DAkkS-PORT makes accreditation more customer-orientated
With the new online portal, Deutsche Akkreditierungsstelle (DAkkS) will digitise its administrative services in the future. It constitutes both the foundation for the comprehensive digital transformation of the national accreditation body in the coming years and, after the provision of the digital accreditation symbol, the second major step towards digitisation. To meet the complex challenges of administrative digitisation, an agile approach was taken to implementing the portal.
The new DAkkS-PORT online portal marks an important step towards the digital transformation of processes in the handling of cases of accreditation. It promises more efficient, transparent and user-friendly interaction between conformity assessment bodies and DAkkS.
With DAkkS-PORT, a comprehensive platform has been developed that makes it possible to manage administrative services relating to accreditation online at a central location. This not only simplifies access for conformity assessment bodies, it also optimises the work processes within DAkkS.
“The digitisation of administrative services makes a significant contribution to increasing efficiency and cutting red tape. With DAkkS-PORT, we at the national accreditation body will in future offer our administrative services relating to accreditation in digital form. In the first stage of development, our customers benefit from a guided application process, shorter processing times and greater transparency in the accreditation procedure. With the new online portal, we are also laying the foundation for further steps towards digitisation in the German accreditation system,” says Dr.-Ing. Stephan Finke, CEO of Deutsche Akkreditierungsstelle (DAkkS).
Time savings, user-friendliness, security – what does DAkkS-PORT offer?
DAkkS-PORT is a central platform that, in the first stage of development, enables conformity assessment bodies to submit their applications online. The biggest advantage of the digital application portal is in the time saved by applicants. Another major advantage of the portal is its greater level of transparency. It gives conformity assessment bodies access to the current processing status of their application at all times, allowing them to monitor the exact status of their request.
Particular attention was also paid to the user friendliness of the online portal. DAkkS-PORT has an intuitive design and offers a clear user interface. Notes and explanations help applicants to fill out the forms correctly, minimising potential sources of error.
Security also plays a key role. The use of state-of-the-art security technologies and compliance with stringent data protection guidelines ensure that the information provided by conformity assessment bodies is secure.
Who is authorised to use DAkkS-PORT?
The accreditation portal is available in a German-language version. At present, all bodies already accredited by DAkkS in German-speaking countries can use the new online portal to submit applications. In the next step, DAkkS-PORT will also be available to conformity assessment bodies that have not yet been accredited. These bodies will be able to submit an application to DAkkS from the third quarter of 2024.
Focus on customer orientation and user friendliness
To meet the complex challenges of administrative digitisation, DAkkS-PORT was implemented using an agile approach that emphasised flexibility and a focus on customer requirements. Instead of adhering to rigid plans and fixed requirements, the focus was on iterative work processes in which development took place in small steps.
Relevant user groups such as conformity assessment bodies and DAkkS employees were actively involved in the development process and their needs and requirements were continuously taken into account.
Agile project management proved to be an effective method of responding flexibly to requirements and enabled open and transparent communication both within the team and with stakeholders.
