In order to discuss the current situation about standards, procurement and innovation and to formulate recommendations on how to use standards in a better way it is crucial to agree on a set of concepts. Therefore, in this article, we publish a list of definitions of the most relevant concepts:

These definitions have been written with contributions of Prof. Dr. Knut Blind and Stephan Gauch of the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research, participating in the STEPPIN project.

• Innovation:
  The term innovation is used in a large number of ways depending on the point of view of scholars or research field. A concise definition can take up a large number of pages or even whole books. Still, the most common denominator is that innovations have to be demarcated from inventions as such. The difference lies in the fact that innovations are "new" in their successful introduction to a market or an organisation. Moreover, a broad definition of innovation is not limited to the sphere of technology alone. New ways of production, organisational structures, new processes or the opening of new markets or services all comprise the essence of innovation. Regarding technological aspects of innovations, probably the most widespread used definition can be found in the OECD Oslo manual: "Technological product and process (TPP) innovations comprise implemented technologically new products and processes and significant technological improvements in products and processes. A TPP innovation has been implemented if it has been introduced on the market (product innovation) or used within a production process (process innovation). TPP innovations involve a series of scientific, technological, organisational, financial and commercial activities. The TPP innovating firm is one that has implemented technologically new or significantly technologically improved products or processes during the period under review." Furthermore, innovations can be differentiated into radical vs. incremental innovations, where a radical innovation introduces a new technological trajectory, while an incremental innovation is a further step in a technological trajectory.

• Standard:
  Similar to the term innovation, definitions of standards vary between research fields and scholars. Generally standards are differentiated into formal and informal standards, where formal standards describe standards that are developed by "recognized bodies" like CEN, CENELEC, ITU, ISO, IEC, UN-ECE, ARIB, ATIS, CCSA, TIA, TTA, TTC and national standardisation bodies like DIN or AENOR. In contrast informal standards are developed in industry fora and consortia like IETF, W3C, OASIS, IEEE. For the STEPPIN project the most relevant type of standards are formal standards. Common definitions of standards are those of ISO, the European Commission and a number of similar definitions at national levels. ISO defines standards as "documents established by consensus and approved by a recognized body that provides, for common and repeated use, rules, guidelines or characteristics for activities or their results, aimed at the achievement of the optimum degree of order in a given context." The Directive 98/34/EC of the European Commission for instance defines the term "standard", highlighting the voluntary character of standards, as: "a technical specification approved by a recognised standardisation body for repeated or continuous application, with which compliance is not compulsory[...]" and also differentiates between levels of standardisation (international, European and national). DIN defines a standard (norm) as a "[....] document, which has been elaborated consensually and accepted by an acknowledged institution and which lays down for general and recurrent application rules, guidelines or characteristics for activities or the results thereof, whereby an optimal degree of regulation in a given connection is striven for."

•  Lead markets Lead markets are markets in which innovative products or services were introduced for the first time world-wide. An example in Europe is the commercialisation of mobile phones in Scandinavia. After the market introduction of these specific products in the lead markets, the adoption in other regions or countries is followed until the initial innovation is distributed world-wide. There are several factors on the demand and supply side, which increase the likelihood of a regional or national market to be a lead market. The literature (Beise 2001) distinguishes price, demand, transfer, export and market structure advantage. Blind et al. (2004) emphasize that the regulatory framework is also very important for the emergence of lead markets. A broader approach is meant by lead industry, which dominates supply of innovative products in the world-market irrespective where the innovative products are introduced initially.

•  CE mark (officially CE marking):
  The CE mark is a mandatory European marking for certain product groups to indicate conformity with the essential health and safety requirements set out in European Directives. The CE mark must be affixed to a product if it falls under the scope of the so called 'New Approach' Directives. Without the CE marking, and thus without complying with the provisions of the Directives, the product may not be placed in the market or put into service in the 27 member states of the European Union and Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein. However, if the product meets the provisions of the applicable European Directives, and the CE mark is affixed to a product, these countries may not prohibit, restrict or impede the placing in the market or putting into service of the product.

• New Approach Directives: Since 1987 some 25 directives, adopted on the basis of the New Approach and the Global Approach, have progressively come into force. These directives have the dual purpose of ensuring the free movement of goods through technical harmonisation of entire product sectors, and of guaranteeing a high level of protection of public interest objectives. Innovative features of this legislative technique include the definition of mandatory essential requirements, the setting up of appropriate conformity assessment procedures, and the introduction of CE marking.
  
  Contact: knut.blind@isi.fraunhofer.de