The inaugural SBS Awards Ceremony recognises the experts and standards that strengthen the role of small and medium-sized enterprises in European standardisation.
At a pivotal moment for the future of the European market, this event brings together key stakeholders to highlight contributions that make a real difference for SMEs, and to affirm their essential role in building a fairer, more innovative and competitive Single Market.
Emilia Tantar
We are delighted to announce that Dr. Emilia Tantar has been awarded SBS Expert of the Year 2025, presented yesterday at the SBS Stakeholder Reception & 1st Awards Ceremony at the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) in Brussels!
Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer at the Luxembourg House of Cybersecurity, Head of the Luxembourg Cybersecurity Factory, and co-founder of Black Swan LUX, Dr. Tantar has been a driving force in trustworthy AI standardisation. She chairs the Luxembourg National Standardisation Committee for Artificial Intelligence, convenes CEN/CENELEC JTC 21 WG 2 on “Operational aspects,” and has shaped practical frameworks for AI conformity assessment as editor of CEN/CLC/TR 17894:2024.
Since 2022, she has represented SBS in AI standardisation activities at European and international level, and in 2026, she spearheaded the launch of Europe’s first cybersecurity data space, making AI cyber-resilience accessible to SMEs across Europe.
Her work embodies exactly what the Meeting Standards Initiative stands for: bridging technical expertise with real impact for SMEs.
A heartfelt thank you to our two other outstanding finalists for this category, whose contributions to standardisation are equally inspiring and deserving of recognition. This award celebrates not just one person, but a community of experts driving standards forward for Europe’s SMEs.
EN ISO 27799:2026, Health informatics
SBS is proud to award EN ISO 27799:2026, Health informatics — Information security controls in health based on ISO/IEC 27002 (ISO 27799:2025), as Standard of the Year 2025.
Circulated on 14 January 2026 at European level, this standard marks a significant step forward for health information security. It provides guidelines for health information security and management practices, while specifically updating controls to align with ISO/IEC 27002:2022 for today’s clinical and remote care environments. Its risk-based, scalable approach ensures that SMEs may operate without being burdened by security requirements designed for large hospital infrastructures, making robust compliance genuinely achievable for smaller health-tech providers.
Throughout the development process, SBS consistently advocated for risk-based, scalable security controls, ensuring the text remains directly relevant to European SMEs navigating the requirements of the NIS2 Directive. For health-tech SMEs, this standard is set to become a key competitive differentiator, enabling them to demonstrate compliance to larger providers and national health systems alike.
With the standard now published, attention turns to supporting its adoption at regional level through CEN-CENELEC and developing practical implementation guidance for small providers.
Congratulations to everyone involved in bringing this important standard to publication.
Individual Award
Only SBS registered experts who were active during 2025 are eligible. Nominations may be submitted by the expert themselves (self-nomination) or by other experts or organisations who can attest to the candidate work and impact.
Applications can highlight the expert contributions at both European level (working groups in CEN, CENELEC, ETSI) and international level (e.g. ISO), including active participation, leadership roles, and concrete outcomes delivered on behalf of small businesses.
The jury is composed of:
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Before the vote, the SBS Secretariat reviews all nominations for eligibility, verifies the accuracy of submitted evidence, and ensures no candidate presents a conflict of interest.Â
Team Award
Anyone with a success story about how a standard has positively impacted SMEs is encouraged to nominate. This includes SMEs themselves, SME organisations, industry associations, standard setters, and any other stakeholder who can demonstrate tangible benefit for small businesses.
The jury is composed of:
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On stage, an official from the relevant standards organisation (e.g. ISO or CEN/CENELEC) or the convenor of the working group may be invited to receive the trophy on behalf of the standard.
1
4 May
Call for
applications
2
16 June
Submission
deadline
3
17 - 19 June
Selection
of finalists
4
29 June
Awards Ceremony
All qualifying nominations from both categories will be thoroughly evaluated and voted on by our panel of judges.
Dr. George Sharkov is Minister of e-Governance in Bulgaria, as well as an Associate Professor at the Institute for ICT at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. He has 30 years of experience developing complex software, cyber resilient systems and trustworthy AI. George currently represents European digital SMEs and Small Business Standards in the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) Technical Committees on Cyber Security (TC CYBER) and Securing AI, as well as various ENISA and European Commission ad-hoc groups.
With over 25 years of advocacy experience at the local, regional, national, and
European levels, Véronique Willems has dedicated her career to counselling and
mentoring SMEs and shaping an SME-friendly business environment. She currently
serves as the Secretary General of SMEunited, the association of Crafts and SMEs in Europe.
An experienced manager of non-profit organisations, Philip van Nieuwenhuizen was elected President of Small Business Standards (SBS) in December 2025. He also serves as Vice President Sectoral Regional and Rural policy at SMEunited, Chair of the Committee on European SME Affairs at MKB-Nederland, and Past-President of the European Builders Confederation.
A member of the SBS Board, Gérard Bobier serves as the Vice President for Internal Affairs at CMA France, the French Assembly of Craft Chambers.
A seasoned manager and founder of two SMEs, Jon Echanove has extensive
experience in regulatory best practices, industrial and trade policies, and SMEs support tools. An expert in market access and quality infrastructure, he has an in-depth understanding of the European regulatory process and the challenges of supporting SMEs in its design and implementation. He joined SBS as Secretary General in 2025.
Submit your application for the SBS Awards. Choose one of the two categories below.
There are two distinct categories:
The timeline for the 2026 cycle is as follows:
