The 7th Spanish Metrology Congress, organized by the Spanish Metrology Centre (CEM), has been held in Ávila, under the slogan "Metrology in the era of digitization and sustainability". The Spanish Association for Standardization, UNE, which formed part of the Organizing and Scientific Committees of the Congress, participated in several activities within the framework of the event.
The Congress began with the inaugural meeting on 26 September, in which Javier García, CEO of UNE delivered the laudatio for the award of the 1st Distinction of the CEM "Manuel Cadarso" for the trajectory in metrology of the company Contazara.
On 28 September, a round table was held in which participants underlined the importance of having a strong quality infrastructure in Spain, which contributes to promoting the competitiveness of the Spanish business sectors and the economic and industrial fabric, industrial safety, as well as the effective functioning of the EU Internal Market and access to third country markets.
Speakers at the round table, chaired by José Manuel Prieto, Deputy Director of Industrial Safety and Quality at the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism, included the Director General of UNE, Javier Garcia; Beatriz Rivera, Managing Director of the Spanish National Accreditation Body (ENAC); the Director of CEM, José Ángel Robles; and Xavier Ruiz, representing FELAB (Spanish Federation of Laboratories).
"Metrology, accreditation and standardisation are being dealt with together and resolutely in order to respond effectively to the major current challenges facing Spanish society and industry in areas such as quality infrastructure, industrial safety, innovation, digitalisation and sustainability. For this reason, UNE is developing standards that will provide tools to deal with these challenges", said Javier García during his speech. Promoting Spanish quality infrastructure is one of the priorities of the UNE 2025 Strategy.
The CEM, ENAC and UNE are the strategic partners that comprise the three main pillars of the quality infrastructure in Spain. The joint work of these three entities in metrology, accreditation and standardisation will boost the competitiveness of Spanish productivity and provide security for the population.
They have the support of strong alliances. UNE has an agreement with the CEM, in which the Spanish Metrology Centre participates actively in the UNE Metrology and Calibration Committee (CTN 82), a key move in the publication of the highest quality standards in this field, which facilitate metrology activity, in accordance with international standards and best practices. UNE channels the technical criterion of CEM into European and global standards projects in this field. The more than 100 experts from this UNE Committee participate in more than 20 international technical bodies
The UNE also provides the CEM with the necessary support for the optimal performance of its functions. The close collaboration between the two bodies fosters training programmes, promotion and the dissemination of standardization activities at conferences and events, as well as in international cooperation projects.
UNE and ENAC have signed a collaboration agreement to facilitate the joint promotion of the benefits of standards and the accredited conformity assessment for the safety of consumers and users and for the competitiveness of companies. This also implies the participation of ENAC in Technical Standardisation Committees within its scope of activity. For example, ENAC is the chair of the Committee that mirrors the ISO body responsible for conformity assessment activities (CTN 66 SC 2). Both entities have published the Guide on the use of technical standards and accreditation in public procurement, among other actions.
