The Pacific Quality Infrastructure (PQI) Initiative, led by the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS), aims to strengthen, educate and inform quality infrastructure across Forum Island Countries.

As part of the Pacific Quality Infrastructure Initiative (PQI), coordinated by the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, Standards Australia is conducting a series of Needs Assessments with Forum Island Countries and their National Standards Bodies (NSBs).

Needs Assessments are evaluation exercises used to determine areas in which recipients require additional support and where capacity building activities can be the most beneficial. The purpose of Needs Assessments for Forum Island Countries (FICs) is to:

• Benchmark existing international standardisation membership rights and standardisation capabilities of FICs and establish current challenges that could be addressed in the 2022 workshops.
• Gauge involvement of FICs in existing standardisation activities in their countries and assess NSB readiness and challenges for conducting national and regional standardisation activities.
• Understand existing stakeholder networks of FICs as well as any gaps in engagement.

These Assessments will be used to identify areas of standardisation upskilling, capacity building and requirements for support for Forum Island Countries within the PQI Initiative.

An information session for the Needs Assessments, including a run through of the Standards Australia Maturity Models, was conducted on the 1^st of March 2022.

The Maturity Models are a key tool for Forum Island Countries to compare and measure their current standardisation practices against the International Organization for Standardization’s (ISO) Good Standardisation Practice (GSP) Guide. They also assist Forum Island Countries’ to accurately capture areas to prioritise such as international participation, standards distribution and NSB awareness when seeking to develop national standardisation capabilities.

In partnership with the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, Standards Australia is now facilitating a series of direct consultations with Forum Island Countries to evaluate their current standardisation practices.

The results of the Needs Assessments will be compared to the results of the 2019 QI survey to help shape future support programmes, capacity building workshops and the direction of the Pacific Islands Regional Standards Committee in the future.

The Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, and Standards Australia, encourages stakeholders of Forum Island Countries, including NSBs, industry and government, to partake in the Needs Assessment exercise to ensure capacity building deliverables within the PQI Initiative best serve the needs of Forum Island Countries.

If you would like to contribute to the Needs Assessments for your country or would like to find out more, please email Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat Regional Quality Infrastructure Coordinator Ulrich Diekmann - ulrichd@forumsec.org.

To find out more about the PQI Initiative visit Pacific Quality Infrastructure Initiative (standards.org.au) or email Abbey.Dorian@standards.org.au.

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