Review: QI-Digital Forum 2023

Keeping Germany at the top - The international quality infrastructure (QI) meets in Berlin

Successful conclusion of the 2nd hybrid QI Digital Forum: Around 500 participants and speakers from 8 nations came together on 10 and 11 October 2023 under the motto "Digital certificates, standards, product passports & co. - Together for the quality of the future".

The organisers of the second QI-Digital Forum in Berlin were the central players in the German quality infrastructure (QI), BAM, DAkkS, DIN, DKE and PTB, and the QI-Digital initiative they formed. The initiative is sponsored by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection (BMWK). Its Parliamentary State Secretary, Dr Franziska Brantner, MP, emphasised the importance of a future-proof quality infrastructure in her welcoming address: "We need to accelerate our innovation processes in order to develop new digital products and services. Of course, the state also has a duty here with its own services. And we must ensure that their quality is guaranteed so that business and consumers trust these products and services. Both are of central importance for our economy and the many innovative companies in Germany. The QI-Digital initiative and the forum are dedicated to the important question of how our quality infrastructure with its areas of metrology, standardisation, accreditation, conformity assessment and market surveillance can be effectively transferred to the digital world and further developed. The work also offers important contributions to the establishment of a circular economy."

The programme of the QI Digital Forum

Over two days, high-calibre speakers from industry such as Dr Wolfgang Weber, Chairman of the Board of Directors, German Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers' Association (ZVEI), as well as international representatives such as Tiago Munk, General Coordinator for Quality Infrastructure, Ministry for Development, Industry, Trade and Services (MDIC), Brazil, Lin Feng, Deputy Director-General China Certification & Accreditation Institute, China, and Dr Martin Milton, International Bureau for Quality Management and Accreditation, China, discussed the topic of quality management. Martin Milton, International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM), France, and political representatives such as Maik Außendorf, Member of Parliament (Alliance 90/The Greens), Dr Holger Becker, Member of Parliament (SPD) and Dr Markus Reichel, Member of Parliament (CDU/CSU) discussed the urgent issues surrounding the digitalisation of QI. During the panel discussion on the main stage, Wolfgang Weber emphasised: "The economy needs a global digital quality infrastructure that can be connected to business processes. The digital product passport DPP 4.0, for example, can become an important tool for green and digital transformation."

Over 30 exhibitors showcased their innovation-driving work on modern QI and corresponding tools on the premises of the host German Institute for Standardisation (DIN). Internationally recognised pilot projects such as the eAttestation, a combination of the Digital Calibration Certificate (DCC) tools with the Digital Accreditation Symbol, or the preliminary work on a data infrastructure for quality data (Quality-X) demonstrate the aspirations of the German community. One highlight of the event was the premiere of the demonstrator for the BMWK-funded "Battery Pass Project - from the mine to the recycler".

Quality infrastructure: a hidden champion?

However, what the final discussion on the second day of the event showed in particular was that QI remains a hidden champion in Germany. "Perhaps precisely because it - still - works so well", as was surmised among the panellists. This is apparently also the view of the UN Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), which once again put Germany in the top spot in its Quality Infrastructure 4 Sustainable Development Index (QI4SD) in 2022. However, analogue expertise does not automatically lead to digital expertise, according to the predominant assessment in the discussion rounds. After all, the digital transformation of QI has only just begun and other nations are now moving in this direction with the full strategic support of their governments. After all, those who play a decisive role in shaping the emerging structures of digital QI at an international level are shaping an essential foundation for future global paperless trade.

Quality infrastructure: "Hidden enabler" of the digital and green transformation

Presentations, exhibitions and workshops unanimously showed that modern QI is the basis for secure and comparable data, which will be necessary in the future for both digital (Industry 4.0) and green transformation (e.g. for sustainability assessments of products and services) across the entire supply chain.

As QI is anchored in the legal structures of almost every country and economic area in the world, many political projects would come to nothing without it. It is the basis for the conformity of products and processes with laws and regulations. It is therefore also a component of trade agreements, the development of international cooperation and a central theme of the WTO, UN etc., as the presentation by Alejandro Rivera (UNIDO) impressively demonstrated. In this sense, as an international construct, it is a relevant lever (hidden enabler) for enabling the global green and digital transformation in the first place and shaping it in such a way that the German and European economy can benefit from it.

We are already looking forward to the continuation at the QI Digital Forum 2024, which will once more take place in Berlin on the 9th and 10th of October 2024.

Materials

We have put together some photo impressions of the event for you, as well as videos of the action on the main stage and a teaser for the event. Our graphic recordist Manuel Recker has summarised the topics on stage and in the workshops. You can now also read the presentations of the lectures and workshops at your leisure.
Further information

Contact us

If you have any questions about the event or the initiative, please contact Helga Hansen:

QI-Digital Office
c/o Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB)
Bundesallee 100
38116 Braunschweig

+49 531 592 9456

E-mail: info(at)qi-digital.de