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EU 2021 standardisation programme: digital identity, AI and smart contracts
On 18 December, the European Commission unveiled its standardisation programme for 2021. This programme identifies the European standards and European standardisation deliverables that the Commission intends to request for the year 2021, as well as the specific objectives and policies for these standards and deliverables.
Standards for 2021 are clearly focused on climate neutrality and digital leadership. Digital identity and AI systems are listed among the identified policy fields, together with online platforms and smart contracts. The document also mentions batteries, electronic waste and eco-design.
Regarding digital identity, the document states that the following standards/deliverables will be requested: “[d]evelopment of new European standards, specifications and guidelines for the European Digital Identity Reference Framework, addressing e.g. user authentication, secure communication and devices, the provision and validation of credentials as well as policy requirements for identity providers and their conformity assessment. Functional, interoperability, usability and performance requirements will be addressed as well as security, data protection and privacy.
The main objective is to support the implementation of a European Digital Identity Ecosystem by means of a common reference framework / standards, as well as deployment of identity schemes for a trusted and secure European e-ID (EUeID) for citizens and businesses to authenticate seamlessly to online services, while minimizing disclosure and retaining full control on data.”
On AI systems, the programme mentions the “[d]evelopment of new European standards and guidelines for Artificial Intelligence systems addressing trustworthiness including for instance aspects of accountability, transparency, robustness, accessibility and disability inclusiveness, fairness, privacy and ethical use.
The main objective is to ensure that, through standards, Artificial Intelligence systems are trustworthy, are beneficial for citizens and society, respect fundamental values and human rights recognized in Europe, strengthen European competitiveness and are governed appropriately throughout their lifecycle.”
In the case of smart contracts, the document foresees the following standards/deliverables: “[d]evelopment of new European standards for smart contracts and validators supporting the essential requirements of Article 42 of Regulation (EU) No 910/2014 for electronic time stamps and qualified electronic time stamps based on blockchain and essential requirements to be defined in a new provision of the E-Commerce Directive (the future: “Digital Services Act”) for the smart contracts based on “tokenised” assets."
Please find the full standardisation programme below.
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