GOIC: The First Gulf Metrology Forum next December

Under the patronage of His Excellency Engineer Ahmad Bin Amer Al-Hemaidi, Qatar’s Minister of Environment, the Gulf Organization for Industrial Consulting (GOIC), Qatar’s Ministry of Environment, the GCC Standardisation Organization (GSO) and GULFMET are organising the First Gulf Metrology Forum in Doha, Qatar on the 14th and 15th of December, 2015. 

In preparation for the Forum, the preliminary meeting was held at GOIC’s headquarters in Doha. The meeting was attended by His Excellency Dr. Ali Hamed Al-Mulla, Assistant Secretary General for Industrial Projects Sector at GOIC leading a team of GOIC experts, His Excellency Dr. Mohammed Bin Saif Al-Kuwari, Assistant Undersecretary for Laboratories and Standardisation leading the team of the Ministry of Environment formed by Mr. Salah Salem Al-Rumaihi, Director of the Central Laboratories Department, Dr. Yasser Abdulfattah Abdulaziz, expert and consultant in the field of calibration of metrology laboratories, Mr. Ahmed Burhan Al-Hashemi, Head of the Building and Roads Materials Department at the Central Laboratories Department, Mrs. Naima Hussein Al-Doql from the Central Laboratories Department and Mr. Walid Al-Yafei from the Public Relations Department. The meeting was also attended by GSO’s team represented by Engineer Omar Kanakrieh, Metrology Director and Mr. Abdulilah Qarnas Al-Qarnas, metrology researcher. 

During this meeting, GOIC explained its vision for this Forum: GOIC experts said that the Organization, through industrial researches, has endeavoured to highlight the role of metrology in guaranteeing GCC industrial development. Furthermore, by carrying out industrial surveys, GOIC has realised the necessity of bridging the industrial metrology gap through spreading industrial awareness in this regard. 

Participants stressed the importance of metrology, for it is relevant to all aspects of life and has become a key pillar of manufacturing in developing countries and a main part of the industrial development cycle. They explained that successful applications of science and technology require good monitoring of standards and criteria used in various fields. Quantitative measurements have indeed become necessary within industrial authorities and commercial businesses. Moreover, participants agreed that in order to boost instrumentation broadly and guarantee quality of products and raw materials, countries decided to establish specialised metrology and calibration centres for all products, and this sector needs qualification and resources to be capable of fully offering required services. They stressed the necessity of relying on modern equipment and technologies in most industrial operations. It is necessary to monitor machines, operations and equipment that are part of the processes and to study the market size to elaborate industrial forecasts in various fields. 

One of the main objectives of this Forum is to exchange ideas about the best means to raise general awareness and industrial awareness in particular, to comply with industrial standards. It also aims at offering an assessment of the requirements of Gulf industries and institutions in the area of metrology, and examining means of increasing national capacities in the field of industrial standards. In addition to that, ideas are to be exchanged on how to attract new metrology activities and areas, international best practices to reinforce metrology infrastructure as part of quality development in member states, the role of national metrology institutes and laboratories, the experiences of member states in supporting metrology activities and local laboratories, means to cooperate with international laboratories, and finally putting together applicable recommendations by the participants to support metrology activities in GCC countries. In fact, the organisation of this Forum was based on global reports of companies operating in the area of metrology services. These reports revealed a projected increase of the demand on metrology services in the near future in various sector, particularly automotive, electronics, energy and other sectors. The recovery of the global economy will also have impacts on the Gulf, resulting in an investment increase in various fields like energy and industry and their accompanying services. 

GCC countries are endeavouring to build a growing industrial base with close ties with global economies. GCC countries are looking forward to reaching the next stage of the development process during which resources are allocated to develop the industrial base. The foundation of this development will be petrochemical industries and SMEs, and it is an efficient strategy to deal with the change in international economic situations and to preserve sustainable industrial development. 

Thus, international industrial standards have become a main element of an efficient global trade. Furthermore, building and developing a local technology base require adapting with global technological progress. In order to become advanced countries, high-quality products are needed in accordance with international standards, in addition to instrumentation to match the products with the criteria. Therefore, the foundation of a national and modern standardisation system is the main pillar to shift to an industrially advanced society. It is necessary to keep up with fast growth in comprehensive economic activities, to increase scientific and technological levels and to prove the credibility of products in international trade. 

As to the most important technical aspects of this Forum, they are as follows: raising awareness on the importance of metrology and its scientific, industrial and legal aspects, presenting experiences of GCC countries in this area, cooperating with international institutions to develop and support the role of metrology, communicating with concerned GCC parties in the field of metrology and getting to know the cognitive and procedural environment in GCC countries to include legal frameworks, researches and applications. 

The First Gulf Metrology Forum targets government and private laboratories, relevant institutions and companies, ministries of commerce, industry and environment and industrial companies operating in these fields: oil, gas, energy, petrochemicals, metallurgy, in addition to universities, scientific research institutions and global organisations specialised in metrology and calibration.