TC11 -Measurement in Testing, Inspection and Certification - About
The new IMEKO TC11 has been recently established with an idea to cover the horizontal activities of the Testing, Inspection and Certification (TIC) industry, such as the overall quality of measurement required to support the demands of compliance requirements, for which several technical fields, as well as cross-cutting quality and highly scientific decision-making skills are required.
The assurance of safety and quality of life is increasingly dependent on the critical multi-disciplined testing and inspection work done by industry, laboratories, inspection and other conformity assessment bodies. Conformity operations made worldwide rely on measurement to prove the compliance of products or services to requirements. These operations have a huge economic and social impact, requiring the use of technology, highly accurate equipment, validated methods, and skilled personnel.
Today, accreditation plays a major role in the relation between laboratories and industries, being connected with the growing dynamics of markets and expectations of citizens and consumers, supporting regulation and governance, and developing techniques to ensure the traceability and quality of measurement methods that can comply with new technologies, materials, and processes.
The main aim of the newly established TC11 is to focus on the development of knowledge in “Measurement in Testing, Inspection and Certification” to support safety & quality. This will be achieved by bridging the different fields of measurement knowledge from: academia, research institutes (public and private), National Metrology Institutes, industry, laboratories, conformity assessment bodies, manufacturers, and other stakeholders. The major outcome should be to promote research, development & innovation (R&D&I), capacity building, and knowledge transfer in this cross-cutting field. The goals are related to the safety and quality of products, services, and processes, and embody a broad set of fields of interest for the TIC community, namely:
Market surveillance
Standardization and terminology
Conformity assessment
Reference materials
Risk assessment
Certification (products, QMS, persons)
Regulatory framework
Sampling
Accreditation
TQM (Total Quality Management)
(Quality) Management systems - QMS
Cybersecurity
LIMS and Data management
Digital transition
Proficiency testing
EMM (Monitoring and Measurement Equipment)
The new TC11 intends to be one of the major players in bridging the stakeholders by providing solutions to many scientific and technological challenges of industries and manufacturers, supporting the development of governance and regulation frameworks, disseminating new methods and their validation, promoting cooperation with accreditation, inspection, and certification providers, and contributing to increase measurement accuracy as key for confidence in the growing #DigitalSingleMarket.
The new IMEKO TC11 is a platform for new ideas and will open the door for potential cooperation with other IMEKO TCs in studying problems and performing joint activities, contributing thus to IMEKO's strategic objectives for continuous development and improvement. Anybody who is interested to join the new TC11 and is willing to contribute to its aims is very welcome.