Fostering the US German Collaboration in International Standardization - the US German Standards Panel 2023 in Washington DC

The first panel was about current standardisation strategies in the USA and Europe. Marry Saunders from ANSI presented the U.S. Standization Starategy. She mentions that the U.S. strategy reflects the diversity of the U.S. system, and that this system is not only committed to interests within its own territory, but also to international standardisation and a global trading system that is balanced and without barriers. Gerhild Roth from the BMWK gave the participants an insight into the EU standardisation strategy and addressed the opportunities and challenges from the perspective of the German member states. In the following discussion round, the different perspectives on the strategies of industry and government were highlighted. All participants agreed that despite all coordination efforts at the political level, industry-driven standards should have priority, in order to ward off state-driven standardisation approaches. 
 

A second panel dealt with the digital transformation of standards development and smart standards. The goal of this panel was to mutually understand the needs of German and U.S. industry and the plans of German and U.S. standards development organizations in relation to digital transformation of standards development and SMART (i.e. machine readable) standards. Matthias Marzinko, Drägerwerk presented in a keynote the importance of considering the diverse needs of customers and the challenges of integrating standards into digital systems. The panel concluded among others that is considerable value in engaging people with different perspectives from different parts of the world, but significant legal and financial challenges must be addressed as well as U.S. and Germany must connect and share with each other, and trust and learn from each other to address the challenges connected to digital transformation and SMART standards. 
 

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become widely adopted across a number of applications and is projected to continue to grow. This panel looked towards emerging trends, requirements, and future direction of AI standardization with an eye on German-US collaboration. The discussion highlighted the need for outreach to people who are not currently involved in standardisation, and the challenge of incentivising them to participate. The discussions also identified opportunities for national level support in bringing in more stakeholders and explaining work across sectors. Strategic planning is another critical aspect that needs attention. This goes beyond bottom-up and top-down approaches to enable outside-in perspectives. In conclusion, the AI Discussion Round 1 provided a platform for experts to share their views on AI standardization, responsibility, and trustworthiness. The participants emphasized the need to work together, engage with industry, listen to the community, and prioritize issues to develop effective standards for responsible AI. 
 

Climate change drivers and solutions are multifaceted and touch all aspects of standards. The second Discussion Round focused on opportunities to support alignment and collaboration between the U.S. and Germany through standards that support sustainability and address climate change. The concept of climate standards is not limited to strictly sustainability-related standards. A numerous standards can or do influence the drivers or results of climate change. Engaging technical experts from across the standards ecosystem in understanding the impacts and opportunities is challenging, but necessary. Among others it was agreed that a common U.S./German communication strategy around ongoing activity and achievements reflecting the value propositions for different stakeholders should be developed.
 

In conclusion, the importance of a unified view of the role of international standardization and its interconnectedness with the broader ecosystem is to be highly regarded. The alignment has the potential to disseminate a coherent global message and foster constructive dialogue in regulatory circles. This event is more than just a conference; it is the launching pad for a promising collaboration that must continue to be nurtured over the long term.

While the standardization frameworks in the U.S. and Germany may have differences, the underlying similarities and common methodologies provide a solid foundation for joint efforts. Moving forward, it is imperative that leveraging these common approaches will create a more harmonized international standardization landscape. This meeting serves as an inspiring starting point, fuelling optimism for the partnership ahead.

The full report on the 2023 U.S.-German Standards Panel can be accessed through the download section on top of this page.