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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.

What do Regional Trade Agreements mean for quality infrastructure?

The number of Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs) entering into force has steadily increased over the past two decades (see figure below). This continuous growth has been interpreted as a reaction to the Multilateral Trading System (MTS) crisis, which has raised concerns about the future of Quality Infrastructure.

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The Implications of Artificial Intelligence for the Quality Infrastructure

Artificial intelligence (AI) is on everyone’s lips. A significant stimulus was when the US company OpenAI published the ChatGPT in November 2022.[1] GPT stands for Generative Pre-trained Transformer and is a text-based dialogue system as a user interface based on machine learning. Millions of internet users registered to gain access to this new oracle in just a few days.

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First International Research Workshop on Quality Infrastructure (QI)

The International Cooperation of the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) and the Chair of Innovation Economics at the Technische Universität Berlin hosted the First International Research Workshop on Quality Infrastructure on the 27th of April 2023. The consulting firm, Mesopartner, supported the preparation and execution of the workshop.

The event took place at the PTB’s Siemens Building in Berlin and online, aiming to bring researchers and practitioners together to discuss the scientific foundation of Quality Infrastructure (QI) and exchange information on the state of research in the field.

During this hybrid workshop over 100 participants from 36 countries, discussed QI’s contribution to economic development and sustainability.

On-site participants during the workshop

Until now, QI has received attention mainly from practitioners. As a result, there is a lot of grey literature and only a few peer-reviewed scientific publications focusing on QI. Against this backdrop, the event made a relevant contribution to the development of QI as a field of research.

To document the results of this first event, the organising team has prepared the following report with the main conclusions and will continue to promote the visibility of QI through further research events, publications and activities fostering the development of data transparency and the components of the quality infrastructure worldwide.