Publications and Resources

The paper presents a short overview of the effects of PTB´s Quality Infrastructure projects on the socio-economic conditions as well as on public institutions and processes in countries and regions with high levels of instability or current conflicts. Despite its technical design, the promotion of Quality Infrastructure in the partner countries can have an indirect influence on the stability of these regions by contributing to a structural form of conflict prevention.

The paper provides an overview of the importance of energy supply and energy use to create a basis for sustainable development and outlines PTB´s impact and contribution in this area. The Technical Cooperation projects of PTB support the introduction and improvement of quality assurance services for the energy sector in partner countries. It focuses especially on the development of technical competence in the field of standards, measurement, accreditation, and conformity assessment. These are necessary to develop renewable energies competitively, optimize conversion technologies, reduce transmission and distribution losses, and increase energy efficiency and environmental compatibility.

The document describes PTB´s contribution to the promotion of human rights in its partner countries and the human rights approach applied in PTB projects. PTB contributes to increased quality of vital products and services by improving the services of Quality Infrastructure. PTB´s projects in Quality Infrastructure also underline the responsibility of governmental entities to hold accountable those who cause harm to health or the environment, while at the same time supporting the state's duty to protect those whose rights are violated by such harm.

The publication summarizes the positive impacts the development of Quality Infrastructure has in the healthcare sector. Effective medicines, accurate medical devices, and reliable laboratories are required to achieve high-quality health care. In this context, an appropriate Quality Infrastructure is prerequisite for improved health care - for example by checking whether medicines contain the right amounts of active ingredients or whether measuring devices are properly calibrated.

Jointly developed by the World Bank Group and PTB, the Rapid Diagnostic Tool (RDT) is aimed to help development partners and governments to analyse countries´ Quality Infrastructure (QI) ecosystems, provide recommendations to bridge gaps, support reforms, and build the capacity of institutions. The toolkit was designed as the first comprehensive tool to help users assess the QI ecosystem of any country, as a holistic reference to Quality Infrastructure diagnostic tools. The document presents Modul 4 of the The Rapid Diagnostic Tool which is designed to provide its users with immediate feedback on the state of a country´s Quality Infrastructure with regards to its legal and institutional framework, administration and infrastructure, service delivery, and technical competency, as well as external relations and recognition. By using a quantitative approach development partners and governments are able to analyse the countries´ Quality Infrastructure and build the capacity of related institutions.