Working group 30 of the International Organization for Standardization’s committee for conformity assessment (ISO/CASCO WG 30), which is currently revising ISO/IEC 17024:2012 Conformity assessment, General requirements for bodies operating certification of persons, held its first related face-to-face meeting at the ISO Central Secretariat in Geneva between 18 and 20 July 2023.

Conveners Dr. Cynthia Woodley and Mr. Wayne Terry facilitated the meeting, which included in-person participation from 29 persons and 22 persons virtually. The participants included experts in the field of certification of persons representing certification bodies, examination development and measurement experts and accreditation bodies.

In the role of IAF member representatives, Dr. Christine Niero, Dr. Vijay Krishna and Dr. Thomas Behrends participated with the commitment to support the strategic initiative of IAF to increase acceptance of ISO/IEC 17024. IAF representation is in keeping with the mission of supporting and furthering confidence in accreditation by promoting a globally accepted benchmark for organizations operating certification of persons.   

Following up from the work accomplished in the kickoff meeting in March 2023, recommendations and draft text on key issues were presented and considered by participants. Participants also reviewed the input from six task groups from the first meeting assigned to review and comment on: the potential implications of technology and artificial intelligence (AI) in the use of certification of persons; remote invigilation/proctoring; new PROC33 and risk; structure; terminology; and assessment processes. The relevant clauses of ISO/IEC 17024:2012 were reviewed by participants. 

To assist the WG members’ understanding of the potential of AI within ISO/IEC 17024, three experts were consulted to provide guidance, via webinars, on the following topics:

• Use of AI and implications for ethical considerations.
• Standardization framework of ISO/IEC JTC1/SC 42 and impact on ISO/IEC 17024.
• Remote invigilation, use of AI proctored examinations; use of AI in the development and maintenance of person certification programs, including certification examinations.

At the conclusion of the third day of the meeting, the WG drafted revisions to the following sections of ISO/IEC 17024:

• Terms and definitions. It was acknowledged that ISO/IEC TS 17027 Conformity assessment — Vocabulary related to competence of persons used for certification of persons will not be revised to become an International Standard and hence it will be withdrawn following the next three-yearly review; therefore the terminology in ISO/IEC 17024 will explain the concepts applied in ISO/IEC 17024 or the intent of those requirements. Definitions were revised and amended to reflect this. Definitions were also cross checked with ISO/IEC 17000 Conformity assessment — Vocabulary and general principles to reduce duplication.
• General requirements.
• Participants discussed and reviewed ISO/IEC 17024 to determine the correct use and interpretation of “risk” “vs. “threat” throughout the document and determined the appropriate terminology per clause usage.

Participants agreed that to aid in the progress of the revision, the format of the next meeting should be face-to-face and will be held from 28 to 30 November at the ISO Central Secretariat, in Geneva. Review and revision of the standard will commence with the remaining clauses throughout the document. Participants recommended that the structure of the standard remain as is.