Strategy meeting of DAkkS and RvA in Berlin

Deutsche Akkreditierungsstelle (DAkkS) welcomed a delegation from the Dutch accreditation body Raad voor Accreditatie (RvA) to a joint working meeting in Berlin. The meeting provided an opportunity to discuss current issues of accreditation practice and strategies in the areas of organisation, processes and digitisation.

The main focus of the discussions with Chairman of the Executive Board of RvA Roeland Nieuweboer and his Dutch colleagues was on strategic planning for digitisation of the accreditation process. The aspiration and goal of both national accreditation bodies is to optimise this process, particularly in the areas of applications and assessment planning, and to support it with digitalised and automated processes where it is possible and makes sense to do so. The participants from DAkkS and RvA then moved on to a detailed exchange of views regarding existing strategies and projects, both implemented and planned, at both institutions.

In addition to the topic of digitisation, the partners also discussed questions of the organisational and operational structure of the two organisations and explored the potential for process optimisation at various levels: what innovations are in place in the organisational and operational structure of both organisations? What other strategic initiatives are being looked at with a view to enabling the best possible fulfilment of the responsibilities of a national accreditation body? The meeting was rounded off with an exchange of ideas on current issues relating to the international accreditation organisations ILAC and IAF.

“The requirements that national accreditation bodies are obliged to meet in the European context are determined by common legal bases, the globally applicable standard ISO/IEC 17011 and international and European regulatory documents. But there are of course differences in terms of how exactly these responsibilities are discharged and of practical implementation, which is why it is important to conduct bilateral discussions between the accreditation bodies, to share experiences and learn from each other. I would therefore like to thank my colleagues from the Netherlands for our constructive discussions and I look forward to continuing our good cooperation in the future,” said DAkkS Chief Executive Officer Dr. Stephan Finke on the occasion of the meeting with RvA.