The European 'Council conclusions on standardization and innovation' (Brussels, 25 September 2008) "encourages the Member States to improve the position of standardisation in education programmes and academic curricula, in order to familiarise students with the strategic benefits and challenges of standardisation, drawing on the expertise of standardisation bodies". In reaction to this, CEN and CENELEC, together with ETSI, took action and created a Joint Working Group at European level to improve overall awareness and exchange best practices on the topic.
The Joint Working Group Education about Standardization (JWG-EaS) hopes to professionalize education in standardization and increase the number of people who have a fair and positive knowledge of standardization, its characteristics and its added value.
The JWG-EaS is chaired by Mr Laurent Oberlé, Chairman of the French member of IFAN, the international federation of standards users. It is pleased to have observers from the European Commission and the EFTA Secretariat, as well as from ISO and IEC.
The Working Group wants to provide a forum to foster best practice in education about standardization in Europe. To this end, it aims to
- Create a network of national members interested in education about standardization;
- Provide a concerted policy on education about standardization in order to maximize the benefits amongst the National Standards Bodies in Europe and abroad;
- Gather best practice to convince governments and regions, academia, companies etc. of the value of education about standardization and propose appropriate actions;
- Establish and maintain appropriate contact with other activities relevant to education about standards, for example the European Academy for Standardization (EURAS) and the International Cooperation for Education about Standardization (ICES);
- Set up a repository of tools and materials concerning education about standards and standardization.
More details on the above activities can be accessed through the links below.
The JWG-EaS is presently working on a curriculum for vocational training. We are also planning a list of national contact points and would welcome your contributions for the repository. We hope to hold a Conference in 2012.
For more information on the JWG-EaS, contact Christine Tack.