ISO

Europe is already a world-leader in the scientific research and industrialisation of quantum technologies, especially with regards to quantum communication and quantum computation technologies. My fellowship will strengthen European influence on quantum standards and by assuming a strong position on quantum technologies from industrial, academic and standardisation angles, Europe will be in a stronger position to establish a global competitive edge in this field.

This activity will strengthen European influence on quantum standards and by assuming a strong position on quantum technologies from industrial, academic and standardisation angles, Europe will be in a stronger position to establish a global competitive edge in this field.

European participation and influence in quantum standards groups will be critical to provide a boost across the European supply-chain enabling a larger European quantum market.
The potential benefits to society of quantum networks and quantum computers will be huge. Quantum safe networks will be required to send confidential data securely over appreciable distances and quantum computers will allow impossible world-scale simulations to be carried out in reasonable times.
Europe is already a world-leader in the scientific research and industrialisation of quantum technologies, especially with regards to quantum communication and quantum computation technologies. The key outcome of this fellowship was the successful establishment of IEC TC86 WG11 on Quantum Optical Interconnect as an active and growing Working Group. This new WG11 is strategically critical as its standards will strongly underpin quantum communication and networks, as well as contributing to all other quantum pillars.
By ensuring European SMEs participate actively in this new WG to apply Europe aligned positions on quantum technologies from ethical, industrial and academic angles, European influence on quantum standards will be strengthened and European society will be in a stronger position to establish a global competitive edge in this field.
These areas align well with strengths and expertise in European academic institutions and smaller start-up companies. Thus I have during this fellowship leveraged my extended network to increase involvement of the nascent European quantum industry, drawing primarily on UK. Swiss and EU entities for future support of and contributions to the new working group, thereby establishing strong European influence from the outset. I have successfully grown the membership to 39 members and I expect this to continue to grow rapidly now that we have started developing strategically critical new standards, in particular for quantum grade connectors.

In terms of broader European interests, my fellowship contributes to EU goals of digital sovereignty, user empowerment, and privacy leadership on the global stage. As the EUDI wallet is adopted across Europe, this framework will provide a scalable model for data protection and user-centric identity management that can be extended beyond digital wallets to other data-sharing contexts, enhancing Europe’s role as a privacy leader. With data privacy becoming a key competitive factor, this initiative not only strengthens the protection of EU citizens’ rights but also sets a high standard for digital identity solutions globally.

My work supports fundamental societal values by helping define how citizens can safely and transparently share their personal data through the European Digital Identity (EUDI) Wallet. At the heart of this is the development of access control standards that ensure individuals are not just passive data subjects, but active participants who can decide what data is shared, with whom, under what conditions, and for what declared purpose.
By enabling these controls through enforceable, machine-readable policies, the standard empowers users to exercise real agency over their digital identity—moving beyond consent screens toward meaningful privacy protections embedded in the architecture of the wallet itself. This aligns with the EU’s commitment to privacy, data minimisation, and purpose limitation under the GDPR.
The work also supports societal inclusion by ensuring that access control mechanisms are transparent and usable, helping citizens understand their rights and obligations, while also simplifying compliance for service providers. The inclusion of ISO/IEC 27560 in this framework ensures that all lawful bases for processing—not just consent—are clearly documented and traceable, which is especially important for use cases like healthcare, education, or public services.
Importantly, the open availability of ISO/IEC 27560 as a free standard lowers the barrier for adoption, supporting uptake by public administrations, SMEs, and civil society. This ensures that privacy-enhancing technologies are not limited to large commercial actors, but can benefit all layers of European society.
Overall, this work contributes to a more trustworthy, transparent, and citizen-centric digital identity ecosystem—one that upholds European values while supporting innovation, cross-border interoperability, and regulatory alignment.

Standardised biometric data formats enable interoperability and exchanging system components like biometric capture devices, algorithms, storage systems

The standard promotes Biometric System-on-Card architecture, characteristics and interfaces. It is a technology that improves security and privacy for citizens in Europe and beyond, because personal data remains on a personal card.

Technology for Biometric System-on-Card (BSoC) has advanced significantly since the first publication of the ISO/IEC 17839 series from 2014-2016. This made an amendment of part 2 necessary in 2021 and a revision started 2022/2023. The major gaps are that the currently published standards partially refer to outdated technology and do not cover many recent industry developments in the field of BSoC. This includes enrolment methodologies, sensor and card manufacturing, but also processes and usage of biometric cards. The priority is to consider all inputs from national bodies, come to a consensus and progress the standard series according to the ISO business plan. Challenges are divers inputs from industry delegates targeting different solutions. It is important to include all contributions from national bodies while keeping the timeline mandated by the ISO business plan.