Relations between UNI and Accredia will be increasingly close, targeting shared objectives of enhancing activities regarding standards and accreditation, and also extending them to cooperation in funded European projects and the diffusion of the UNI mark, which may accompany certifications accredited according to the requirements defined by the Italian standardization body thanks to the framework agreement signed by the presidents Giuseppe Rossi (UNI) and Massimo De Felice (Accredia) for the next 3 years.
Starting from the solid basis of cross-participation in governance bodies, UNI and Accredia have decided to develop the synergies that can arise from the systematic in-depth analysis of pre-regulatory and regulatory factors regarding the application of technical standards and reference practices for bringing further value to the development of standardization products.
All this not only at national level, through an increase in the participation of Accredia representatives in UNI technical bodies, but also in CEN and ISO activities; in the latter case also with the prospect of developing the national strategy for obtaining a leading role in the conduct of these activities (with presidential, coordination and secretarial responsibilities).
The joint information and training activities will be enhanced and the participation of UNI experts in the performance of accreditation activities will become possible.
The promotion of the value of accredited certification based on requirements defined by UNI will be a further line of joint activity, to give visibility to products, services, processes, management systems, claims and professionals (in particular those operating in the “non-regulated” sectors governed by law 4/2013) who believe in – and work for – “a world made well”.
“The experience in Accredia and the path taken to establish the Quality Infrastructure made clear to me the need for close synergies between standardization and accreditation to improve the quality (in the broadest sense) of products and services, the effectiveness and efficiency of the processes and management systems of organizations, the reliability of the performance of professionals and their competences,” says Giuseppe Rossi, who, before becoming president of UNI – last February – led Accredia for 6 years. “The more we work in synergy following common and shared principles and criteria, the more we will add value and give benefits to the country’s economic and social system”.
“I also believe that technical standardization and accreditation, together with the other components of the Quality Infrastructure, can play an important role in this delicate phase of national recovery through the implementation of the national recovery plan (PNRR),” continues Massimo De Felice, President of Accredia. “At Accredia we have highly qualified technical competences, the result of careful selection, necessary to ensure reliable certifications to the market. The renewed collaboration with UNI will therefore be an important opportunity to make these competences available in the tables of national and international technical standardization, demonstrating that the two bodies can offer strategic support for the Public Administration and businesses for the benefit of consumers”.