A series of Future Capability Papers, authored by the UKTIN Expert Working Groups have been published over recent months. Find out more here.
UKTIN spoke to Howard Benn and Luis Lopes, Co-Chairs of the UKTIN Standards Expert Working Group, to learn more about the group’s paper.
Download UKTIN's Standards EWG Future Capability Paper here
Please talk us through the process of creating the paper.
Benn: The group was formed in November after contacting numerous standards professionals around the UK and sharing an open invite on the UKTIN website. We then held a series of meetings and wrote the paper, with contributions from most of the working group.
Lopes: Our meetings were mainly virtual but we also held a face-to-face meeting once there was substantive material to discuss. Of course, some sections involved more people or more discussion than others. And we had several versions, which went through stages of review both internally and externally.
What is the one thing you’d like people to know about the report?
Benn: We all agreed that the UK’s influence and participation in standards needs to increase, with a particular focus on SMEs and academics. The group also believes the industry should be working with the government to set the direction for the future of standards.
Lopes: To add to that, we also agreed that standards influence is not something you gain in a few months. It is a commitment over time, and for SMEs, some support mechanisms are likely to be beneficial to initiate and maintain that level of commitment.
What surprised you most while preparing this report?
Benn: How much people can write! And the level of engagement. The group consisted of 15 people and everybody was very active and committed.
Lopes: Although people came from very different backgrounds, there were several central areas where most views turned out to be quite close. Of course, there were also areas of divergence!
What conclusions were you able to draw from the paper?
Benn: We must encourage different players to participate in standards, including large corporates. Education is likewise critical and the influence of the UK government standards policy needs to increase.
Lopes: In that vein, we identified some potential actions for policymakers to help the ecosystem become more influential in global standards, for example in the areas of SME support, IP, education and skills, and others. However, we do need further work to finesse and prioritise these ideas; this is likely to be part of the future focus of the EWG.
Were any of the themes you picked up explored in the other EWG papers?
Benn: Standards have been a large focus. Most groups identified areas where participating in standards is important.
Lopes: Also, it’s great that some EWGs have generic proposals that overlap and enhance ours - for example in support for IP generation and management by small players and universities, and also in education and networking. These can be merged and developed further.
