TIC Council

On 20 May, we held a meeting of the Industrial Life Cycle Services Committee, bringing members together to discuss the latest developments and priorities in the industrial TIC sector. Key topics on the agenda included technical best practices, engagement with Accreditation Bodies through Global Accreditation Cooperation Incorporated (Global ACI), AI-assisted inspections and digitalisation, hydrogen technical challenges, and inspector qualification. Many thanks to our Chair, Jukka Verho, our Vice Chair, Robert Hanneman, and Dr. Stefan Haas for their leadership and contributions to the discussion. We also thank all participating members for their valuable engagement.

Last week, the TIC Council Annual General Meeting elected its new Board of Directors. We extend our warmest congratulations to the incoming leadership team:   🔹 Dr. Stefan Haas, CEO of TÜV AUSTRIA Group, has been elected President of TIC Council, succeeding Dr. Michael Fübi. 🔹 Stan Zurkiewicz, CEO of DEKRA, has been elected Vice President.   They will serve alongside: ▪️ Peter Boks, CEO of Saybolt International, continuing as Treasurer ▪️ Jennifer Scanlon, CEO of UL Solutions, continuing as Vice President   Together, this leadership team will help guide TIC Council as the industry continues to navigate digital transformation, sustainability challenges, reindustrialisation, and evolving global regulatory frameworks.   A heartfelt thank you to Dr. Michael Fübi, whose leadership and dedication since the very beginning have shaped TIC Council into what it is today. 🔗 Read more highlights of the day: https://lnkd.in/ezHCdrNX

Yesterday, TIC Council’s Executive Director for Europe, Naozad Hodiwala, participated in the farewell conference honouring Ulf Hammarström of SWEDAC, delivering a keynote identifying key components for way forward as the QI moves towards embracing and preparing for digitalisation. Discussions throughout the afternoon reinforced a shared understanding that Quality Infrastructure remains fundamental to trust, safety and market confidence, while also needing to evolve rapidly to address growing technological complexity. Digitalisation is no longer a peripheral issue for QI — it is now reshaping the methods of conformity assessment, inspection, standardisation and regulation themselves. This is why TIC Council’s “Quality Infrastructure Framework for the Digitalised World” is so relevant: supporting the responsible use of AI, IoT, remote techniques and other digital tools, while safeguarding the core principles of independence, impartiality, competence, confidentiality and human accountability. We thank Linnea Holm and the SWEDAC team for the invitation and extend our sincere appreciation to Ulf Hammarström for his leadership and public service over many years. 🔗 For more information, “Quality Infrastructure Framework for the Digitalised World” is available here: https://lnkd.in/drrhTzy8 #QualityInfrastructure #Accreditation #Digitalisation #AI #Swedac #TICCouncil

At the TIC Council Annual General Meeting in Brussels on 19 May, we were proud to present this year's Merit Awards — our annual recognition of the individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to the TIC community.   The Merit Awards celebrate those who go beyond their professional responsibilities to strengthen the reputation, integrity, and advancement of Testing, Inspection and Certification on a global scale.   Huge congratulations to the winners: 🏆 Mark Quillinan (Alfred H Knight) — Advocacy 🏆 Sarath Chandran Ramakrishnan (RSJ Inspection®) — Reputation 🏆 Stefanie Vehring (TÜV SÜD) — Promotion of Best Practices 🏆 James Armstrong, CHSO, CSM, CEM, GSM, (AmSpec Group) — Hand on the Tiller Award   We also extend our sincere congratulations to this year's nominees: ज्योति भसीन Jyoti Bhasin (NSF), Pia Kathöfer (TÜV Rheinland Group), Amit Thakkar (SGS), Nikola Lerch (TÜV Rheinland Group), and Vasiliki Kazazi (TÜV NORD GROUP).   Thank you all for your continued commitment to raising the bar for our industry.   #TICCouncil #MeritAwards #TICSummit2026

🔴 Live now at the #TICSummit2026!    How is the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (#CBAM) reshaping global trade — and what does it mean for the TIC sector?    Gerassimos Thomas, Director General of DG TAXUD at the European Commission, is sharing his perspective in conversation with Dr. Stefan Haas and Jennifer Baker on:  ✅ How CBAM reflects a broader shift in global trade, where market access increasingly depends on demonstrating carbon performance and compliance  ✅ How CBAM is shaping investment decisions and accelerating the competitiveness of European industry    The message is clear: #trust is the critical enabler of this transition. Carbon data must be measurable, comparable and independently verified to be meaningful across jurisdictions. Quality Infrastructure is essential to ensure that carbon markets function effectively, support fair competition, and enable scalable, credible decarbonisation across borders.    #TICCouncil #TIC #CarbonMarkets #EUPolicy #Competitiveness #QualityInfrastructure #GlobalTrade

🔴 Live now at the #TICSummit2026!    A high-level address from the European Commission is placing Europe's reindustrialisation in sharp focus.    Emanuele Tarantino is setting out how Europe can strengthen its competitiveness while remaining open, sustainable, and secure — addressing the central tensions of our moment: rebuilding industrial capacity without retreating from the global stage.    How does Quality Infrastructure fit into Europe's industrial strategy? This session makes the case.    #TICCouncil #TIC #EuropeanIndustry #Reindustrialisation #QualityInfrastructure #EUPolicy #Competitiveness

🔴 Live now at the #TICSummit2026!    Connecting ambition to execution — that's the theme of this compelling fireside chat at the TIC Summit 2026.    Moderated by journalist Jennifer Baker, Dr. Bertrand Piccard and Géraldine Picaud (CEO, SGS) explore the link between visionary leadership and industrial reality:  ✅ How trade, productivity, and governance shape resilient value chains  ✅ What businesses need to invest with confidence and make sustainability claims credible  ✅ How companies operating across borders manage compliance, trust, and market access    A conversation that bridges the gap between bold ideas and the hard work of building a safer, more competitive world.    #TIC #QualityInfrastructure #Sustainability #GlobalTrade #Competitiveness #Leadership

🔴 Live now at the #TICSummit2026!    Taking the stage at the TIC Summit 2026, Dr. Bertrand Piccard — pioneering aviator, explorer, and champion of clean technologies — is presenting Climate Impulse, his latest flagship initiative demonstrating how climate solutions that break paradigms can be deployed at industrial scale.    His message is clear: innovation becomes transformative only when it is trusted. ✈️   From solar aviation to clean energy systems, Dr. Piccard illustrates how pioneering technologies move from ambition to industrial reality only when their safety, reliability, and performance are independently verified. A powerful reminder of why #TIC sits at the heart of the green and industrial transition.    This keynote speech is sponsored by Seamflow.    #TICCouncil #ClimateImpulse #CleanTech #Innovation #QualityInfrastructure #Sustainability #Reindustrialisation 

🌍 The TIC Summit 2026 is officially underway!    We are live in Brussels for #TICSummit2026 — A New Industrial Order: Power, Rules, Scale and Trust.    In a world where strategic priorities are changing, energy systems are being redesigned, and trade is becoming more conditional, one question matters more than ever: how do we ensure that innovation is trusted? 💡   Over the next few hours, senior policymakers, industry leaders, and the global Quality Infrastructure community will explore:  ✅ How Europe can rebuild industrial capacity while staying globally competitive  ✅ What must align for trade to function across divergent regulatory systems  ✅ How energy transition and digital technologies can scale safely and credibly  ✅ Why testing, inspection, and certification are strategic enablers of investment and market access    Stay tuned — the conversation starts now!    #TIC #QualityInfrastructure #Reindustrialisation #Innovation #GlobalTrade #Competitiveness

This morning in Brussels, senior leaders from industry, standards, accreditation bodies, and conformity assessment gathered for the second edition of our high-level roundtable on the future of Quality Infrastructure — ahead of the #TICSummit2026.    The central question on the table: is the current QI ecosystem — in its existing form — still fit for purpose? 💡   In a global economy marked by conditional market access, complex supply chains, and accelerating technological change, Quality Infrastructure remains the often-invisible system that underpins trust in safety, quality, and fairness. The question is no longer whether QI matters — it is whether today's QI architecture is sufficiently agile, coherent, and capable of supporting competitiveness and innovation in a new industrial order. A huge thank you to our distinguished speakers for bringing such depth to the conversation:  🎙️ Philippe Maillard, CEO, Apave  🎙️ David Dab, Director of Digital Policy and Trust, Microsoft  🎙️ Chantal Guay, CEO, Standards Council of Canada (SCC)  🎙️ Brahim Houla, Chair, Global Accreditation Cooperation Incorporated (Global ACI) 🎙️ R. Douglas Leonard Jr., Executive Director, ANAB - ANSI National Accreditation Board 🎙️ Roeland D. Nieuweboer, Chairman of the Executive Board, Raad voor Accreditatie (RvA)  🎙️ Matt Gantley, CEO, UKAS  💬 We also warmly thank our moderators, who kept the discussion sharp and the energy high: Ileana Martinez (TIC Council), Warren Merkel (ANAB - ANSI National Accreditation Board), Elias Rafoul, MSc, ICD.D (Standards Council of Canada (SCC)), Joep de Haas (Raad voor Accreditatie), Emanuele Riva (Global Accreditation Cooperation Incorporated (Global ACI)), Marcus Long (IIOA), Mark Thomä (DEKRA), Cristina Draghici (ISO - International Organization for Standardization), and Fabien Joly de Brésillon (Bureau Veritas). And a very special thank you to Anne-Fré Vollema (DEKRA) for her exceptional work as Master of Ceremonies — bringing clarity, structure, and energy to a rich and complex morning.  #FoundationsofTrust #TIC #QualityInfrastructure #Reindustrialisation #Standards #Accreditation #Competitiveness