ISO panel 20 September 2022 – ‘Has Covid launched the Digital Transformation of Conformity Assessment?’

The COVID-19 pandemic caused shifts and dramatic changes in a whole host of industries including conformity assessment.

Illustrated most by the near over-night shift from on-site to remote audits, assessments and evaluations, the legacy of the pandemic for the conformity assessment is two-fold:

1. Remote and hybrid audits are seen as a robust, vital tool in continuing to deliver the key benefits conformity assessment can for customers, clients, businesses, regulators and all those who can gain
2. Huge acceptance for how conformity assessment evolves next, through digitalization and the use of new technology techniques from AI and machine learning to drones and sensors.

As part of the events for the week of the ISO Annual Meeting, IIOC Chief Executive Marcus Long moderates a panel discussing the shifts in how accredited certification and other conformity assessment is delivered. With a rich diversity of panelists, from government, industry, the accreditation community and academia, the session, which is open to all, will explore the change the pandemic produced and what happens next.

The session, Has Covid launched the Digital Transformation of Conformity Assessment?, brought to the ISO week by the International Accreditation Forum (IAF), the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) and ISO CASCO, demonstrates the independence and cooperation of the conformity assessment community and how it collectively works to ensure benefits continue to be delivered for business, regulators, government and consumers alike.

Alongside Marcus Long in his role as IAF Conformity Assessment Body Advisory Committee Chair, the panellists are:

• Sheronda Jeffries (Technical Leader, Cisco Systems and IAF User Advisory Committee Vice-Chair)
• Amina Ahmed (Arab Accreditation Cooperation Chair and Chief Executive, Emirates International Accreditation Centre)
• Pavel Castka (Professor, University of Canterbury)
• Eve Christine Gadzikwa (Chief Executive, Southern African Development Community Accreditation Services)
• H.E Omar Suwaina Al Suwaidi (Under-Secretary, United Arab Emirates Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technologies) will kick the session off.

The session is open to all, with registration here https://bit.ly/ISOweek #ISOannualmeeting

As some background, the session will reference the  IAF/ILAC/ISO survey of remote techniques which showed the hugely positive view of those both experiencing and carrying out remote audits, assessments and evaluations.

In addition, the IIOC paper ‘Transformative technology techniques‘ explores the impact of remote auditing and some of the ‘what’s next questions’.

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