In the July 2026 edition of Open Access Government, EDU4Standards coordinator Knut Blind examines why standardisation has become a question of technological sovereignty - and why training the next generation of standards experts is central to answering it (pp. 244-245).
The article traces how the European Commission's 2022 Standardisation Strategy and the 2023 Code of Practice on Standardisation, echoed by the United States' own National Standards Strategy, have placed education at the heart of standardisation policy. Against a backdrop of retiring experts and rising demand for standards in emerging technologies, it sets out how EDU4Standards.eu, alongside sister initiatives such as StandICT.eu, is working to close the gap - aiming for 5,000 new standards experts a year by 2027 through a new teaching concept, Academic Standardisation Days, a Students' Standardisation Association and a forthcoming CEN Workshop Agreement.
The article closes on an open question: without a sustainable funding model beyond individual projects, can this momentum be maintained?
