Beyond PDF: eCH Standards as Building Blocks

Result

The joint project by eCH and ZHAW establishes methodological and technical foundations for structuring eCH standards in a modular and machine-readable form. The concepts developed were tested using selected standards.

The results include approaches for dividing standards into reusable building blocks and for describing, versioning and linking them consistently. Initial approaches were also developed for representing dependencies and compatibility relationships between standards.

The resulting foundations, examples and technical artefacts are documented in the project’s public GitHub repository (https://github.com/ech-ch/project-github) and will be continuously developed further.

Description

eCH and ZHAW are jointly investigating how existing eCH standards can be structured in a more modular, transparent and machine-readable way. The project focuses on decomposing selected standards into technically meaningful and reusable building blocks and on defining how these can be described, versioned and linked consistently.

This is intended to make dependencies, overlaps and compatibility relationships between standards more transparent and to support their further development more effectively.

At the same time, the project explores new approaches to the collaborative maintenance and digital provision of standards. In doing so, it lays the groundwork for future applications such as interoperability analyses, knowledge graphs, navigation tools and platform functionalities.

From July 2026 onwards, eCH and ZHAW will continue the work through three consecutive work packages:

• Work package 1: Further development of the building blocks with specialist groups
  The existing approaches will be tested and refined with the eCH specialist groups through several iterations. The focus is on structuring additional standards, documenting links and metadata, and improving the guidelines.
  
  
• Work package 2: eCH browser with database and interoperability matrix
  Based on the results of the first work package, a technical prototype will be developed. It will represent the structured standards, their relationships and compatibility in a database and make them accessible through a browser-based interface.
  
  
• Work package 3: NormBrowser
  The NormBrowser will translate the developed structures and functions into an application-oriented navigation solution. The objective is a demonstrable MVP that provides clear access to standards, building blocks and their interrelationships.
  
  
• Accompanying work package: AI-supported standards development and capability building
  In parallel with the three work packages, suitable AI use cases will be identified, tested with the specialist groups and supported methodologically. This work will result in practical recommendations for the responsible use of AI in standards development.

The individual activities, iterations and milestones from July 2026 to May 2027 are presented in the detailed roadmap.

Key data

Further documents and links