• On 1 December, elections took place at the General Assembly of the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI)

• DIGITAL SME is represented by Massimo Vanetti (vice-chair) and Secretary-General Sebastiano Toffaletti (board member), who will champion inclusiveness at ETSI on behalf of Small Business Standards (SBS)

• Nevania Nikolosky from the Swiss company Phonak was re-elected as chairwoman of the ETSI General Assembly

Brussels, 2 December 2020 (DIGITAL SME/SBS). Small business representation at ETSI will remain strong for the next mandate period! At Tuesday’s General Assembly elections, DIGITAL SME/SBS expert Massimo Vanetti was elected as vice-chair of the General Assembly. Mr Vanetti’s election formally recognises his (literally) far-reaching engagement for the interests of small businesses in standardisation, including an enormous success achieved when India adopted oneM2M as a national standard earlier this year.

DIGITAL SME Secretary-General Sebastiano Toffaletti was re-elected as member of the board. “On behalf of SBS, I am committed to championing inclusiveness of SMEs and other under-represented stakeholders in ETSI”, Mr Toffaletti said in a statement after his re-election. “It is crucial to show SMEs in particular that standards can be a tool to facilitate their digital transformation and innovativeness—not just a boring and incomprehensible ‘black box’”.

Continuing the strong signal for the inclusion of women in standardisation, Nevania Nikoloski was as re-elected chairwoman of the General Assembly. Ms Nikoloski is the first woman to hold the position since the ETSI’s foundation in 1988. Representing Swiss company Phonak Communications AG, Ms Nikoloski’s election underscores inclusiveness in ETSI.

The election of DIGITAL SME representatives by the ETSI General Assembly underscores increasing awareness of SMEs’ as Europe’s motor of innovation and the digital transformation of the continent’s economy. While the ETSI membership counts over 900 organisations, including all the major global tech companies, the election of Nikoloski, Vanetti, and Toffaletti affirms strong support for European small businesses and digital sovereignty.