Dr Aparna Dhawan
APAC Communication and Promotion Committee Chair

Digitalization is a common buzzword in today’s business world. The Asia Pacific Accreditation Cooperation (APAC), as the largest regional accreditation cooperation with a wide range of member economies, requires a greater use of digitalization to support its members’ sustainable economic development. In the pursuit of the goal to digitalize APAC activities, APAC and the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, Germany (PTB) are collaborating on a new project on “Digital Transformation of Accreditation in Asia Pacific”, also known as the ADAPT project. The project commenced on 1 May 2022 and will run for three years.

The implementation of the ADAPT project will help facilitate effective interconnections within APAC and hence further facilitate the harmonization of accreditation in the Asia-Pacific region. This is of major significance as regional and global markets are increasingly demanding higher quality and accreditation needs to be able to respond quickly and efficiently to these growing demands.

The overall objective of the project is to expand the use of digital services by APAC and its members. It will have the following outputs that complement the strategy areas set out in the APAC Strategic Plan:

• APAC and its developing economy members making greater use of new and emerging technologies and digitization to deliver their services in a more efficient and effective manner.
• The digitalization of regional accreditation processes and procedures, including the APAC Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA) evaluation process.
• Assisting APAC members in transforming their processes, including the digitalization of customer relationships and the accreditation of conformity assessment bodies.
• Further strengthening the organizational capacity of APAC to oversee and harmonize accreditation activities within a digital environment in the Asia Pacific region.

A baseline survey has been conducted among the APAC members to understand better the current levels of digitalization within APAC members and their particular needs, as well as identifying what enhancements can be made at the APAC level. Project planning and implementation will be under the supervision of a dedicated Project Steering Committee, together with assistance from an ADAPT Digitalization Working Group.

APAC has also already conducted one online event on “Project Introduction and Sensitization on Digitalization for Accreditation Bodies”. This event, held on 13 July 2022, provided an introduction and overview to the APAC-PTB ADAPT project. An update on the findings of the baseline survey and plans for future project activities will be provided to APAC members in the near future.