Building Safe and Fair Workplaces: The Critical Role of Quality Infrastructure

Introduction

Quality infrastructure (QI) institutions, which initially focused primarily on technical and industrial sectors, now impact nearly every aspect of our lives. They influence how goods and services are produced and significantly affect the world of work, where safety, fairness, and dignity are essential. On a global scale, the International Labour Organization (ILO) sets the gold standard for workplace rights, creating norms that ensure decent working conditions for all.

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Photovoltaic: Quality, Safety, and Sustainability Challenges

In a June 2024 Solar Energy Special, the Economist called solar energy generation the “least obtrusive revolution imaginable.”(The Economist 2024b) According to the International Solar Energy Society, solar power is on track to generate more electricity than all the world’s nuclear power plants in 2026, its wind turbines in 2027, its dams in 2028, its gas-fired power plants in 2030, and its coal-fired ones in 2032.

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Global dialogue and benchmarking of quality infrastructure systems

Quality infrastructure (QI) systems differ between countries.

Germany can look back on a particularly long history of QI development. The predecessor of the PTB was the first National Metrology Institute (NMI) globally, and the German DIN is one of the pioneering National Standards Bodies (NSB). Accreditation was later introduced and, during European integration, merged into one National Accreditation Body (NAB) carrying the acronym DAkkS in Germany. However, the term “quality infrastructure” is a relatively new terminology in Germany.

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Dematerialisation of accreditation data

Digitalisation of accreditation services

Since 2020, accreditation bodies worldwide have increasingly digitalised their services. Accreditation has followed a universal quest for leaner and more efficient business processes, higher productivity, and lower costs. At the same time, digitalisation aims to improve the customer experience and communication as well as the transparency of the accreditation system.

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Macroeconomic benefits of quality infrastructure

One reason for investing in Quality Infrastructure (QI) is its contribution to a country’s economic growth. QI enhances economic performance through several avenues, including opening markets, reducing entry barriers, promoting knowledge transfer and better management procedures, facilitating production along value chains, enabling economies of scale, and reducing adverse selection and asymmetric information (Gonçalves and Peuckert, 2011). While interest in QI has been increasing over the years, QI experts, researchers and practitioners are challenged with quantifying the economic benefits of QI to highlight its importance and justify the need for investment and further development. So far, there have been various studies on the macroeconomic impact of individual QI components, such as standards, metrology and conformity assessment. However, an impact analysis for the entire system is still pending. This blog explores the methodologies used for the macroeconomic impact assessments of the different QI components and the possibility of conducting an assessment of the overall QI system.

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