On this page, you can find the German Standardization Strategy as approved by the DIN Presidial Board on 3 November 2016.

Vision: 
“Shape the future with standardization!” 

Mission: 
"Standardization in Germany helps business and society to strengthen, develop and open up regional and global markets."

Goal 1:
International and European trade is facilitated by standardization.

The international relevance of ISO and IEC is recognized and will continue to be reinforced.

• German standardization has a consistent international agenda.
• Standards and conformity assessment systems that are applied consistently worldwide are an essential prerequisite for free market access and provide investment and legal certainty.
• Member countries of the WTO or other international trade organizations make use of international standards (modified as little as possible) in their national technical legislation, which determines market access conditions. The status of national adoptions of international standards and their implementation is transparent, with Germany taking a leading role in this process.

The European Internal Market is strengthened by standardization.

• The European model of standardization is attractive for other regions of the world and has also been used as a template upon which to base their standards work.
• The actors in standardization engage in opportunities to take part in political decision making.
• The actors in standardization are actively involved in relevant policy-making on a continual basis. Both the processes and participation are open and transparent.
• The actors in German standardization in DIN and DKE take an active role in shaping the European standardization system; in addition, they support the European standards organizations CEN, CENELEC and ETSI (when appropriate) as independent and strong organizations.
• The quality of standards, in particular harmonized standards, is ensured and will be further enhanced.

The market relevance of standardization projects is ensured. 

DIN and DKE are institutions recognized by policymakers, industry and society as contributing to industry’s global competitiveness, and specifically to Germany’s global competitiveness, through standardization.

• The limits on standardization’s realm of responsibility are clearly described.
• Policymakers support standardization as a means of defining the state of the art and encouraging innovation.
• The private sector nature of the standards organizations is permanently guaranteed.

Goal 2:
Standardization is an instrument of deregulation.

Standards are an instrument of deregulation and facilitate public procurement. However, it is generally recognized that they are not an appropriate instrument to regulate what is subject solely to political will, the representation of public interests or is the domain of social partners.

The New Legislative Framework is expanded to cover further appropriate areas, while maintaining the division of responsibilities between EU and member states.

Standards setters and policy makers work together on a basis of mutual trust.

The public interest is taken into account in standardization, in particular the safeguarding of protection targets such as environmental and consumer protection, occupational health and safety, health protection and building safety. Standards contribute to the global transfer of German sustainability benchmarks.

Goal 3:
Germany is at the forefront in bringing future-oriented topics into standardization on a worldwide scale through the networking of stakeholders and the establishment of new processes and open platforms for coordination.

DIN and DKE provide the world’s leading moderation platform for standardization. They organize standardization topics and coordinate teamwork beyond the borders of their own organizations, including for fora and consortia and other standard development organizations.

• In this context, DIN and DKE advocate for the coherence and consistency of the body of standards.
• The strengths of the various actors in standardization are grouped together according to subject area and objective. All stakeholders have the opportunity to participate in a fair manner.
• Joint steering bodies organized by topic at DIN and DKE coordinate the technical work and are also open to standards development organizations, fora and consortia.
• As neutral organizations, DIN and DKE are well-suited to take on the necessary coordination tasks.
• A financing model that ensures neutrality is guaranteed.
• Supported by experts, DIN and DKE initiate future-oriented projects.
• Standardization facilitates the rapid spread of technologies, thus priming the market for innovation.
• Standardization also facilitates interoperability.
• Standardization is also taken into consideration in science and research.

DIN and DKE are catalysts for digital transformation in the standards world.

• Instruments for strategic future planning are used, for example “Roadmaps”.
• Solutions are developed regarding intellectual property rights issues.
• DIN and DKE have established partnerships and found ways to cooperate effectively with open source projects and take advantage of open source technologies and methods in standardization.

Goal 4:
Industry and society are the driving forces in standardization.

Industry is a key pillar of standardization and demonstrates a high level of competence and enduring commitment. Industry is increasingly willing to make experts available for participation in national, European and international standards projects.

Standardization topics are introduced in large part by industry.

• The costs and benefits of standards projects are in the correct relationship to each other, and the follow-up costs of standards are taken into consideration. Suitable tools are developed.
• The needs of society as a whole are taken into consideration.
• Standardization creates added value for society.
• Standards contribute to sustainable development taking into account all protection targets, and they also support the UN Sustainable Development Goals (Agenda 2030).
• DIN and DKE work in close cooperation with technical associations.
• DIN and DKE work together with fora and consortia.

Goal 5:
Standardization is used in particular by companies as an important strategic instrument.

Industry recognizes the benefits of standardization at all levels of the company.

Management uses standardization as a strategic tool to achieve corporate objectives; participation in standards committees is promoted and valued highly.

Standardization work is appealing. Effective and reliable processes and structures have been established. Suitable digital tools are used.

Standards are practical in application, limited to the essentials and a central source of information. Standards take the requirements of users into account. These requirements are a quality benchmark for standardization. A modular standards structure is established.

The targeted involvement of experts from SMEs is made possible.

The technical associations and the institutional leaders of German standardization, DIN and DKE, together with the Federal Government, encourage companies to use standardization in both their domestic and export businesses.

Goal 6:
Standardization is highly regarded by the public.

Standards represent safety and quality.

The processes of standardization are efficient and are perceived as such.
The public is involved in standardization through clear structures and transparent processes.

DIN and DKE maintain an open and transparent dialogue with the public, also using innovative participation processes to involve stakeholders.

The quality assurance of the standardization process is transparent.

Standardization has become increasingly anchored in vocational training and academia.
Discussions are taking place on an ongoing basis regarding the role of standardization in its relationship with science and technology, industry, politics and society and societal transformation in all areas.

The benefits of standardization and its contribution to economic activity, to the public good and sociopolitical protection targets like environmental and consumer protection, occupational health and safety, health protection and building safety have been communicated and acknowledged.