The issue was first discussed between the national accreditation bodies of the South East Europe region (SEE NABs) and the German national accreditation body (DAkkS) on 2 July 2020. That time the SEE NABs had very limited experience in the implementation of remote assessments, therefore, it was agreed to hold a follow-up exchange of experience workshop in the beginning of 2021.
The workshop was attended by 13 representatives of 5 of the SEE NABs, André Sollwedel from DAkkS and was moderated by Rózsa Ring.
André Sollwedel presented the change of DAkkS practice since July 2020, the opportunities and limitations of remote assessments, and DAkkS concept of remote assessment after the COVID-19 pandemic. The presentations of the SEE NABs showed that their policies are similar such as the experiences of implementation, the participating NABs used the remote assessment in combination with the on-site assessment.
In the very lively discussion, the participants discussed several interesting issues such as the training of NABs personnel on the preparation and performance of remote assessments, reporting issues, time used for remote assessment in comparison with the on-site assessment and the related accreditation costs, and remote assessment of sampling.
The feedback of the participants was very positive, they found the virtual workshop useful for providing good ideas to consider when further implementing remote assessments.
