News type - Conferences and Seminars

PSQA planning meeting , Oslo/Stockholm

June 16th 2006 – official version 1

Public Supervision and Quality Assurance – PSQA:

Call for Participation

Date/Time: One day - Tuesday the 29^th June from 10 – 16

Place: Standards Norway, Strandveien 10, Lysaker.

Language: Norwegian and Swedish – translation services

Website: www.eprforum.no

This is an open invitation to participate in a new concept called PSQA. The focus is the interaction in service sector Value Chains between public supervisory bodies and value creation for business providers while ensuring public safety, health and security. The emphasis is on bi-lateral collaboration including all stakeholders and between business partners to ensure an end-to-end cooperation through a reliable and systematic process.

The purpose of PSQA

The purpose of PSQA is multifaceted, not just regulatory:

· Through quality management and information process foundation businesses shall achieve considerable reduced burden of ensuring quality (costs related to unsatisfactory quality) and increased quality profits (profits related to sustained customer confidence in quality).

· PSQA will make it possible to carry out monitoring through electronic supervision and inspection. Such supervisions must be unbiased and not invasive on the process.

· PSQA shall foster an electronic cooperation arena between supervisor authorities and businesses where both can benefit from new techniques and methods. PSQA will make electronic supervision and inspection possible. The supervision must be based on electronic solutions – if the supervisions shall be effective for the community.

PSQA will provide tools that give the supervisors the opportunity to do the work more effective, e.g. in the chain of food quality from creation to consumption.

Purpose of the Karlstad Conference:

Establish alliances in order to realize effective PSQA solutions. Building alliances before launching next steps including a full conference is just as important as holding the opening conference itself. This preparation is essential to the success of the conference and building the PSQA work.

Target groups for the Conference:

Organizations, stakeholders and individuals interested in seeing PSQA realized. Additionally we are seeking participation from bodies seeing the necessity of having an international foundation for PSQA.

We have decided to concentrate on the Food distribution sector along with the associated financial transactions and control to begin with.

This includes special invitations and participation for the following organizations already:

In Sweden:

Finansdepartementet, Verva, Livsmedelsverket (Food supervison), Finansinspektionen, Skatteverket (tax9, Karlstad Universitet, SEB/Nordea (bank), Scan/Arla (food producer).

In Norway:

Finansdepartementet, Fornyings- og administrasjonsdepartementet, Mattilsynet (Food supervision), Kredittilsynet, Skatteetaten (tax), Gilde, DnB NOR, Tracetracker, Geodata, UNSPSC, PwC.

In addition invitations have been sent to Nordisk Ministerråd and OASIS in Europe.

Program

Themes

1. The conceptual and technological base for PSQA using "e-Folder" collaboration mechanisms

2. Parallel sessions

a. PSQA Food

b. PSQA Finance

c. Standardizing

3. Financing on short term and long range

4. Progress – milestones to be reached in the coming months and activities

The delegates will be provided a detailed program based on the detailed foundation below.

Kontacts

Sweden:

Ingemar Bernhed, +46 708 765 656 (ingemar@ais.as),

Anders Skog +46 8 5555 2022 (anders.skog@sis.se)

Norway:

Agnes Beate Steen Fosse +47 9524 5745 (agnes@eforum.no) - Standards Norway

Tor Haug, +47 9005 0506 (tor@eprforum.org),

Per Morten Hoff, +47 9292 2354 (hoff@ikt-norge.no),

Ingvald Thuen, +47 9073 2206 (ingvald@ais.as),

Hans A Aanesen, +47 4029 1180, (hans@eprforum.org)

Registration:

IKT-Norway: bt@ikt-norge.no.

Registartion limit June 23rd.

Fees SEK 1000/NOK 850

Staying We recommend Stadshotellet

The participation will be limited and goal directed.

Foundation for the Call for Participation in Alliance Event

Background

The PSQA idea of a common framework was launched as a hypothesis:

Will it be possible to develop a common electronic framework, usable in a lot of different governmental supervisions and businesses that need to comply with the supervisions legislative requirements?

The basis of PSQA has been founded on principles developed during a lifetime experience in handling workflows and business processes and how this experience could be utilized in today's service portal environments dealing with "loosely" coupled applications (Web services, ebXML) that enable interaction and integration of a lot of business logic and information in different computer systems. This concept is called Electronic Processes (EPR) that is using e-Folders. The work with EPR and e-Folder has been well known and promoted over the past two years. So far supplier dominated integration mechanisms with proprietary integration rules has been entrenched in the marketplace and inhibited the adoption of open e-Folder based collaboration solutions. Today’s well accepted requirement of open and global integration rules using more inclusive integration mechanisms drives the need for PSQA driven e-Folder work. Customer interoperability needs requiring more agile business solutions and dealing with total supply chains, involving a lot of different computer systems and platforms, are the driving forces in the PSQA work both in Europe and US.

We are now putting priority on PSQA Finance and PSQA Food as the enabler of the e-Folder work, but will however welcome other supervisions to join the work, e.g. aviation, health & care, social, local communities, etc.

The Standards

PSQA is related to two groups of standardisation work:

- Functionality standards

- Realisation standards dealing with different available and open technology standards.

The functionality standards will basically have a European foundation based on best practice (i.g. ITIL – ISO 20000), whilst the realisation standards will be dealing with different available and open technology standards mainly organized from USA. All the standards will be open public standards.

PSQA is based on the idea that the supervisions and the quality assurance work can be organized in electronic folders. The functionality standards of electronic folders (e-Folder) will be standardized on a generic structure and functionality in the e-Folders. The PSQA functionality standards will be standardized on how the supervisions and quality folders are organized. This standard will ensure cooperation and interoperability between roles/actors in the processes. The construction of the folders will be the same in all supervisions and quality areas. In this way it will be possible for businesses to coordinate requirements from many supervisions and to carry through a total quality management.

The realisation standards will specify how e-Folders will be realized based on existent technologies. The conference invitation in Karlstad describes the realisation standards. Because this document do concentrate on functionality and not technology, the realisation will not be described here.

The standardisation work

The realisation standards will mainly be handled by OASIS, but the standards will be based on many open standards both from OASIS and UN/CEFACT. The reference standard is OASIS BCM (Business Centric Methodology) that already has established a subcommittee for e-Folder work called OASIS BCM-EPR SC. The work will be founded through the same sources as the main foundation in BCM.

The functionality standards development work will be organized by the Swedish Standards Institute (SIS) and promoted through the European Standards Institute CEN. SIS will handle the secretary role of the work.

In order to achieve cross boarder and interoperability results, PSQA must be an international standard. International is important because many of the supervisions are internationally in its nature. SIS has accepted to manage the work because PSQA will be of great importance for both the communities and affected businesses in a wide and large scale.

We specially appreciate the SIS engagement and interest in the PSQA project. This means that we can retain the initiative in Europe, and hoping to get access to the rest of Europe. The SIS role will also have impact on other important actors that hopefully will make it "easier" in funding the project.

Foundation and financing

In addition to the standardisation work it will be necessary to have an organisation responsible for professional co-ordination in each country. SIS hopes that Verva (www.verva.se) will be responsible in Sweden.

PSQA will need broad support and acceptance to succeed in achieving benefits to the communities and businesses. For this reason we will in each country establish a professional advisory board.

The purpose of the advisory boards will be:

· Contribution of a broad professional acceptance in spreading PSQA

· Ensure professional knowledge and exchange of experience between the supervisions and the countries

· Ensure national ownership of PSQA and support of PSQA

· Contribute in deploying PSQA as an International working platform of supervision functions.

The PSQA establishment is planned as a Norwegian – Swedish cooperation proceeding by launching PSQA as a Baltic – Nordic cooperation. The 3. step will be continuing as an European and International project.

The condition of having Norway as a part of the cooperation is that Norway will contribute both financially and organisationally.

The first large milestone will be the Alliance Event in Karlstad week 24. All agencies and departments looking upon themselves as important in PSQA related work need to participate.

Invitation can be found at: www.eprforum.no.

The condition in carry out the conference in Karlstad is that the work will be funded with a minimum of 200.000 NOK. Because PSQA mainly has importance for the communities it is necessary that the work is funded through public resourses.

The PSQA importance in communities; Basis for funding

Supervision and quality assume that both the supervisions and businesses have common interests in promoting quality. PSQA will act as an electronic co-operation arena between supervisions and businesses. The word electronic co-operation arena indicates that both parties has common interest in having accepted quality in products and services.

It will be nearly impossible to calculate which profits PSQA will affect on the communities. Never the less the potential in achieving public profit by reducing risks, reducing supervision costs and improved quality will be obvious. These advantages will help the supervisions in their struggle in achieving better and more cost effective supervision.

In the following points we have systemised the reasons to finance PSQA by public resources:

1. Our global complex society assumes that the supervisions will be more efficient. Most people require that the supervisions quality in work satisfy the societies legislation demands as reducing corruption and inside trading along with being able to buy secure and safe products/food and services etc. These requirements cannot be possible through pure manual supervision work (using paper and pencils). In our society integrated ICT solutions will be a must.

2. Interoperable ICT solutions secure that electronic supervision and inspections are possible. Electronic supervision require establishment of a common electronic framework. The framework will represent a basic standard in supervision. The basis will be the same for all relevant supervisions, but the content will of course be very different in The Food Inspection compared to The Finance Authorities. An example; The Finance Authorities in are responsible for more than 2000 units. This means that the basis for the supervision must be standardized. The Finance Authorities cannot be based on individual solutions for each of the 2000 units. PSQA as a framework must also include other international standards and agreements. PSQA Finance must include Basel II, COSO, COBIT and other directives.

3. PSQA shall be such a framework with a common interface toward all controlled businesses. The framework can also be looked upon as a model useable in all supervisions. The framework must be an international standard to supervisions interaction with the businesses’ quality assurance.

4. Effective electronic supervisions will give the supervisions possibilities to concentrate on and base the supervision on risk evaluation. The Supervision identifies where the risks are largest and decide their supervision on this. Electronic supervision makes this approach and strategy possible.

5. Electronic supervision means that this part of the supervision work can be done "wherever in the country". PSQA will therefore be a policy instrument to obtain the intensions with decentralizing the Authorities to different parts of the country.

In addition to the benefit for the community, PSQA will also give considerable quality profits to the businesses, coordination between areas of supervisions plus motivate managers in good quality management.

· Quality profits means competitive advantages and reduced quality costs. Quality cost is defined as cost which follows due to lack of quality.

· It’s a clear advantage for the business when supervisions functions are integrated as a part of quality management and the ICT systems. Supervisions means among others to build quality into work processes.

· PSQA must be a superstructure over the existing data systems in the business. Replacing all existing data systems are both unrealistic and unnecessary with the technological possibilities of today.

More about the basis for PSQA

PSQA will be based on standardizing structure and functionality in electronic folders (e-Folder). The folders will be superstructures organizing laws, regulations and quality standards plus integrating legacy systems, quality systems in the businesses together with helping tools.

PSQA will technologically be based on a new standard for structure and functionality in electronic folders (e-Folder). The most important standard as basis for e-Folder is called BCM. This standard was approved as an OASIS standard April 18^th this year. Hans A Aanesen from EPR Forum has been an important resource in the work. Other important standards from OASIS (www.oasis-open.org) are PKI, BCM (CAM), CPPA, BPSS, SAML, VS Security, UDDI, ebBP (BPSS) and ebSOA. In addition e-Folder will be based on open semantic standards from UN/CEFACT (www.unece.org/cefact/) (UN/SPC among others).

According to our plan the standard for realizing PSQA shall be promoted to ISO [1] through OASIS [2] whilst the functional standard describing properties in the folder and purposes of the folders will be promoted to ISO through CEN [3] by SIS. Both standards shall be open standards.

It is also possible that PSQA should be specified as functional standard.

PSQA will be realized through levels. On the upper level there will be a generic electronic framework. This framework will be the basis for developing adapted frameworks. This framework will ensure that all traffic rules will be followed. It is our plan to develop the frameworks as open applications. Open means that they will be free to use for certified organizations.

Realizing PSQA will happen through gradual implementation. Gradual means that the implementation will be under full control. PSQA might also mean organizational coordination. Opposite of reorganization, PSQA can be carried through over time, gradually and with complete control.

PSQA in practice

So far we PSQA Finance and PSQA Food are our priority. It’s ok to add other supervisions to the development teams.

In work and on the Conference these two will be a kind of reference supervisions. They are very unlike, but still there are so many similarities that electronic supervision and inspection can be carried through on the same basis.

The presentations will demonstrate the possibilities of integrating regulations and order from the supervisions with quality programs in the businesses to ensure qualities in products, services and organizations.

PSQA Food

The superstructure in PSQA Food must cover the whole value chain. The supervision must have access to each segment in the chain from living conditions for the animals, through killing to reefing and transport to the consumer. This supposes an electronic infrastructure for coordinated and traceable information. The structure must be established and been available through PSQA Food.

Global production and distribution of food means that tracking can not be looked upon as an national task, but must been solved in a way that both food to be exported and imported food or ingredients must be traceable in their chains. The solutions must be based upon international standards. This are an argument in itself for the planned Baltic-Nordic cooperation.

I addition to product tracing internal tracing must be covered. Internal tracing cover all kind of daily operations, e.g. cleaning and disinfection of production equipment.

PSQA Food demonstrates clearly the necessity of having a superstructure in order to get a stable coordinating system. The superstructure will in itself be an infrastructure. The superstructure must integrate a large number of systems in large and small businesses. The superstructure must not set any demand to tracing techniques. Essential for getting success will be to take care of everything that already works.

An important part of the standard for e-Folder are the structure of task description and work report, using pda with speech technology and language technology for translation between languages. The result shall be that people will recognize this: Ensuring quality and document this is not a strain but a natural part of the job.

Many belies that Norway has special advantages in producing quality food for a global market. Quality food will be important for the Norwegian agriculture in future. Tracing of the whole food chain with additional documentation will be an absolute demand.