DIN DEUTSCHES INSTITUT FUER NORMUNG EV

Their core work

DIN is Germany's national standardization body, responsible for developing and publishing technical standards (DIN/EN/ISO) across all industries. In EU research projects, DIN translates research results into pre-normative frameworks, standardization roadmaps, and interoperability specifications — ensuring that project outcomes can be adopted industry-wide rather than remaining isolated prototypes. Their work spans digital technologies, health diagnostics, security systems, and manufacturing, always with the same mission: bridging the gap between research outputs and formal standards that enable market uptake. They are the organization that makes sure a consortium's technical results become usable by everyone, not just the project partners.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In the early H2020 period (2015–2018), DIN focused heavily on resilience management, smart city governance, and establishing standardization processes for civil protection and elderly care. From 2019 onward, their portfolio shifted decisively toward digital technology standards — AI, blockchain, quantum cryptography, digital twins, and additive manufacturing — reflecting the EU's digital transformation agenda. Health standardization also deepened, moving from general active ageing frameworks to highly specific genomics workflow standardization (NGS, IVDR compliance).

DIN is increasingly positioning itself as the standardization partner for AI governance, quantum security certification, and digital manufacturing interoperability — expect them in future consortia around trustworthy AI and data spaces.

How they like to work

DIN never coordinates — across 36 projects, they serve exclusively as a participant or third party, reflecting their role as a specialized standards contributor rather than a research leader. With 683 unique consortium partners across 37 countries, they operate as a high-connectivity hub, joining large consortia where their standardization expertise complements the technical work of research institutes and industry partners. This makes them an easy, low-risk partner to include: they bring a well-defined deliverable (standards roadmaps, pre-normative documents) without competing for technical leadership.

An exceptionally broad European network with 683 unique partners across 37 countries, making DIN one of the most connected standardization bodies in H2020. Their partnerships span universities, research institutes, SMEs, and large industry players across virtually all EU member states.

What sets them apart

DIN is Germany's sole national standards body, giving it unmatched authority and institutional credibility when a consortium needs to demonstrate a pathway from research to formal standardization. Unlike consultancies that write reports about standards, DIN actually writes and publishes the standards — they sit on CEN, CENELEC, and ISO committees. For any project where "standardization" appears in the impact section of a Horizon proposal, DIN is one of the strongest possible partners to include.

Highlights from their portfolio

• SMR
  Largest single EC contribution (EUR 323,071) and one of DIN's earliest H2020 projects, establishing resilience management guidelines that set the template for their standards-in-research approach.
• OPENQKD
  Positions DIN at the frontier of quantum security standardization — certification and interoperability standards for quantum key distribution networks across Europe.
• INTEGRADDE
  Demonstrates DIN's deepening role in Industry 4.0: standardizing an end-to-end digital manufacturing pipeline for certified metal components via directed energy deposition.