The Department of Trade and Industry – Philippine Accreditation Bureau (DTI-PAB) participated in the ILAC/IAF Joint Communication Working Group (WG) – Communication Professionals Meeting on 05 February 2021 through its representatives from the Promotion and Documentation Division (PDD).
The International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) and International Accreditation Forum (IAF) organized the Joint WG Communications meeting to discuss communication strategies and how to best support member organizations. To aid communication professionals, members were presented with tools and resources that can be utilized in managing their marketing initiatives.
Online meetings were scheduled on 02 February at 10:00 EST (15:00 UTC) and 05 February at 8:00 UTC with the same agenda, to facilitate the participation of IAF/ILAC members in different time zones.
A workshop was also conducted and outputs will serve as basis in producing promotional materials available for IAF/ILAC members by mid-March 2021, as well as for the upcoming World Accreditation Day 2021 focusing on the theme, “Accreditation: Supporting the Implementation of SDGs.”
Acknowledging the invaluable inputs from members, Chairs of the ILAC/IAF Joint Communication Working Group, encouraged all IAF and ILAC members to submit case studies to be used as WAD 2021 material and for publication at the Public Sector Assurance and Business Benefits websites.
For members — to learn from experiences, representatives from two member organizations shared important points in doing communication activities. Entidad Nacional de Acreditación (ENAC), the National Accreditation Body of Spain, emphasized the importance of sharing of best practices. Creation of communication channels for National Accreditation Bodies (NABs) was highlighted to be more in contact with other ABs, facilitate ease of exchanging of promotional materials, ideas and other suggestions. Development of new contents focusing on innovative areas, such as block chain, Artificial Intelligence, new IT applications and how accreditation supports these new areas were also suggested.
The National Accreditation Board for Certification Bodies (NABCB) from India, shared that, websites, brochures, videos, social media, presentations, meetings, and newsletters are some of the tools that can be used in promoting accreditation across regions and economies.
As an output of the workshop, Mr. Jenebert Opinion along with select representatives, discussed the tools currently used by IAF, ILAC and ABs. His presentation also included suggested new tools and strategies, like capability building on graphics designing, regular communication sessions and harmonization of promotional materials, among others. The presentation also recommended topics for the WAD 2021, for ILAC/IAF WG’s consideration.
At its core, the meeting puts together the experiences, ideas, contributions and creativity of members to attain the expected outcomes in 2021. These outcomes include: Strengthened joint communication efforts of ILAC/IAF — to serve the goal of a single international organization; Reviewed social media strategy — more strategic inputs and collaboration with other partners; Increased engagement of communication professionals, Working Groups (WGs) and Task Forces (TFs); Complete Single Library Project with international partners; and Increased interaction in ILAC/IAF’s social media and websites.
DTI PAB – PDD joins these kinds of events to highlight its own promotional and communication initiatives relating to accreditation and conformity assessment.
Release Date: 10 February 2021