.3.1.

Point 3.1 of the Commission communication specifies the five priority areas for ICT standardisation; it is stated: ‘These areas were selected based on advice from the European Multi-stakeholders Platform on ICT Standardisation, which brings together industry stakeholders, standard setters, governments and civil society representatives. A public consultation process confirmed a broad consensus around the prioritisation presented here.’

4.3.2.

Public consultation took place from 23 September 2015 to 4 January 2016 and there were 168 participants. The findings of the consultation are set out in the Synopsis report on the public consultation ‘Standards in the Digital Single Market: setting priorities and ensuring delivery’.

4.3.3.

Given that the results of the survey are taken into account when selecting the ICT strategy’s priority areas, which are set out in the Commission communication and concern a large proportion of European entrepreneurs, a relatively low participation rate (168 respondents) could require additional information on the composition structure of respondents.

4.3.4.

Information on the groups of respondents is available in the report (2).

4.3.5.

As can be seen, many respondents belong to different standardisation organisations. A relatively small proportion is made up of developers and producers — those who follow market needs closely, who set or follow trends in technological advances and who have their own development plans. In absolute terms, their numbers are small.

4.3.6.

The findings of the consultation, which are set out in the Synopsis report, provide information on the selected domains but do not, however, indicate the number of domains actually examined or what they are (nor do they indicate the domains mentioned in the annual Rolling Plan for ICT Standardisation). They also do not specify who made the choices or, where the initial list included other fields, what the opinions were.

4.4.1.

The Commission communication mentions many specific points that will change over time, including the priority domains, the key actions, the main deadlines, and many other things. This means that such a document, i.e. the Commission communication, cannot be designed for the long term.

4.4.2.

Therefore, there needs to be a specific procedure, applied in practice, describing in what way and how often the document will be reviewed, public consultations organised, decisions taken, operational planning carried out and other activities undertaken — i.e., the regular life-cycle management of the document and any related activities should be planned.

4.5.1.

The Commission communication mentions many aspects regarding the choice of priorities for ICT standardisation and the measures planned to take this work forward. However, on reading this communication and the related documents, the EESC study group found that several aspects that are important to society are not addressed at all or are mentioned only in passing.

4.5.2.

Although the main purpose of the Commission communication is to identify priority avenues for ICT standardisation and related activities, its practical implementation and enforcement will also have an effect, whether direct or indirect, in areas such as:

4.5.3.

The EESC notes that during the standardisation process, attention must be paid to: