Data centres are a core element of the IT infrastructure supporting digital transformation. They contribute to a sustainable economy by improving the efficiency along the value creation chain. Nevertheless, data centres consume a significant amount of energy and other resources and are, as a result, also at risk in terms of their environmental sustainability. Due to emerging technologies and applications such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), the resource consumption of data centres is constantly increasing.
CEN/TC 474, a new Technical Committee on COշ capture, transportation, utilization, storage (CCUS) and carbon accounting, has been established. The first meeting will be held on 5 and 6 February 2024 at the CEN and CENELEC Management Centre (CCMC) in Brussels.
Brussels welcomed the second meeting of the European Commission’s High-Level Forum on European Standardization (HLF) on 30 November 2023. The gathering brought together high level representatives of government with c-level leaders throughout industry to discuss the future of European standardization.
This workshop is motivated by the currently ongoing Horizon 2020 InComEss project whose objective is to develop efficient smart materials with energy harvesting and storage capabilities combining advanced to harvest electrical energy from mechanical energy and/or waste heat ambient sources.
CEN just published two CEN workshop agreements: CWA 18028:2023 and CWA 18024:2023. These documents were developed by CEN/Workshop IPCI (Improvement of information processing in crisis management of critical infrastructures for computer assisted data gathering, display and reporting) based on the results of a standardization gap analysis and resulting pre-standardization activities promoted by STRATEGY project funded under the EU Horizon 2020 program.
It is never easy to fight against deep-rooted cultural beliefs, even if they are ideologically wrong and generate inequalities. However, one of the tasks of standardization is to encourage transformations, providing the community with the foundation and tools to achieve big and small changes.
On 5 July 2023, the European Commission published their proposal for the revision of the Waste Framework Directive, whose primary aim is to update its approach to food and textile waste. In a policy paper written in response to the proposal, CEN and CENELEC welcome the increased focus on these two types of waste and put forward suggestions on how to implement the revision.
The 28th World Climate Change Conference, COP28, will take place in Dubai from 30 November to 12 December 2023. Representatives of nearly 200 nations will come together to agree on ways to address the climate crisis, such as limiting global temperature rise to 1,5 degrees Celsius, helping vulnerable communities adapt to the effects of climate change, and achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.
On 7 and 8 November, the 17th yearly meeting of the CEN and CENELEC PR Roundtable was held in Vienna. Putting together representatives from the CEN and CENELEC community working on communications and Public Relations, the gathering was an opportunity to share best practices and exchange on future challenges.
CEN and CENELEC, together with the Portuguese Institute for Quality (IPQ), joined the Knowledge Valorisation event in Lisbon on November 14-15 to deliver a training on the implementation of the Code of Practice for Researchers on Standardization in the European Research Area.