Establishing a process and a platform to support standardization for nanotechnologies implementing the STAIR approach

 

PROJECT SUMMARY 

Standardization is one of the most adequate solutions to quickly capitalize and disseminate knowledge in “reference documents”, and have it implemented in the industry. It is very important in the field of nanotechnologies since the production of knowledge is very intensive. The overall objective of nanoSTAIR project is to build a sustainable process and platform in the field of nanotechnologies to support the transfer of knowledge gained through research to documentary standards in the context of the STAIR approach promoted by CEN-CENELEC.

The project is organized around several activities that will boost the development of new documentary standards.

A mechanism will be set up to identify, with a bottom-up approach, the opportunities for standardization from the results of research projects, co-funded by the European Commission or by National Research Programmes. This mechanism will be established using existing networks and initiatives such as NanoSafetyCluster or NANOfutures, as well as the network of the national standardization bodies in the various Member States.

Then, the expression of the needs for standards from various stakeholders will be collected and resources from consortia sharing similar standardization opportunities will be pooled together to launch New Work Items Proposals (NWIP). The nanoSTAIR approach will be verified during the project thanks to 2 NWIP initiated. The consortium will provide assistance to select the right standardization umbrella (Technical Committee and Working Group at CEN or ISO level)

As a result, nanoSTAIR will provide a set of procedures, a tool box and a practical guideline that will be useful to bridge the gap between research and standardization in nanotechnologies. nanoSTAIR will structure and ease the development of new documentary standards, and thus enable the European nanotechnology related industry to rapidly operate according to the state of the art and thus increase its competitiveness.

 

OVERALL STRATEGY OF THE WORK PLAN

The project is therefore organized around 4 work packages (supporting activities):

  • WP1: Screening and identification of standardization opportunities
  • WP2: Pooling resources to launch standardization work items
  • WP3: Verification of the approach with the preparation of standardization work item (Selecting standardization tools and launch of new work item)
  • WP4: Tool box and dissemination

Knowledge developed during the project will be collated in the form of reports and conclusions of discussion workshops, but also practical tools that will be used and exploited after the end of the project.

 

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 The most important outcomes of the project are the nanoSTAIR platform that will bring together the best experts to launch standardization work item proposals and the nanoSTAIR process to develop new work item proposal.
The nanoSTAIR platform will be a place to find information, a place to find and meet potential partners, a place to find support… The nanoSTAIR platform which is a virtual table where all stakeholders will have the opportunity to share common needs and solutions regarding new documentary standards. The nanoSTAIR platform will in particular bridge the research community and the standardization community.

 You can join the nanoSTAIR platform by applying with the on-line registration form.

 

The nanoSTAIR process will be described in procedures, checklists and communication channels. The nanoSTAIR process can be seen as a turbine that accelerates the preparation of new work item proposals by identifying the potential candidates, by making explicit the needs from the main stakeholders and by pooling the resources and expertise to reach the necessary critical mass.

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A presentation providing an overview of the nanoSTAIR project is available here.