Innovationsökonomie

Standardization and Sustainability (6 ECTS)

Modul-Nr.ZeitraumTypTag/ZeitRaumDozentIn
0832 L 27416.04.24 - 16.07.24VL (2 SWS)Dienstag 14 - 15h30H 0110 ( Charlottenburg )Prof. Blind
0832 L 27516.04.24 - 16.07.24UE (2 SWS)Dienstag 16 - 17h30H 3006 (Charlottenburg)Mr. Sokol, External speakers

Content

What are standards and why are they so widespread in our globalized economy, ranging from mobile phone standards like 5G over private labels like Fairtrade until management standards like ISO 9001, and how can standards help to achieve the sustainability transition?

This series of introductory lectures will try to answer these questions with inputs from academics (Prof. Blind and other standardization experts) from industry experts from multinational companies such as IBM, Infineon and from policy specialists from standardisation bodies such ISO and DIN. The course will focus on standardization and will also touch upon the whole quality infrastructure system in general (accreditation, certification, market surveillance) as well as discuss the relationship and role of standards within different aspects of sustainability. The holistic perspective of this course covers findings from the field of innovation economics as well as from applied standardization and sustainability research. The lectures include examples from different industries such as ICT, bioeconomy and circular economy. Furthermore, the role of standards in global value chains will be discussed in this course. The course will have a strong focus on sustainability topics related to standardization and this year we will have also have a special slot where you will be learning standardization through the means of an interactive game!

Students passing this course will have a good understanding of standardization, their economic impact on the firm-level as well as on the macrolevel of the national, European and global innovation landscape. In addition, they will understand the role of standards on and its relationship with sustainability and towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The course consists of three main elements:

  • First, each student (alone or in pairs) will present a standard of their choice once during the course (10%). This is the perfect exercise to understand how standards are structured and to understand how they are working.
  • A second element is a short term paper (2000 words) related to one of multiple pre-specified topics on standardization and sustainability (30%). If relevant, you can also suggest your own topic.
  • Finally, there will be a final exam (50%). You will also be able to earn 10% through submitting questions for our guest lecturers.