Living Standards Award
A community of excellence - our awarded organizations
Every year, the Living Standards Award shines the spotlight on national and international hidden champions. It shows how standards contribute to success in business, to advancing innovations and to turning ideas into exports. To this effect, Austrian Standards is looking for innovative enterprises, organizations, research institutions and start-ups.
WHO ARE THE PRIZE WINNERS OF THE LIVING STANDARDS AWARDS 2022?
Be there when we reveal the secret. Register now for the digital event with live stream of the ceremony on 19 May.
3D SIMULATIONS FOR DELICATE NEUROSURGERY
Living Standards Award 2021, category "Enabling Solutions"
cortEXplore, founded in 2018, develops neurosurgical navigation systems for precisely planning, simulating and implementing brain surgery. The start-up receives the Award for developing a special positioning system allowing surgeons to reach areas of the brain in a particularly precise way.
Benefits: Access to the target area of surgery can be better planned, risks for patients can be reduced and clinical outcomes can be improved. Standards have been important with regard to quality policy (EN ISO 13485) and risk management in product development (EN ISO 14971).
WITH A ROBOTIC ARM IN THE OPERATING THEATRE
Living Standards Award 2021, category „Reaching International Markets“
A tool that surgeons can use without their hands in the operating theatre? The RoboticScope® of BHS Technologies is the first surgical microscope that decouples surgeons from static microscopes and makes them more mobile. By means of a robotic arm, the microscope automatically adjusts to the movements of the surgeon's head. Instruments do not have to be put down anymore when the microscope needs to be re-adjusted.
Benefits: Safe interventions thanks to optimized ergonomics for surgeons and a better overview during surgery. Standards play a crucial role in safeguarding patient safety. They make sure that "everybody plays by the same rules" and there are no unwelcome surprises in the design and production of medical products (ISO 13485) as well as risk management (ISO 1471) and the handling of medical or electrical equipment.
QUANTUM COMPUTER GOES ELECTRIC KETTLE
Living Standards Award 2021, category „Developing Future Technologies“
For the start-up AQT (Alpine Quantum Technologies) standards play a major role, in particular, when it wants to find a "common language" with IT partners in technical respects (ISO/IEC WD 4879 "Information technology – Quantum computing"). AQT has specialized in developing ion-trap quantum computers and is the first European start-up to bring a quantum computer to the cloud. Building on more than 20 years of research at the University of Innsbruck and the Austrian Academy of Sciences, AQT was able to implement a quantum computer based on industry standards.
Benefits: The computer does not need to be operated under laboratory conditions, fits into a cabinet and consumes as little energy as an electric kettle. Owing to its high computing performance, this technology can support the development of new drugs or materials with planned characteristics.
FINDING MICROPLASTICS RELIABLY AND QUICKLY
Living Standards Award 2021, category „Developing Future Technologies“
Purency GmbH makes microplastics visible. The solutions offered by the Viennese enterprise enable laboratories to perform scalable analyses of microplastics. The high-quality results minimize the need for manual processing. Thus, the time required for data analysis is reduced from hours to approximately ten minutes. Thereby, Purency GmbH creates the basis for reducing microplastics.
Benefits: Researchers can better assess health hazards and environmental impacts and enterprises can improve risk assessment and quality control, Since 2019, employees of Purency GmbH have taken part in international standardization – in ISO/TC 61/SC 14/WG 4 "Characterization of plastics leaked into the environment (including microplastics) and quality control criteria of respective methods".
RESEARCH DEDICATED TO ETHERNET AND INDEPENDENT STANDARDS
Living Standards Award 2021, category „IEEE-Standards“
TTTech Group is the technology leader in the fields of safety controllers and real-time networks for industrial IoT, mobile machinery, autonomous driving as well as aerospace applications. Since 2003, the high-tech company has been involved in standardization activities and joined the working group IEEE 802.1 enabling automotive and industrial networks to use fast Ethernet technology in 2012.
Benefits: TTTech has input its know-how into the development of interoperable and vendor-independent technology standards. TTTech' collaboration in IEEE standardization activities is stronger than ever and contributes to key projects (IEEE P802.1Qcw, IEEE / IEC 60802, IEEE802.1DG).
Clean ground water for climate protection
Living Standards Award 2020, Category "Enabling Solutions"
A joint project of the Federal Ministry for Sustainability and Tourism (BMNT), the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (Department of Water, Atmosphere and Environment) and Mall GmbH.
Fight against electric waste
Living Standards Award 2020, Category "Reaching International Markets"
Technicians of R.U.S.Z have contributed their technical know-how and decades of experience to the development of specifications for durable and repair-friendly appliances.
Charging technology for smart living
Living Standards Award 2020, Category "Developing Future Technologies"
Easelink, a company based in Graz, developed Matrix Charging®, an innovative charging station for electric cars. The safety standard ISO 26262 formed the basis of the development process.
Home of the future at the Smart Living Lab
Living Standards Award 2020, Category "IEEE Standards"
The University of Applied Sciences Technikum Wien has focused on smart homes and assistive technologies ensuring a high level of autonomy in everyday life for ten years.
How codes contribute to keeping a clear overview
Living Standards Award 2020, Category "GS1 Standards"
LOGICDATA Electronic & Software Entwicklungs GmbH relies on GS1 standards in logistics. On exterior packaging, the GS1 DataMatrix is used to encode important information.
Presentation of the Living Standards Awards 2019
Success stories around the application and development of standards
The Living Standards Award was already presented for the fifth time on 24 January. Around 150 businesspeople, scientists and policy-makers attended the Award ceremony.
BDI-BioEnergy International
High-quality algae biomass for industry
The Styrian plant engineering company BDI-BioEnergy International contributes to the standards ensuring quality control for algal oil for customers at the European level.
Blue Danube Robotics
Safe collision sensor for industria robotics
To permit collaboration of humans and robots in confined spaces in the same work area Blue Danube Robotics developed AIRSKIN, an artificial skin for machinery.
S.Spitz GmbH
Barcodes ensuring product traceability
The food producer S.Spitz GmbH contributed to the development of a new GS1 standard for a clearly structured supplier manual to set up a logistics process without system discontinuities.
J.M. Voith and Trützschler Nonwovens
Safety for hybrid machines in paper and textile industries
To reconcile different safety requirements applying to a hybrid machine for incontinence products in the two industries, a common international standard was developed.
MAM Babyartikel GmbH
Safety for babies and infants
The MAM's founder, Peter Röhrig, significantly contributed to the development of the European soother standard that is now recognized world-wide and won over the jury by his long-standing commitment.
UV-Team Austria
Water quality guaranteed by Austrian standard
The interdisciplinary research partnership "UV-Team Austria" received the Living Standards Award 2018 for the development of a testing standard for UV disinfection plants for drinking water (ÖNORM M 5873).
NXP Semiconductors Austria GmbH
Austrian know-how used world-wide
This developer of chips for secure, contactless identification and access systems sees standardization as a core element for reaching global markets (e.g. ISO/IEC 14443 for NFC).
Österreichische Staatsdruckerei
Standards for technologies crossing borders
By creating the "My Identity App" (MIA), Österreichische Staatsdruckerei developed an innovative solution that provides secure access to digital documents and electronic IDs (eIDs) via mobile phones world-wide.
Austrian Institute of Technology
Standards for the secure transmission of health data
The Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT) received the Living Standards Award 2018 for an app for measuring and transmitting health data, such as weight, blood glucose and blood pressure.
GrünStattGrau Forschungs- und Innovations GmbH
Standards for green roofs
The objective of the first innovation lab for the green city of the future is to green entire urban quarters by targeted measures for greening buildings (e.g. based on ÖNORM L 1131).
Kapsch TrafficCom AG: Toll and traffic management
Standards at all levels
As a provider of intelligent transportation systems, Kapsch TrafficCom covers the entire value creation chain of its customers. This has been significantly supported the enterprise’s standardization strategy.
Philips
Kitchens without cable spaghetti
Austria is an important high-tech site for Philips. In Klagenfurt, product innovations are developed, e.g. for wireless kitchen appliances in a working group of the Wireless Power Consortium.
MobilePass – AIT
Border controls - mobile, secure & fast
The MobilePass project is implemented by a consortium of 11 companies, institutes, universities and public authorities. Its objective is to develop new technologies for traveller identification at border controls.
REFlex
From assembly lines to customized mass production
REFlex, a project of the Austrian Research Promotion Agency, supports innovation and development in the IT field. For a patented process, a proposal for an ISO/IEC standard was submitted.
Bitmovin
Uninterrupted videos world-wide
The start-up Bitmovin is active in the field of adaptive video streaming. Its founders contributed to the development of ISO/IEC 23009 - also known as the MPEG DASH standard among experts.
Office of the Upper Austrian Government
The Province of Upper Austria considers digital building documentation to be important. For this purpose, a common language called Building Information Modelling (BIM) was introduced in recent years. The Province of Upper Austria plays a leading role in further developing the related series of standards.
OTIS Gesellschaft mbH
OTIS is represented in all European and international standardization committees that are of relevance for the company. More than 1,000 engineers are responsible for ensuring that the products comply with all the applicable standards and are certified in line with them. And these activities are co-ordinated and strategically aligned in Austria.
Polymer Competence Center Leoben GmbH
The Polymer Competence Center Leoben PCCL carried out several research projects in co-operation with leading plastic pipe manufacturers. In that context, a new test method was developed that reduces the duration of tests and provides more information. This method was also input into the International Standard ISO 18489.
TGM – higher secondary technical school and testing centre
At TGM, tomorrow's engineers learn about the significance of standards. This is achieved, for example, with the help of the standards management system effects 2.0 and the Lesesaal (Reading Room for standards). Moreover, TGM employees are active in around 75 committees of Austrian Standards.
Standards management by the City of Vienna
More than 20,000 standards are relevant for the City of Vienna. The aim of strategic standards management is to interlink all spheres of life.
Standards management in Lower Austria
From building to playground design, European Standards are applied and ensure safety and comparability in Lower Austria. In 2014, a new system was introduced for managing standards. Thereby, public interests were optimally brought in line with technical and scientific progress.
Standards management at Teufelberger Holding AG
Being a leading developer and manufacturer of steel ropes and synthetic fibres, Teufelberger uses standardized test methods. Thanks to effects 2.0, employees can access a single platform for managing standards in twelve fields from various locations throughout the enterprise.