International Breakfast at the QI-Digital Forum 2023
General
Digitalisation is a key topic of the Global Project Quality Infrastructure. For this reason, members of GPQI attended the QI-Digital Forum 2023 on the 10 and 11 October for the second time since its creation. The conference was hosted by the German Institute for Standardization (Deutsches Institut für Normung - DIN) in Berlin and brought together various stakeholders and experts from Germany’s QI landscape.
On the morning of 11 October, GPQI hosted a hybrid International Breakfast session. The event was a unique opportunity to gain insights into innovative developments and trends shaping the future of QI. Project Director Susanne Friedrich moderated two panels aiming to introduce the international audience to QI-Digital and highlight international positions and approaches to the digitalisation of QI.
Opening panel for the international community
The session was launched by an introductory panel consisting of Benjamin Helfritz, Head of Green and Digital Transformation at DIN, Prof Dr Frank Härtig, Vice President at the National Metrology Institute of Germany (Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt - PTB), Dr Martin J.T. Milton, Director of the Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (BIPM), and Sabine Reinkober, Advisor for national and international Accreditation Policy at the German Accreditation Body (Deutsche Akkreditierungsstelle - DAkkS).
The panel elaborated on the context of the QI-Digital initiative, as well as current developments in Germany. According to them, one key topic is the importance of collaboration in QI. They highlighted the need to avoid isolated solutions for effective development.
International Perspectives on QI-digitalisation
Following this panel, Friedrich presented the work of the GPQI and introduced the speakers of the second part of the International Breakfast. Six international partners from GPQI shared their perspectives on QI and jointly identified opportunities of QI-digitalisation: Lin Feng of the Certification and Accreditation Administration of the People's Republic of China (CNCA), Tiago Munk from the Brazilian Ministry for Development, Industry, Trade and Services (MDIC), Dr Martin J.T. Milton of the Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (BIPM), Vipin Sahni of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Arquímedes Ruíz Orozco of the National Metrology Institute of Mexico (CENAM), and Brett Hyland of the National Association of Testing Authorities Australia and United Nations Center for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business.
The speakers emphasised the benefits of the implementation of digital QI processes and their interest to collaborate, regardless of their different national development stages. The discussion further highlighted the importance of trust and cooperation in the digital accreditation and conformity assessment process. According to the participants, one possible way to strengthen trust is through specific regional initiatives and the potential for cross-country collaborations to promote digital QI practices.
They agreed that international cooperation in the development of digital approaches is key to foster an interconnected and robust QI landscape. For this reason, they proposed a recurring platform for international dialogue on current progress in digital QI.
The QI-Digital Forum as a platform for exchange
The QI-Digital Forum is an important platform for exchange and to bring together leading experts from politics, business, and research. The GPQI took the opportunity to engage and organise an insightful event and bring together international perspectives. Overall, the International Breakfast session demonstrated the crucial role of international collaboration and the sharing of innovative insights on the matter of digital QI.
If you want to see and hear more, please access the session via YouTube.