ExpectedOutcome:
Projects’ results are expected to contribute to the following outcomes:
- Evaluation of Quality Assurance / Quality Control (QA/QC) needs in areas not prone to systematic quality checks prior to decision-making in the natural hazards and CBRN-E areas, for physical, chemical and biological parameters.
- Based on past experience, organised intercomparisons among laboratories and institutes at EU level which are in charge of providing data for risk- and evidence-based decision-making in order to evaluate the comparability of data produced worldwide.
Production of reference materials and possible certification schemes for the systematic checking of laboratory and method’s performance for monitoring data used in risk- and evidence-based decision-making that are not prone to readily established schemes.
Scope:
Risk management of natural hazards and CBRN-E events closely rely on available data, taking into account uncertainties brought on by climate change and Earth dynamics. The soundness of decisions is based on quality data, which justifies that continuous efforts are made to improve their quality assurance / quality control, in particular in the natural hazards area as well as in the CBRN-E area. In many instances, measurement data used in decision-making are rarely challenged in the areas of crisis management and/or mechanisms are still underdeveloped to systematically demonstrate their quality (e.g. in the case of substances of criminal nature such as biological toxins). Quality assurance / Quality control (QA/QC) are prone to standardised procedures such as the EN 45000 Series, which includes requirements related to laboratory settings, analytical techniques, criteria for analytical performances (e.g. accuracy, repeatability, limits of detection etc.) that are well implemented in sectors such as the environment (including water), food and health. In other areas requiring monitoring data of physical, chemical or biological nature related to risk assessment of natural hazards such as climate threats and pandemics, man-made (accidental) risks (e.g. chemical substances in Seveso-type environments) or terrorism threats (e.g. chemical or biological toxins used for criminal purposes), the QA/QC rules are much less known and followed. In particular, the systematic comparison of measurement techniques related to risk assessment of natural hazards (including health) and CBRN-E data is not wide-spread and references data or materials are often lacking. Recent developments have led to the testing of proficiency testing schemes for biological toxins of potential bioterrorism risk, but a general framework for checking data quality and controlling laboratory and analytical technique performances (including from measurement data directly gathered in the field) does not yet exist at European level. There is hence a need to evaluate the needs for QA/QC developments in relevant areas for which physical, chemical and biological measurement data are insufficiently checked for quality, and to develop an appropriate EU-wide approach to improve and demonstrate this quality, thus ensuring a traceability and comparability of data used throughout Europe for sound risk- and evidence-based decision-making.
Specific Topic Conditions:
Activities are expected to achieve TRL 6-8 by the end of the project – see General Annex B.
Cross-cutting Priorities:
Artificial IntelligenceDigital Agenda
