After twenty-four months of cooperative research with the ResiStand consortium and the ResiStand Stakeholder communities, the time has now come to conclude the results of the project, disseminate them and finally, to say good-bye to this fine group of people I’ve learned to know during the project.
The overall objective of the ResiStand roadmap for standardisation deliverables is to initiate and foster the development of standardisation items through relevant technical standardisation committees in order to enhance disaster resilience and crisis management capabilities nationally, on European level and globally.
ResiStand works with three main communities of stakeholders, namely organisations utilising standards in their crisis management and disaster resilience operations (ResiStand’s End-User Community - EUC), and standardisation bodies and organisations developing standards (ResiStand’s Standards Advisory Group - SAG). Industry and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), as well as research organisations, are the main representatives of ResiStand’s Supplier Community (SUC).
ResiStand has been gathering the opinion of the SUC experts to support the project’s objectives. A brief summary of the industry perspective on standardisation (including SMEs) is presented below. A complete report on the SUC position with regard to standardisation can be found in D4.2 (industry and SME’s) and D4.3 (research).
RAF – ResiStand Assessment Framework
Within the EU funded H2020 project ResiStand, a framework has been developed that allows for an appropriate assessment of standardisation initiatives in the domain of disaster resilience and crisis management to ensure that the efforts invested in the production of standardisation deliverables are justified. To that purpose, the ResiStand Assessment Framework (RAF) assists in assessing a proposed standardisation activity with respect to the expected impact to improved disaster resilience, efficiency and business opportunities. In addition, it supports the investigation of ethical, legal and social aspects on European, Member State and international levels with respect to the implementation of the proposed standard, the foreseen time frame and resources required for establishing the standard, and the organisational and institutional aspects to be considered for the implementation of the proposed standard.
In the course of the project, ResiStand is working with three groups of stakeholders related to standardisation in disaster management: the Standards Advisory Group (SAG), the End-User Community (E-UC), and the Supplier Community (SUC). In the case of the End-User Community, the project team engages with them, amongst other means, through surveys and workshops.
What is standardisation?
Standards are voluntary agreements, made by stakeholders, on a product, a service or a process. Standards are part of the knowledge economy that underpins European industry and society. They facilitate innovation, promote the adoption of new technologies and facilitate cross-border trade. Also, standards can be used to improve safety and performance, raise levels of energy efficiency, and protect consumers, workers and the environment.
