Accelerating energy innovation through standardisation: Lessons from HSbooster.eu

In 2022 the European Commission, through its Horizon Europe programme, funded HSbooster.eu to pilot the first European standardisation booster for EU-funded projects.

Not many EU-funded projects know this, but transferring research results to a standards-setting organisation can increase their value, extend exploitation, spur innovation and transform these results into marketable solutions. This is also true in the energy sector, where interoperability, trust and scalability are critical for uptake.

The need for action was even cited in the European Commission’s Code of Practice on Standardisation, which identified the key role that HSbooster.eu could have in addressing this gap.

Since then, HSbooster.eu has designed and delivered mentoring and training services to over 300 projects in key research domains, including energy, equipping them with the right knowledge and expertise to plan strategically and contribute efficiently to the standardisation process.

How did HSbooster.eu make standardisation relevant in the research and innovation space?

The overall objective was to boost projects’ abilities and expertise so that they could understand, map and integrate standardisation into their project strategies. To do this, the project recruited over 200 experts from European and international standardisation bodies to mentor EU-funded projects. Each expert was vetted and, where appropriate, matched to projects who applied for support.

Experts and projects then met in a series of online sessions to assess the standardisation readiness of research results and identify relevant standards to adopt or contribute to. This hands-on approach enabled projects – including many addressing energy transition, smart energy systems and digital energy platforms – to align their innovation with standards from an early stage.

To support this, a Training Academy was created, offering over 20 online courses with information on the benefits and impact of standardisation, overviews of the EU and international standards landscape, and practical insights on how to engage. Several training webinars were also delivered, while an engaging role-play tool called the Serious Smiley Game was developed to enhance negotiation skills in standardisation technical committee meetings.

Played in universities and standards bodies, it has helped bring standardisation to life for early career researchers and technical experts.

A community milestone for standardisation in R&I

On 5 March 2025, the HSbooster.eu event, Insights and Future Directions for Standardisation in R&I gathered the HSbooster.eu community and key stakeholders in Brussels. These included policymakers, standardisation experts and research projects that had benefitted from the mentoring.

The event, opened by Ioannis Sagias, Deputy Head of Unit for Valorisation Policies and IPR at DG Research and Innovation, showcased success stories and insights into how standardisation can enhance the adoption of research results – particularly in sectors such as clean energy and digital infrastructure.

The project has contributed to shaping the strategies of many EU-funded projects, helping to ensure that valuable research results do not stop at publication, but reach the market, industry and society. Energy-relevant projects supported by HSbooster.eu have worked on improving data exchange for smart grids, aligning cybersecurity aspects for digital energy platforms and supporting emerging standards for interoperability in decentralised energy systems.

Looking ahead: extending the impact

As HSbooster.eu approaches its final phase, calls for a follow-up booster service underline the value of expert mentoring, stakeholder engagement and knowledge-sharing mechanisms. The consortium has also put forward recommendations for sustaining this support across future EU programmes.

Meanwhile, the services continue. Mentoring activities are being extended, training workshops and webinars remain open, and the Serious Smiley Game is being adopted by more institutions. New sessions are already planned, including a webinar which took place on 8 May on 'Digital data spaces', relevant to the future of energy data sharing and governance.

If you and your project are interested in finding out more, you can express your interest in joining the HSbooster.eu community as a standardisation expert or beneficiary project at this link.

For more information and access to HSbooster resources, visit HSbooster.eu.

About the author

Maria Giuffrida is a Senior Research Analyst at Trust-IT Services. She is the Deputy Coordinator of HSbooster.eu and Coordinator of StandICT.eu – both European projects supporting standardisation. Her work is focussed on promoting research impact through community building and communications and supporting the alignment of research and innovation with standardisation priorities.