The most important time in the life of a standard is when it has yet to become a one

Standardization is not only the product of technical knowledge. It also is also based on active participation. Anyone with a concrete suggestion for improvement can help to develop technical rules already prior to their publication. Such analysis is precisely what makes a standard strong.

Everyday obvious

Things in our everyday lives just seem to work without us even thinking about them: products are safe, technologies are compatible and innovations find their way into our lives. Behind this sense of normality are people who think ahead. Join us as we follow a young woman through her everyday life, where the impact of standardisation becomes clear.

Presentation to a group in the conference room. The projection on the wall displays the topic: “Responsible Use of Artificial Intelligence.”  Below the title is a word that can be easily overlooked:

Draft.

This term describes a decisive step in the standardization process. In fact, standards are not simply adopted. Before a standard is published, it runs through an open, transparent, and exacting process in which proposals are submitted, reviewed, discussed, and further developed.

A standards committee prepares the content and publishes it preliminarily as a draft standard. This begins the public commentary phase. The aim here is to integrate practical experience, expertise, and potential objections from the field before the draft becomes authoritative.

Contributions are expressly encouraged

Every draft of a standard is published and available for review by the professional community. Anyone who sees potential for improvement is welcome to submit commentaries. This applies to everyone; membership in a standards committee is not required.

What matters here is not who submits a proposal, but rather the enhanced technical value that is offered. Commentaries are assessed on the basis of their technical arguments. Thus the practical experience of diverse interest groups is incorporated into the further development of standards.

Consensus – an outdated principle?

Why standardisation is democratic, why the balance between speed and consensus nevertheless needs to be recalibrated, and what the path out of the comfort zone looks like: three theses on the consensus principle put to the test in practice.

Every commentary is reviewed

A core principle of standardization is that every commentary that is received is also taken into consideration. All commentaries are submitted to the competent standardization committee and then discussed. The committees then decide whether a proposal can be adopted or not. If the evaluation results in significant changes, then a new draft is published. The process then begins anew, once again offering the opportunity for interested parties to participate. This transparency is not just a minor aspect of the process. It represents one of its most important strengths.

“Standardization thrives on exchange. Every commentary, every observation, and every technical discussion helps to ensure that technical rules function effectively in sundry markets and areas of application. The commentary phase is thus far more than a formal step. It is an important contribution to strong and compatible standards.”

Michael Teigeler, Managing Director for International Affairs at the DKE

Participation takes place at all times

Commentaries with regard to draft standards represent an important part of the standardization process. Those who wish to take on responsibility can get take part in standardization committees and projects or initiate new standardization projects by submitting a standardization proposal.

Approximately 10,000 volunteer experts from companies, universities, government agencies, associations, institutes, and many other interested groups take part in the committees and subcommittees organized by the DKE. They contribute their multifaceted knowledge and practical experience to the development of standards.

The public draft standard is only one visible part of a much larger process. Prior to that new topics are initiated, national and international committee work is organized, and a wide variety of interest groups are coordinated. This work also depends on experts and their commitment to take on such responsibility.

Special attention is being paid to standardization and the field of artificial intelligence. For the German AI Standardization Roadmap, more than 570 experts from business, academia, politics, and civil society have identified areas where action needs to be taken across various subject areas. These contributions give rise to new standardization projects, which then go through the same open process as any other project.

What Makes a Standard Strong

The public draft standard is just one part of a much larger process. Yet hardly any other step so clearly demonstrates how standardization works.  This is when drafts are scrutinized, experience shared, and proposals discussed.  Here it becomes clear that standards are not simply adopted, but are developed through professional dialog.

The commentary phase demonstrates how diverse requirements, experiences, and perspectives come together, step by step, in order to form a common ground for technical rules.

Thus anyone who provides commentary for a draft standard is not merely improving a document.  On the contrary, they help to ensure that a standard that derives from many voices works in practice and can be supported by various interest groups.

IEC General Meeting 2026

The DKE is honored to host the annual event for international electrotechnical standardization. Under the title “Global Development. Driven by Standards.”, around 3,500 guests are expected in Hamburg in November 2026.