The transition towards a green economy has become an urgent need both in the industrialized world as well as in developing and emerging countries. It implies the accelerated diffusion of various green technologies, which in turn generates opportunities for domestic value creation in terms of learning, the localization of supply chains, and employment. A pre-condition…
The African Union Commission and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention are hosting a special workshop on promoting local manufacturing of personal protective equipment. Date: Thursday, 3 September 2020 Time: 1.00-4.30 p.m. Eastern Africa Time Register and connect to the workshop through this link: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Q–PI60nQWamHnxe_CNPwg Here you can find the announcement in English,…
In February 2020, a workshop with nearly forty participants took place in Mexico City which brought national supporters of both solar thermal and photovoltaic power plants as well as bank representatives together with Mexico’s quality infrastructure (QI) experts. The meeting was organized by PTB and was based on the project ‘Strengthening the Quality…
On 6 and 7 February, PTB and the Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) jointly welcomed representatives of the evaluation units of German development cooperation organizations in Braunschweig at the traditional annual meeting. Over 60 guests from governmental and non-governmental institutions participated in order to discuss the newest developments in evaluation work. Upon…
In mid-September, Department 9.3 became a meeting place for all of the experts who regularly work for PTB in Africa and the Middle East and the employees of the “North Africa and Middle East” and “Sub-Saharan Africa” working groups. Within the scope of the “Regional days – Africa and the Middle East”, there was an…
How is the photovoltaic sector structured in Germany? Which quality-assuring mechanisms exist to guarantee the quality and sustainability of PV facilities? And what does Tunisia still need before it can set up a functional quality infrastructure in the PV sector? All of these questions were at the focus of a one-week study trip which took…
No quality, no trade – a very drastic description! Still, it reflects reality in global trade. And with this topic, we struck a chord at the Aid for Trade Global Review: Six other side events alone addressed the relevance that quality infrastructure aspects have on trade and economic development – with very different areas of…
One of the key goals of PTB’s International Cooperation Department is to strengthen trade in the partner countries and in the partner regions. It is especially important to us that free, fair and safe trade is supported. A prerequisite for a country to participate in world trade and to ensure consumer protection is that it…
Precisely 1,350 grams of sand, 450 grams of cement and 225 grams of water are carefully weighed, mixed according to a strict procedure and poured into a test container. The sequence for adding the “ingredients” is just as important as exactly following with the specified times. After drying, the strength of the cement can be…
A set of weights from 1 g to 500 g is only one of several metrological artefacts representing one of four quantities that will go on tour over the next few months. The round trip these artefacts will take through southern Africa to visit different countries and laboratories will be of a somewhat different kind.…