Blockchain is a crucial technology to the EU’s industrial leadership on the international level. Addressing this feat, BlockStand supports the increased participation of European experts in Blockchain and DLT (Distributed Ledger Technologies) standardisation activities.

BlockStand has allocated up to 400.000 Euro to support expert standardisation activities in blockchain and DLT.

Selection of experts

Throughout the project, a continuous, open, and inclusive selection of experts (with focus on SMEs, R&I, and EBSI experts) will support their participation in blockchain and DLT standardisation.

What are we looking for?

Technical reports & research studies

New work items, standardization guides or use cases

Active participation in Technical Committees or Working Groups

Other standardisation activities

More information in the Guidelines for Applicants

BlockStand aims to engage with between 30 and 40 experts in standardisation, that will provide around 100 contributions through their activities.

The experts will have the possibility to submit their proposed activities as:

Short-term contributions (3 months)

One-time deliverable

Long-term contributions (12 months)

Consisting of 2 to 3 deliverables

For each deliverable, the expert will receive a lump-sum of 4.000 Euro. Each expert will receive the payments for a maximum of 3 deliverables. Experts may reapply for either short- or long-term contributions as long as the limit of 3 deliverables has not been reached.

Please note that, regardless of time of selection or lenght of contribution, the final deadline for all experts to submit the deliverables is set to the 31st of March 2025. 

  • Budget: 400.000 Euro
  • Active experts: 30-40
  • Total of 100 contributions
  • Maximum 3 deliverables for Expert

The submission portal is open for a continuous rolling-on submission. Experts are welcome to submit their applications anytime, that will be evaluated, periodically, after the following cut-off dates:

  • 15th September 2023;
  • 15th November 2023;
  • 15th January 2024;
  • 15th March 2024;
  • 15th June 2024;
  • 15th August 2024;
  • 15th October 2024;
  • 15th December 2024;
  • 15th February 2025 (final cut-off)

Please note that, regardless of time of selection or lenght of contribution, the final deadline for all experts to submit the deliverables is set to the 31st of March 2025.

Selection process

Each expert is free to submit any number of submissions that shall be relevant to the scope of the selection process or improve upon proposals that were unsuccessful.

Nonetheless, each individual expert will still be allowed to receive payments a for a maximum of 3 contributions, receiving for each of them a lump-sum of 4.000 Euro.

All the informative documents related to the selection process are published on this page.

Priority topics

Due to their current strategic importance, Blockstand highly encourages and will favour applications focused on specific topics. Experts can find further information below and on EBSI’s website.

Experts are invited to propose standardisation work providing guidance for organizations, industries, and governments on how governance can be implemented and executed in distributed ledger systems and addressing how key governance characteristics such as decision rights, accountabilities, and incentives operate effectively and efficiently in DLT systems.

The work proposed should define standards and interfaces to facilitate the role of EBSI as a trust anchor management infrastructure, to support several data formats and proofs (i.e. those included in the ARF). Starting from current EBSI interfaces and Trust Data Model, define interfaces, data structures, flows and any other technical artifacts or mechanism to onboard Trust Anchors in EBSI based on alternative technology stacks / business requirements.

The work proposed should support standardization of the DLT-based proof EBSI profile, including signatures, data formats and associated processes for its alignment with eIDAS1 regulation and eIDAS2 proposal requirements and European standards (i.e. JADES).

The work proposed should contribute to the definition of electronic ledgers as trust services, including the development of technical specifications and cybersecurity standards for DLT in line with the requirements of qualified electronic ledgers and facilitating the recognition of DLTs as a trust service in line with eIDAS1&2 requirements.

In line with the Data Act proposal and eIDAS1&2, experts are invited to provide technical work to support the standardization of smart contract business processes, security and related topics from a European perspective.

Who can apply?

BlockStand is looking for experts that:

  • Are individuals or natural persons residing in European Member States and are affiliated to entities established (or having significant business interests) in the EU Member States

  • Have profound knowledge in Blockchain and DLT standardisation activities

  • Have experience regarding developments of standards, e.g., in SDOs, in reputable European or international organisations and Standardisation communities

  • Are not already receiving financial support for the same proposed activities

Detailed eligibility and evaluation criteria can be found in the Guidelines for Applicants.

How to apply

STEP 1

Download the relevant documents

  • Guidelines for Applicants
  • Application Form Template
  • Declaration of Honor

STEP 2

Carefully read all documents with a special attention to the Guidelines for Applicants. For doubts, check the FAQ section or contact us: blockstand@digitalsme.eu

STEP 3

Prepare your application offline by following the Application Form Template. Please note that only applications submitted through the official platform will be evaluated

STEP 4

Make sure to fill in all the required fields and upload the required documents (CV, Declaration of Honor)

STEP 5

Submit your completed application that will be evaluated after the upcoming cut-off date

Filing documents

Guidelines for Applicants

Template for Applications

Template to follow

Declaration of Honor

To submit completed

Other Documents

Service Contract

Contribution Template

Final Report Template

Frequently asked questions

The deadline to submit your proposed deliverables will be clearly defined in the service contract after a successful evaluation and it will depend on the number of contributions accepted (either 1 for short term or 2/3 for long term).

However, please note that, regardless of time of selection or lenght of contribution, the final deadline for all the experts to submit the deliverables is set to the 31st of March 2025. 

The detailed information is available on the Guidelines for Applicants. In a nutshell, the applying experts shall satisfy the following criteria:

  • be individuals or natural persons residing and affiliated to entities established (or having significant business interests) in the EU Member States
  • Have profound knowledge in Blockchain and DLT standardisation activities
  • Have experience regarding developments of standards, e.g., in SDOs, in reputable European or international organisations and Standardisation communities
  • Are not already receiving financial support for the same proposed activities

You can apply through the online submission form, accessible here. The form consists of several questions, and it is recommended to pre-fill the Template for Application document offline and subsequently paste the responses to the online submission form.

Blockstand welcomes all proposals to carry out standardisation activities in the relevant blockchain and DLT fields. However, due to their current strategic importance, Blockstand highly encourages and will favour applications focusing on the following topics:

  • Blockchain governance
  • DLT as trust anchor infrastructure
  • DLT-based profile aligned with eIDAS
  • DLT as a trust service
  • Smart Contracts as trusted technology

You can find further information about the topics in the dedicated section in this page and on EBSI’s website.

You are required to submit your CV and the Declaration of Honor, both in PDF format. The latter is available on this page and for each application you must fill all the required fields and sign the document. In addition, experts are welcome to submit a picture that will be displayed on the website, although this is not mandatory.

You can apply anytime between the 3rd of August 2023 and the 15th of February 2025. Submissions will be evaluated on a rolling basis after each subsequent cut-off.

In brief, BlockStand is looking for direct participation in SDO’s TCs or WGs, the introduction of new standards or contributing to an existing one, performing relevant research or developing technical reports on specific standards or carry out other activities directly related to blockchain standardisation. This may also include explaining the standardisation work in a specific TC or WG, drafting guidelines for SMEs or organising an event with standardisation experts. More information may be found in the Guidelines for Applicants.

BlockStand welcomes a broad range of initiatives in the field of bockchain standardisation. Among others, the participation of experts to the technical work of the European or international Standards Development Organisations (SDOs) represents a direct and impactful approach to contribute to the blockchain standardisation landscape. Some examples include, but are not limited to: CEN, CENELEC, ETSI, ITU, IEEE, ISO, etc. For this reason, BlockStand strongly encourages the submission of activities in Technical Committees and relative Working Groups in which blockchain standards are currently discussed and drafted. For further context and practical examples, please consult Blockstand’s Repository of Blockchain Standards.

Yes. However, for the proposed contributions submitted for evaluation, the applying experts must not receive or have received any EU (or national) financial support, including but not limited to financial contributions provided by the SEEBLOCKS, StandICT2026 projects, Small Business Standards’ expert funding activities, etc.

You have the possibility to improve upon your proposal and re-submit it or to decide to submit a different one.

Yes. In addition, it is possible to improve proposals that were unsuccessful and re-apply. Nonetheless, each individual expert will still be allowed to receive payments a for a maximum of 3 contributions, receiving for each of them a lump-sum of 4.000 Euro.

The payment made to the expert depends on the positive evaluation of the Expert Contribution Report Template. The document will be directly sent to the selected experts and needs to be submitted in due time along with the relevant proof of activities.

As soon as the positive evaluation is received, the expert will be invited to issue an invoice for the Service provided.

Yes. In this case, you are required to fill in the relevant fields in both the Declaration of Honor and in the submission form.

Depending on the type of contribution proposed, the duration will either be short-term (3 months, 1 deliverable) or long-term (12 months, 2 or 3 deliverables).

Yes. Any combination of contributions is allowed, considering the limit of receiving a payment for a maximum of 3 deliverables.

After checking the eligibility, the proposals will be evaluated based on Excellence & Implementation and Impact and additional points will be awarded for several other categories. All the relevant information can be found in Table 1 and 2 of the Guidelines for Applicants.

MORE QUESTIONS?

If you need further assistance, please contact us by email at: blockstand@digitalsme.eu