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STAND-INN: “The Network of the Year” 2008

Date: 25/11/2008
At the Europe INNOVA Conference in Lyon, France, 23 October 2008 the "Cluster Manager", the "Best Innovation Tool", and the "Network of the Year" 2008 awards were presented during a festive ceremony in Lyon's City Hall. The Europe INNOVA Awards recognise the entrepreneurial and professional skills involved in successfully managing innovation.

Lars Christensen (left) and Christopher Groome from STAND-INN project celebrating the awardThe Standards network STAND-INN competed for the “Best Network Award” alongside two other finalists, NICE and NetBioCluE, and eventually won the series. The arguments were that STAND-INN has made the most efforts in promoting public awareness about, and visibility for its activities. In practice, STAND-INN used new manufacturing processes based on common standards to create sustainable and more efficient business processes in the building & construction sector. With 31 partners, STAND-INN is also the biggest network of Europe INNOVA.

The Standards networks joined the Lyon Conference with active participation by organising a joint information stand for the presentation of six projects’ results and the published handbooks. Additionally, the 550 conference delegates from 30 different countries had an opportunity to learn about ‘Build London Live’ event, what was achieved and what impact it may have in the longer term in the context of the STAND-INN project to promote standards for innovation and sustainability in the construction sector. In one of the parallel sessions focussing on Lead Markets the importance of interoperable standards in the area of eHealth was illustrated based on the experiences and recommendations of the BIOHEALTH project.

More information about other award winners, the Europe INNOVA Conference 2008 and all presentations can be found here


 

Standards for higher innovation performance

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Identifying and promoting standards that support innovation in Europe: the first challenge of the Standards network

Demonstrating the competitive advantages of applying standards able to enhance innovation in Europe is the cornerstone of the Europe INNOVA Standards Network.
Six Standards networks 'DEPUIS', 'INNOVAFUN', 'BIOHEALTH', 'EUROMIND', 'STAND-INN' and 'STEPPIN' are now combining their expertise within Europe INNOVA initiative to demonstrate how standards can efficiently contribute to spreading innovative products and services.

Standards play a crucial role in the definition of market conditions in many industry sectors, not only high-technology ones. They influence technological advances and determine innovation performance. They influence the innovation process through "path dependency"; in other words, when (technical) specifications are defined, the options for future technological developments are by definition narrowed, since alternatives are ruled out through a combination of technical and market choices.

The merit of applying standards lies in the possibility of reducing the transaction costs involved in the development and application of (new) technologies and of generating positive network externalities through economies of scale. Standards can play a major role in promoting innovative products and services by providing legal security for innovative companies, creating large scale markets and building confidence among consumers. Hence, standards can be considered to be an important driver of innovation in Europe.



Objectives


Within this framework, the European Commission has established 6 pan-European Networks 'DEPUIS', 'INNOVAFUN', 'BIOHEALTH', 'EUROMIND', 'STAND-INN' and 'STEPPIN' to bring together consumer associations, market experts, companies and policy makers to achieve more successful exploitation of existing standards in Europe. It is important to note that these networks are not meant to be the basis for development of new standards, but will serve to facilitate the exchange and compilation of good practice to enable the integration of open standards into the design of new products, services and business practices, and stimulate innovation through reference to standards in public procurement.

Successful national initiatives on standards and good practices on how to use these standards to develop innovative business solutions will be exchanged and disseminated on a European level.



Activities


The Innovation Standards Networks will explore existing standards and identify market failures and potential public interventions for the improvement of innovation performance in the design of new products and services.

The use of standards in European Union public procurement processes and by large multinational companies will be assessed with a view to enabling bidding companies to be more innovative in their product and service designs and offerings.
In addition, policy recommendations will be formulated to promote the integration of open and proprietary standards into the development of new business solutions.

The achievements of the Innovation Standards Networks will support the overall Europe INNOVA initiative in its effort to address the challenges of fostering innovation in industry and services.