ANEC and BEUC currently lead a project to get consumers’ interests taken on board in standards for Artificial Intelligence (AI). This project is financed by the Mercator Foundation.
Why is AI standardisation so important and why should you engage in it?
The future AI Act will be the first-of-its-kind legislation regulating AI systems. One of its objectives is that AI systems placed on the EU market respect fundamental rights, including the right to non-discrimination, data protection, consumer protection and protection of children.
The proposed regulation gives a prominent role to technical standards, in particular harmonised standards[1]. If an AI system complies with harmonised standards, it will benefit from a presumption of conformity with the legal requirements. Thus, there will be a strong incentive for AI companies to rely on these harmonised standards to prove compliance with the AI Act.
It is essential to bring the voice of civil society to the table to ensure that the technical standards will comprehensively protect consumers and society at large.
This is all the more important as the proposed AI Act remains vague on many concepts relating to fundamental rights. For instance, it does not define what an unwanted bias is. As they translate the AI Act’s requirements into technical requirements, standardisation bodies will have to fill in the gaps and answer these questions.
As part of our project, we want to give the tools to civil society actors to get involved in the standardisation of AI systems.
ANEC already takes part in the drafting of AI standards at the European level. ANEC is represented there by experts that defend the consumer viewpoint in standardisation working groups. BEUC supports ANEC in its efforts to make the European standardisation system more inclusive, especially for civil society stakeholders.
We cannot act alone, and we invite civil society organisations to join us in promoting the voice of civil society in AI standardisation.
How do I engage in AI standardisation? Choose your path
In this section, we give you the essential information to engage in AI standardisation. We also recommend you follow this quick and interactive free course on the basics of the European standardisation system.
The European Commission sent the standardisation request on AI to the European Committee for Standardisation (CEN) and the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardisation (CENELEC). These bodies are European standardisation organisations, i.e., they are official providers of European standards. CEN-CENELEC JTC 21 “Artificial Intelligence” is where the standards implementing the AI Act are being discussed. CEN-CENELEC JTC 21’s work is divided into working groups (WGs) covering specific aspects of AI systems.
The drafting of standards is a time-intensive exercise. It is important to have the financial resources necessary to carry out the workload. There are options for funding provided by national ministries or private foundations. You can also have a look at EU funding through the StandICT programme.
You might already have staff with technical expertise in AI systems within your organisation. In this case, they could become your standardisation experts for AI. However, in many cases, it is necessary to contract a specific expert with the relevant expertise. This contracted expert would represent your organisation in the AI standardisation work.
Path A: Engage via a National Standardisation Body
CEN-CENELEC are composed of National Standardisation Bodies (NSBs) and National Committees (NCs) of the 27 European Union countries, United Kingdom, the Republic of North Macedonia, Serbia and Turkey plus three countries of the European Free Trade Association (Iceland, Norway and Switzerland).
They constitute the final decision-makers within CEN and CENELEC. You can contact your National Standardisation Body (list here: http://tinyurl.com/3t85cx7p) or National Committee (list here: http://tinyurl.com/mrxd4jx5) and join the dedicated AI mirror committee.[2]
Subsequently, you can ask your National Standardisation Body to nominate you (your expert) to join your country's national delegation of CEN-CENELEC JTC 21 (technical committee level) or its working groups. The actual writing of the standards takes place within the working groups, while technical committees make the key decisions relating to those standards.
Joining a National Standardisation Body or National Committee comes with an additional advantage. This national path can allow you to participate, in your language, in the standardisation work at the international level too. Many standards for AI are being drafted at the international level (ISO/IEC) and might, later on, be adopted at the European level by CEN-CENELEC JTC 21.
Path B: Engage via ANEC
You can join the ANEC Working Group dedicated to Digital Society. The ANEC Digital Society Working Group comprises those with an interest in AI and briefs the AI experts who represent ANEC in JTC 21 and elsewhere. It continuously follows the standardisation work in the digital sphere.
ANEC has the right to provide a representative to sit on any CEN-CENELEC committee or working group to give the consumer perspective and express an opinion on the adoption of standards.
Path C: Engage in other standardisation bodies
Besides CEN and CENELEC, there are other standardisation bodies working on AI. This is the case of the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). ETSI is one of the three officially recognised European standardisation organisations, alongside CEN and CENELEC.
ETSI and IEEE allow direct membership, meaning that your organisation could become a member without having to go through a National Standardisation Body.
The AI standards drafted by ETSI, IEEE and ITU might inspire the work of CEN-CENELEC JTC 21. However, CEN and CENELEC remain the sole addressees of the AI standardisation request. Therefore, your impact as a member of these other organisations can only be indirect.
Path D: Engage as a Partner Organisation or Liaison Organisation
You can also contribute to the work of CEN-CENELEC JTC 21 as a Partner Organisation or a Liaison Organisation. In both cases, you will be able to attend the dedicated technical committee and working groups, although mostly as an observer and without voting rights. You can also access working documents, submit technical contributions, and comment on draft European Standards.
In addition, Partner Organisations receive invitations to General Assemblies and high-level meetings organised by CEN and/or CENELEC. Therefore, the Partner Organisation is also involved in strategic matters, although -here again- as observers and without voting rights.
There are certain conditions to become a Partner or Liaison Organisation, including technical expertise and/or representativeness.
ANEC is a Partner Organisation of CEN-CENELEC with additional rights because it is mandated by the European Union to represent consumers in the context of standardisation and hence is one of the four “Annex III” organisations. ANEC can submit opinions on draft standards and sits in the CEN-CENELEC Societal Stakeholders Group (under the Presidential Committee).
3 reasons for civil society to get involved in AI standardisation
- Currently, the industry sends the vast majority of experts drafting AI standards. Civil society experts are few. A better balance must be found.
- Engaging in standardisation is a concrete way of having an impact on the implementation of the AI Act. Important decisions on definitions (e.g., “unwanted bias”), privacy, accuracy and transparency take place in the standardisation working groups.
- Getting involved in AI standardisation opens the door to a new world that is highly relevant for civil society and is gaining more and more importance in the political discussion at the EU level due to the geopolitical relevance of standardisation.
For further reading on the AI Act:
- ANEC position on the AI Act
- BEUC factsheet on AI/ BEUC position on the AI Act and BEUC recommendations for trilogue negotiations
Stay in touch
ANEC will be happy to answer any questions you might have, feel free to contact us.
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[1] Harmonised standards are European standards adopted on the basis of a request made by the European Commission for the application of EU legislation.
[2] National Standardisation Bodies (or National Committees) set up national mirror committees to discuss the drafting of standards at the European level and form a national position on them. National mirror committees exist on all kinds of topics, but the AI mirror committee is the relevant one here for the purpose of influencing the implementation of the AI Act.
