HSBooster II launched this month, marking the beginning of a new three-year phase of what has become the only structured service in Europe specifically designed to help research and innovation projects navigate the path from results to standards. Trust-IT Services coordinates the project, as it did in the first phase, bringing to this second chapter both the institutional knowledge built since 2022 and a significantly expanded mandate.
From pilot to established scheme
When HSBooster launched in 2022, the premise was straightforward but largely untested at European scale: researchers producing results with clear standardisation potential were struggling to engage with standards development organisations, and no structured support existed to help them. The environment was difficult to navigate, the process costly, and awareness among research teams low.
HSBooster I, coordinated by Trust-IT Services, set out to change that. Over three years, it received 204 project applications, delivered 197 expert services across 28 countries, distributed over €100,000 to qualified European standardisation experts, and built a Training Academy with 25 written modules and 13 online sessions. Projects rated the support 4.5 out of 5 for expert quality. The HSBooster portal was explicitly referenced in the European Commission's Code of Practice on Standardisation — a recognition that the initiative had earned a place in the wider policy landscape.
That foundation is what HSBooster II builds on.
A broader mandate, end-to-end support
HSBooster II makes two significant changes to the scope of the initiative. First, it extends eligibility beyond EU-funded projects to include national-funded research and innovation projects and projects supported under programmes other than Horizon Europe — including Digital Europe, Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, EUREKA and others. For the first time, the full breadth of European R&I activity can access dedicated standardisation support.
Second, it extends the depth of that support — covering the entire journey from writing a proposal to active participation in technical committees.
Three services are now on offer, all entirely free of charge.
The Proposal Support Service is new. It targets researchers still at the writing stage, before a project begins, helping them identify where standardisation can strengthen both the proposal and the long-term routes to impact. Expert guidance is provided at the moment it is most useful — before the work plan is fixed.
The Mentoring Service continues and refines what worked in HSBooster I. Over up to three months, a project team is matched with an expert who helps them map the standardisation landscape, identify the right technical committees and bodies, and build a realistic strategy for engagement. Projects with high potential are referred on to the Accelerator Service.
The Standards Accelerator Service is the most intensive offer — up to six months of hands-on support for projects ready to move from results to concrete standardisation deliverables. That means drafting new work item proposals, registering with technical committees, preparing for working group meetings, and contributing directly to standards processes at national or European level.
Supporting all three services is an expanded Training Academy, with courses running from standardisation fundamentals through to advanced participation in technical committees.
Trust-IT's role
Trust-IT leads the project coordination and the communications and dissemination work package, drawing on two decades of experience managing complex European research and innovation projects. The coordination role means not only managing the consortium — which includes Dansk Standard, CEN, Fraunhofer ISI, the University of Belgrade, and Meta Group — but ensuring that the services reach the projects that need them, that the community built in HSBooster I continues to grow, and that the results of this phase inform recommendations for a permanent European standardisation support structure.
"Every standard you've ever taken for granted — a plug socket, a safety label, a data format — was shaped by someone's research. That is how research quietly shapes the world we live in. HSBooster helps researchers make that translation, from findings to tangible impact. And it is high time that contributing to a standard is properly recognised as part of an academic career — not quietly set aside and forgotten." — Nicholas Ferguson, project coordinator, Trust-IT Services
Get involved
The first open call for research projects will be announced shortly. If your project has results worth building on — at any stage, under any funding programme — it is worth expressing your interest now and joining the HSBooster community ahead of the call opening.
Organisations running project days, cluster meetings, NCP events, or thematic conferences are also welcome to invite the HSBooster team to speak. The consortium brings standardisation literacy directly into the room, for audiences at any level of familiarity with the topic.
Follow HSBooster at hsbooster.eu and Linkedin for updates, or get in touch to express your interest.
