Pavel Toman
PhD student @LIS-CNRS-UTLN on biometric template protection + AI Testing Laboratory Director @CLR Labs,
Technical contributor in CEN/CLC JTC 21/WG 4 “Foundational and societal aspects” for harmonised AI standards
The focus of my fellowship was to support the Integration of IoT, data interoperability, and standardisation practices into agricultural digital transformation frameworks.
The main gaps addressed through this fellowship were the lack of national policy alignment, weak participation in standardisation processes, and limited awareness of ICT interoperability frameworks in the Western Balkans, particularly Kosovo. Until recently, standardisation in agriculture was not part of the national digitalisation agenda, leaving many innovations fragmented and incompatible with EU frameworks.
In this context, I contributed to the national consultation and standardisation alignment process that shaped the Digital Agriculture Programme and Action Plan 2025–2028 in Kosovo, referencing European standards such as SAFE4Agri, ETSI SAREF4Agri, and ISO/IEC 30141.
Through the fellowship, I helped initiate dialogue between national authorities, FAO–AKIS, and regional organisations to begin integrating ICT standardisation principles into agriculture policy.
The challenge was not only technical but also institutional and educational — to convince policymakers and agricultural associations of the value of adopting open European standards. As one of the first developers to successfully deploy smart irrigation IoT solutions in Kosovo, I used practical examples to demonstrate the benefits of standardisation and its role in improving interoperability, transparency, and SME innovation.
This fellowship therefore contributed to bridging the policy gap between innovation and regulation, ensuring that Western Balkan countries begin integrating EU ICT standardisation frameworks into their national digital-agriculture strategies.
My fellowship supports the development of a standardized framework for trustworthy, AI-native digital infrastructure by moving away from centralized, opaque architectures toward decentralized, composable, and transparent platforms. It addresses key challenges in current digital ecosystems, such as fragmentation, centralization, and lack of trust, with priorities including the development of AI-native composable infrastructure that embeds transparency, privacy, and accountability; the advancement of standards for federated AI, digital twin interoperability, and decentralized identity; and the resolution of gaps in trustworthy execution and governance to reduce Europe’s dependency on non-European platforms. The fellowship further seeks to enable federated, decentralized AI, ensure data sovereignty, and align composable infrastructure with European values of privacy, fairness, and transparency. These standardisation efforts are very significant in facilitating the timely adoption of emerging technologies with a global, interoperable standard for future AI infrastructure.