Both CEN-CENELEC “Standards + Innovation Awards” went to Germany
© DIN

At the conference "Boosting innovation through standards" held as part of the BRIDGIT2 project on 13 November 2019 in Brussels, the Standards + Innovation Awards were presented for the first time. With this new award, the European standards organizations CEN and CENELEC have the chance to honour important contributions from research and innovation to standardization as well as to recognize researchers, innovators and entrepreneurs for their commitment to standardization. From a total of 19 nominees, two Standards + Innovation Awards were presented – and both of these went to Germany.

The first prize was awarded to the Smart Mature Resilience Project. The project’s scientific coordinator, Jose Julio Cabeza Gonzalez of CIEM/University of Agder (Kristiansand, Norway), accepted the award on behalf of the project partners. The project managers developed instruments to improve the capacity of cities to resist hazards and disasters, e.g. natural disasters. With support from DIN, the work results of this project were transposed into three CEN Workshop Agreements. The four research institutions participating were TECNUN/University of Navarra, CIEM, University of Strathclyde, and Linköping University, as well as the ICLEI European Secretariat of Sustainability. The following seven cities were also involved in the project: Rome, Riga, San Sebastian, Bristol, Glasgow, Vejle and Kristiansand. This project had already been highlighted by the European Commission as a success story and was presented with the DIN Innovation Award for a research project on 7 November 2019. Jose Julio Cabeza Gonzalez  dedicated the prize to his deceased colleague and the coordinator of the project, Jose Maria Sarriegi of TECNUN.  

The second Standards + Innovation Award went to Dr. Thomas Linner of the Technical University, Munich. As the scientific director and project manager of the REACH2020 (Responsive Engagement of the Elderly promoting Activity and Customized Healthcare) project, Dr. Linner was actively involved in national, European and international standardization. He described the interplay between research and standardization as follows: “It was important for us to involve DIN from the beginning as experience shows that taking standardization into consideration early on makes it easier to transfer technology from research to industry later.”  

The award ceremony for the winners of the Standards + Innovation Awards was enjoyed by an audience of around 300 attendees.

At DIN, your contact persons for the Smart Mature Resilience project are René Lindner and Saskia Maresch. For the REACH2020 project, your contact partner at DIN is Anja Höfer.