StandICT.eu and EuroXR Association Join Forces to Strengthen Extended Reality Standardisation

PISA – Italy, March 2026 - StandICT.eu and the EuroXR Association announce their collaboration through the signature of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), strengthening cooperation in the field of Extended Reality (XR) technologies and their standardisation at the European level.

Extended Reality (XR) – encompassing Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), and Mixed Reality (MR) – is a key component of emerging virtual worlds. The European Commission considers these technologies essential for shaping Europe’s digital future. Standardisation, therefore, plays a crucial role in ensuring that immersive environments remain open, secure, trustworthy, and interoperable.

StandICT.eu is a European initiative, supported by the European Union, that has been running since 2018 with the central objective of fostering the participation of European experts in international ICT standardisation. To reach this goal, it has four main axes: first, it runs a Fellowship programme funding 300+ European standardisation experts through 6 Open calls, providing over 4M€ in direct funding. Secondly, it manages the European Observatory for ICT Standardisation (EUOS), an interactive online ecosystem that includes an up-to-date standards repository and working groups sharing insights on ongoing standardisation efforts across different initiatives. Thirdly, via its Academy, it trains future experts in ICT standardisation. Moreover, it proposes a mentoring programme that connects ICT standardisation professionals to exchange knowledge and best practices, thereby improving engagement in global digital standardisation.

EuroXR is a leading European association in Extended Reality, connecting scientists, technology providers, industry representatives, and end-users across the XR ecosystem. The association fosters collaboration, knowledge exchange, and innovation in immersive technologies and their applications. EuroXR organises an annual International Conference on XR, now in its 23rd edition, featuring scientific, application-oriented, poster, and demo tracks, as well as dedicated sessions to support EU projects in this digital technologies domain. In addition, the association manages the review and publication of scientific and technical proceedings, runs Summer Schools, produces White Papers for the European Commission and other stakeholders, and oversees communication and dissemination in the EU projects where it participates as a partner.

The collaboration between StandICT.eu and EuroXR emerged within the framework of the StandICT.eu Technical Working Group “Virtual Worlds”, which analyses the evolving standards landscape for immersive technologies.

The MoU was signed by Dr Patrick Bourdot, Research Director at CNRS in France and President of the EuroXR Association (registered in Belgium), and Maria Giuffrida, Senior Research Analyst and Project Manager at Trust-IT, coordinator of the StandICT.eu 2029 project. The initiative was proposed by Christoph Runde, Chair of the Technical Working Group Virtual Worlds, Managing Director of the Virtual Dimension Centre (VDC) in Germany, and Vice-President “Industry & End Users” of EuroXR. Runde emphasised the importance of strengthening cooperation between the European XR research and industry community represented by EuroXR and the ICT standardisation activities supported by StandICT.eu.

Through this MoU, EuroXR will actively engage with European XR standardisation activities, facilitating the exchange of insights on emerging technological gaps, priorities, and recommendations relevant for future StandICT.eu Open Calls and landscape analyses. Trust-IT, as coordinator of StandICT.eu 2029, will support the visibility of EuroXR outreach activities related to virtual worlds and ICT standardisation. In return, EuroXR will promote StandICT.eu Open Calls, publications, and events to its European community of XR researchers, developers, and industry stakeholders. 

“As the leader of stakeholder engagement in StandICT.eu, I warmly welcome this collaboration with a key European non-profit player in the XR technology domain,” said Mona Marill, Project Manager of StandICT.eu 2029. “StandICT.eu provides direct funding for European professionals working on Virtual Worlds standards and hosts a dedicated Technical Working Group analysing the current standards landscape. Through this collaboration, we can further strengthen the connection between EuroXR experts and ongoing European standardisation initiatives.”

Christoph Runde, Chair of the StandICT.eu Technical Working Group Virtual Worlds and Vice-President “Industry & End Users” of EuroXR, added: “Extended Reality and virtual worlds are evolving rapidly, and standardisation is essential to ensure interoperability, openness, and trust. By connecting the EuroXR community with the standardisation activities supported by StandICT.eu, we are strengthening the European ecosystem and creating closer links between research, industry, and standards development.”

This collaboration will support stronger engagement by the XR community in European and international ICT standardisation processes and help shape the future standards landscape for immersive technologies and virtual worlds.