The Einstein Center Digital Future (ECDF) and DIN Deutsches Institut für Normung e. V. are entering into a strategic cooperation. The aim of the collaboration is to make research results available to industry and society through standardization, thereby strengthening Germany's innovative power as an industrial location in the long term.
The cooperation will focus in particular on future-oriented topics such as data spaces, the circular economy, digitalization in healthcare, hydrogen technologies, artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things (IoT), resource efficiency, the transformation of the energy system and the energy industry, and foresight. In addition, cooperation in the field of teaching is also being sought, for example through the lecture “Strategic Standardization,” which will be integrated into the curriculum of the universities and colleges participating in the ECDF.
"The ECDF sees itself as a link between excellent scientific research, teaching, and partners from industry and society. With DIN, we are gaining a strong partner to build an even more effective bridge between research results and concrete standards and marketability," said Prof. Dr. Martin Gersch, co-spokesperson for the ECDF and professor of business administration at Freie Universität Berlin, about the new cooperation. DIN also sees the cooperation as an important stimulus for the German innovation landscape: “Standardization is a key instrument for bringing new technologies and scientific findings into application more quickly. Together with the ECDF, we want to highlight the potential of standardization in the future fields of digitalization and further strengthen Germany's competitiveness,” emphasizes Hermann Behrens, Head of Science and Research Relations at DIN.
The German Institute for Standardization (DIN) is Germany's central standardization platform and also plays an active role in European and international standardization. Its role as a national standardization organization is based on the Standards Agreement concluded with the Federal Republic of Germany in 1975, which still governs the partnership between the state and DIN today. Within this framework, DIN works together with experts from business, science, administration, and civil society to develop norms and standards that promote safety, innovation, and competitiveness. With this newly established cooperation, ECDF and DIN are pooling their networks, expertise, and resources to bring research and innovation in the digital age even more effectively to business and society.