Quality Infrastructure

Mesopartner is increasingly active in the field of Quality Infrastructure (QI). The term refers to a system comprising the organisations (public and private) together with the policies, relevant legal and regulatory framework, and practices needed to support and enhance the quality, safety and environmental soundness of goods, services and processes.

The quality infrastructure is required for the effective operation of domestic markets, and its international recognition is important to enable access to foreign markets. It is a critical element in promoting and sustaining economic development, as well as environmental and social wellbeing. It relies on: metrology, standardisation, accreditation, conformity assessment, and market surveillance.

Mesopartner is committed to partnering with leading researchers, development organisations and development practitioners in order to better understand the relevance of QI for broader socioeconomic development. Specific research questions are:

• Does Quality Infrastructure affect and enable the catching-up of developing countries and if so how?
• Is an existing Quality Infrastructure a prerequisite (an enabler) for developing countries to achieve comparative advantages in new product areas, or does the development of QI following economic development? Does this differ from sector to sector (specific infrastructure) or is it a general capability?
• How to measure and compare the development and performance National Quality Infrastructure?
• How does QI relate to the concept of a National Innovation System?
• What are the quality requirements of specific value chains, and what QI services are required?

How can you engage with this research topic? Practitioners active in private sector development are invited by Mesopartner to broaden their perspective and share experiences on how to upgrade the wider system of quality infrastructure beyond certain interventions in specific industries and locations.  Representatives of QI bodies are also invited to contribute to the exchange on how to make quality services more customer-orientated. The proposal of Mesopartner is to create and consolidate knowledge and practical methodologies around the support of the QI for Private Sector Development.

Quality infrastructure as an emerging research field. 

On 27 April, the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) and the Chair of Innovation Economics at the Technical University of Berlin hosted the first international QI research workshop. In the hybrid format, more than 20 local and around 80 online participants from a total of 36 countries took part.

View the full workshop report, mural boards and presentations.

Prof. Dr. Knut Blind
Chair of Innovation Economics, Technische Universität Berlin, Germany

Prof. Dr. Carlo Pietrobelli
UNESCO Chair in ST&I Policies for Sustainable Development in Latin America at United Nations University UNU-MERIT, Maastricht and
UNI Roma3, Department of Economics

Join Mesopartner for a three-day training on the relevance of quality infrastructure in the context of various global development topics, including trade, innovation, sustainability, and digitalisation:

Date: 30 September - 2 October 2024
Venue: mainhaus Stadthotel Frankfurt, Germany

Who should attend: 
The target audience for this training is the staff of international organisations, development consultants and policymakers in trade and economic development. 

What you will learn:
The training will give participants the knowledge and skills to analyse and promote quality infrastructure systems.

For more information about the event, please visit the event website.

If you would like to engage us on this research area, email Dr Ulrich Harmes-Liedtke.