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About Dr. Ulrich Harmes-Liedtke

Dr Ulrich Harmes-Liedtke is a global expert in the field of international economic development cooperation. With more than 25 years of consulting experience, he is active in all phases of a project and program development (preparation, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation) and collaborates with various implementing organizations and development banks (German Development Cooperation - GIZ and PTB -, Inter-American Development Bank, European Union and United Nations). He has consulting experience in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean. Dr.Harmes-Liedtke is an experienced trainer and process consultant. He works with groups and teams to reflect on their situation and to then formulate change projects to improve their reality. He enables dialogue, facilitates and designs workshops, processes, and sense-making processes. He is certified in facilitation, mediation, and communication techniques which allow him to deal with sensitive, diverse, and even conflict situations. He supports systemic economic development in various roles: • As an expert and trainer in international trade, national quality policies, industrial policy, clusters, and global value chains • As a process consultant in designing and leading diagnostic processes that result in change, adaptation, and improvement • As a facilitator of dialogue, workshops, training, and sense-making processes • As a transdisciplinary researcher in the field of systemic economic development Born 1965, Ph.D. in political science and economics (Bremen 1999), MA in economics (Diplom-Volkswirt) (Hamburg 1991). German nationality.

Enhancing Quality Infrastructure for Medical Technologies in the EU: Precision, Safety, and Innovation

By Ulrich Harmes-Liedtke, Ozan Aykurt and Folker Spitzenberger

The European Union is at the forefront of medical innovation, supported by a robust regulatory framework that ensures medical technologies’ safety and performance while actively supporting their quality and efficacy.

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Recalibrating Quality: The Role of Risk-Based Thinking

Risk-based thinking has emerged as a cornerstone of modern quality management and is simultaneously used in conformity assessment and market surveillance.

This article aims to deepen our understanding of the connection between risk, quality, and safety. It explainsits significance for quality management, conformity assessment, market surveillance, and the overarching quality infrastructure. In doing so, we address how risk thinking has developed and will continue to develop in the world of quality.

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Advancing the Global Quality Infrastructure: Key Insights and Trends from GQII 2023

The “GQII-Report 2023: Insights and Trends on Economies Using Metrology, Standards, Accreditation and Conformity Assessment Services” was published earlier this year using 2023 data. The GQII database and ranking integrate information on quality infrastructure (QI) in 185 economies. Each edition collects and analyses data on standardization, metrology, accreditation and conformity assessment activities. Data from multiple sources is used to ensure comparability and a formula is used to calculate each economy’s score and position in the global QI ranking.

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Gender Perspective in Quality Infrastructure: A Pathway to Equality and Innovation (PART 2)

In a previous post, we discussed the importance and implications of incorporating a gender perspective into QI. We recommended using a framework tailored to the QI context to evaluate contribution levels and progress toward gender equality. This time, we will explore various entry points through which QI can integrate a gender perspective, including:

  1. Fostering women’s talent and empowerment within QI organisations

In 2023, the Global Gender Gap Report published that women represent 49.3% of total employment in occupations outside science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), but only 29.2% of all STEM workers. This shows that women continue to be under-represented in this field of work, which is usually highly paid and has excellent growth potential.

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Gender Perspective in Quality Infrastructure – A Pathway to Equality and Innovation (PART 1)

An analysis of crash and injury data collected by the National Automotive Sampling System Crashworthiness Data System between 1998 and 2015 in the United States, conducted by the University of Virginia, revealed a disturbing disparity: belted women are 73% more likely to be seriously injured in frontal crashes than men.

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