Middle East North Africa (MENA) Quality Infrastructure Stakeholders Meeting

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Jordan Institution of Standards and Metrology (JISM) will convene a Middle East North Africa (MENA) Quality Infrastructure Symposium on June 21-22, 2010 in Amman, Jordan. The purpose of the Symposium is to better understand the regional quality infrastructure training needs and capabilities of the MENA region as a step towards supporting a Middle East North Africa Regional Quality Infrastructure training program, which would provide basic and advanced training courses in the fields of metrology, standards, conformity assessment, and accreditation; taken together, these disciples are often termed Quality Infrastructure (QI).

The MENA QI symposium in June will be comprised of a plenary session followed by focused working groups.  At the plenary, standards and metrology organizations from the region will each provide a brief overview of their QI capabilities, training needs, and current challenges. We anticipate the following discussion groups may focus on critical regional issues, such as technologies for water security, sustainable energy, and building technologies, among others.  Working groups will be asked to address questions, such as:

• What are the current training needs in the MENA region?
• What topics are most critical?
  
• What training programs are currently in place?
  
• With what frequency do these courses need to be offered?
  
• What components should such a program include?
  
• What challenges do potential participants identify regarding such training opportunities?
  
• How would a regional QI training center help respond to these challenges?

U.S. participants will have the opportunity to actively engage in dialogue with their MENA counterparts and hear firsthand of the regional training needs and capabilities.