Tuesday 27 March 2012

ICT Multi-Stakeholder Platform: first meeting yesterday

Yesterday I had the honour, as the representative of OpenForum Europe, to participate in the first meeting of the new EU ICT Multi-Stakeholder Platform (MSP). The MSP is an advisory group to the European Commission with a number of tasks to provide advice on ICT standardisation and standards policy matters. The MSP was announced in the Communication on a strategic vision for European standards - COM(2011)311 and it was installed by a Commission Decision of last November. This Commission Decision also outlines in detail the tasks for the group.

What makes me so excited about this MSP is that for the first time in Europe all stakeholders come together ready to contribute and cooperate on issues concerning standardisation in support of EU policy priorities. I think it is fair to say that for a number of years, since the discussions about a modernisation of the EU's ICT standardisation policy started, there has been a lot of interest for the discussions in Europe - in a declamatory way you could say that the world was looking at Europe. While the final discussions on the EU Regulation on standardisation are ongoing, the MSP is a further confirmation of the joint will and efforts to support public administrations in their work in an open, mutual dialogue.

The first meeting of the Platform was very good and constructive. It was an initial meeting, so big decisions were not yet made, big discussions not yet held. But it was impressive to have everybody around the table. Certainly a great starting point for future work in a highly innovative and dynamic sector. I am looking forward to the upcoming meetings and to fruitful debates.

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