Our National Quality Infrastructure" (NQI)

One phrase that doesn't easily trip off the tongue or come up in everyday conversation is the "national quality infrastructure" (NQI), best described as the institutional framework that establishes and implements standardisation, conformity assessment, metrology, and accreditation. An essential part of ensuring things work as you expect them to and bringing trust. Last Friday, many involved in NQI got together in London to discuss what more we can do to drive change around NetZero. With a busy week since we met, I wanted to share a few thoughts over my morning coffee.?

Thoughts from the NQI workshop

If we are to drive change?with sustainable outcomes in mind, we solve problems faster and more effectively if we collaborate; the workshop on Friday was a clear demonstration of that. If we don't, we risk making the issues we want to drive change complex by providing a conflicting view, slowing down any real progress, and creating real inertia. In my role in BSI, one thing becomes more apparent every day. Every sector has different requirements. Cross-cutting issues add further complexity to creating better decision-making. Ultimately, the direct or indirect relationships between legislation, regulation, and industry practices will dictate how the market functions, whether it is open to innovation, growth, trade or becomes protectionist and dysfunctional. None of us in the industry want to be any of these last points. One thing is clear: as we look at a low-carbon society and NetZero target for many organisations, we need speed and an aligned and functioning market and sectors within it.

In the extreme, a poorly designed market framework will seriously drag on the economy and create opportunities for criminal activity. This can happen either through over-regulation or under-regulation.?The government uses several recognised techniques to stimulate a market response by combining regulation and standards. These techniques are self-regulation, incentivising behavioural change (nudge), earned recognition and co-regulation.?

The various routes for standards development provide flexibility across these four parameters, providing different development options that suit various circumstances. In all cases, relevant stakeholders must be convened by an independent organisation to explore the outcome required to identify the most appropriate route forward. This will include an assessment of the following:

• Stability in the market: the anticipated pace of change and innovation, the level of the challenge expected to establish approaches, and the degree of uncertainty that still exists around agreed ways forward. This will determine the level of flexibility and iteration that may be required.
• Level of government prescription required: is it appropriate for stakeholders to agree on an approach by consensus, or are policymakers keen to maintain a firm steer on the final agreement? This will determine if the process should be consensus-based or a customised approach to decision-making and if open consultation and balanced stakeholder groups are appropriate.
• Geography:?is the issue national or global? This will determine the range of stakeholders engaged at each process stage.
• Timescales:?is there a need to develop agreements rapidly, or are there fixed timescales related to policy implementation??
• The extent of?stakeholder impact: the more impacted, the more critical it is to convene stakeholders and facilitate the process.

In a crowded and confusing landscape, ISO and bodies such as UKAS and the national standards bodies play an essential role, with standards adopted and used by governments, industries, and consumers globally.

If I return to one of my opening comments, we need to listen to the market needs and continue to create a healthy marketplace but see greater convergence. The work we can all do together is powerful; we can drive a different way of working by providing consistent messages on the change we want. But most importantly, focusing on implementation from the start, understanding the policy outcome to address an issue, and setting a system of rules to accelerate the desired results. This standards-making process is a fundamentally different approach compared to Government policy implementation. It is more inclusive and quicker when compared to the usual approach for governments to achieve their goals by setting broad policies and introducing a set of rules in legislation, which the market sometimes follows but frequently does not.

In this, the National Quality Infrastructure play an essential role.

Martin