Janos Koschwitz, Head of the Digital Hub Department at DKE
| PrivatVDE dialog: At DKE, you are responsible for the topic of SMART Standards. What exactly does this term mean?
Janos Koschwitz: SMART Standards are standards whose content is not only readable for humans but also directly usable by machines. “SMART” stands for applicable, readable, and transferable. The information contained in standards is structured and semantically enriched so that it can be imported directly into software systems and processed there. The goal is to provide standard content digitally in ways that are specific to particular applications and users – for example for development, testing, or requirements management systems.
Why is the traditional PDF format no longer sufficient for standards?
PDF standards are written for people and must be read linearly, interpreted, and processed manually. In practice, this often means copying and pasting individual passages of text into internal systems. This process is time‑consuming, prone to errors, and is often repeated over many years within organizations. New users in particular invest a significant portion of their working time analyzing and interpreting standards. SMART Standards address exactly this issue by making content “process‑ready” and eliminating redundant work.
How long has DKE been working on the digitalization of standards, and how has the field developed?
In fact, the topic has been on the agenda since the IEC General Meeting in 2016. The digitalization business field has existed within DKE since 2022. It was deliberately established and has grown continuously since then. Over the years, it has become clear that digitalization is not a peripheral topic but a central component of modern standardization work. An important step was no longer viewing standards merely as documents, but as content that must function in different usage contexts.
What goals did the DKE digitalization business field pursue when it was established?
When the digitalization business field was set up, our main aim was to provide real digital added value for users of standards. The central question was: how can standard content be provided so that it can be used more easily, quickly, and reliably in everyday work? We wanted to move away from a purely document‑centric perspective and toward an approach in which standard content is structured so that it can be processed directly in digital workflows. This also meant a change in how we saw our role. We were not only developing standards, but also considering what formats, structures, and types of digital services users actually need. With VDE CaaS, we consistently adopted the users’ perspective for the first time. The key question was: how are standards actually applied, and how can digitalization make that application easier? This led to an approach in which SMART Standards are provided in different formats – aligned with specific user and customer requirements.
A particularly important role is played by the ReqIF format. Why is this format so relevant for users of standards?
ReqIF originates from Requirements Engineering and is already an established standard format for many users. In practice, this means that instead of manually copying content from a PDF and transferring it into a requirements management system, standards can be loaded directly into the software already used by companies. In a SMART Standard, it is already defined what constitutes a requirement, what constitutes a recommendation, and how content should be classified. It is therefore no longer just text, but structured and classified data. For many companies, this represents a significant step forward.
The CaaS service is currently being brought to market readiness and spun off into its own company. Why was this step necessary?
The project initially began as an innovation project within DKE in VDE and is now being spun off as an independent company as part of VDE Verlag. This is logical because DKE develops the content of standards, while the publishing house is responsible for their distribution. At the same time, this expands the offering for customers. It is no longer only about text publications, but about digital services for standards. The publishing house thus becomes a service provider that offers not only text-based content but also user‑oriented formats. For me, this is a real success story originating from DKE: a project with a high degree of innovation – and certainly some risk – was built up and ultimately found its home where it can be delivered to customers.
“SMART Standards” will also be one of the focus topics discussed at the IEC General Meeting in Hamburg this November. Why is DKE placing this topic so high on the agenda?
Because it is clearly the future. The digitalization of standards holds enormous efficiency potential. Companies can save time, reduce costs, and avoid errors when highly qualified standards experts no longer have to perform manual transfer work. Since many standards deal with safety‑relevant aspects, seamless digital transfer of the content is crucial. And the topic is by no means only relevant nationally. Around 80 percent of the standards distributed via VDE are IEC standards. The strategic orientation is therefore clear: think internationally – “IEC first.” Companies operating globally also need internationally harmonized standards. Consequently, SMART Standards must be designed internationally from the outset. Here, DKE is playing a pioneering role because it invested early and extensively in this field.
