This is a CTP of initiative: Living Labs - Sfax Smart Living Lab (Tunisia)
This CTP (CTP5) is about the application of a quality management system in the ReGIM Lab to acquire the International Organization for Standardization 9001 (ISO-9001) certification in May 2015. The decision to apply for the certification was taken by the Scientific Council of the ReGIM Lab (smq.regim.org, 2016). They believed that after their laboratory has acquired national recognition by the Tunisian president in 2010, the focus on attaining international acknowledgement is needed to be able to compete on the international level and attract international financial support and cooperation. Moreover, it would be very beneficial to apply a quality management system to enhance all procedures performed in the lab and reach a worldwide accredited level of quality.
The preparation process started in May 2013, two years before the ISO certificate was acquired. The ReGIM Lab partnered with two training centers: ‘Business Training’ and ‘N-training’ in order to build the capacity of the laboratory team and help them prepare the quality management system. An advisory board was formed of volunteering members of the ReGIM Lab to focus on the preparation of the quality management system. The laboratory processes were divided under three main domains:
To implement the quality management system all processes performed in the laboratory have to be documented after being checked, validated and tested. All documents were recorded into a final report which was finally audited by ISO experts. In March 2015 the ReGIM Lab declared its application to the ISO 9001. ISO experts audited the application documents, and gave their remarks. In two months the ReGIM Lab had improved remaining items so they conformed a 100% to the ISO 9001 standards. In May 2015 the ISO 9001 certification was acquired.
The quality management system organized activities and procedures in all domains of the ReGIM Lab. This means that a standard quality of delivery is ensured; any member can perform processes in the same manner and quality of the system. Adel Alimi states that the impact on research processes after the implementation of the quality system was one of the most significant. The laboratory research now follows specific procedures requiring a time planning, funding proposals, objective statement, execution and monitoring plan etc. He describes that it moved from “hobby research to more professional research”.
This did not only improve the laboratory’s performance, but also gave the ReGIM Lab a higher recognition on a national as well as worldwide level. In Tunisia the ReGIM Lab became the first and only ISO-certified laboratory, which increased the gap with other competing laboratories. The lab became ISO certified in different domains such as training, organization of conferences and competitions, in innovation and prototypes development, in research and development.
Being a crucial development for the ReGIM Lab, the ISO application process was certainly a critical turning point for SSCLL. The certification imposed on the ReGIM Lab members to make the difference between the living lab and the ReGIM lab clear and bold, as they are separate entities. For the first time all members clearly understood the meaning of a living lab, and the difference between it and the ReGIM Lab. Since then the living lab activities, such as acquiring a membership, participation in activities became more organized, and distinguished from the ReGIM Lab activities.
This CTP was coproduced by several actors.
First Adel Alimi was the initiator of the ISO certification idea, as he believes in quality and its importance for international recognition and competition on the international level. His belief in quality has emerged from his long experience as an evaluator of international projects such as EU and Alexo projects, and his occupation in the School of Engineering in Sfax University. In fact, as the School of Engineering Dean he had led the process for acquiring its ISO certificate in 2010. This certainly gave him a thorough experience in the ISO certification process, which helped him lead it again for the ReGIM Lab. Adel along with the remaining members of the Scientific Council took the decision to go through the application process in 2013. This Scientific Council is responsible for tackling major decisions for the ReGIM Lab as well as managing technical issues, such as the evaluation of PhD researches.
The ReGIM Lab team played the most crucial role in this CTP. Almost all members residing in Sfax, had volunteered to bear the responsibility of preparing the qualification process. An Administrative Board emerged of all the coordinators of the quality management system, and included 25 members, who are mainly PhD holders or soon-to-be PhD holders. Each member had a specific task, and had to fully understand and study the processes he was responsible for. After preparing the processes documents, they had to be validated by the training centers, and then applied in the laboratory practice for a period of 6 months.
Acquiring the ISO certificate wouldn’t have been possible without the two training centers, ReGIM Lab partnered with: N training and Business Training. N training started its training services in 2013 and focused mainly on the capacity building of the ReGIM Lab members in several areas such as stress, conflict, and time management, and setting an enterprise identity including mission, vision etc. to increase the sense of ownership and motivation of the members.
The Business Training center was specialized in quality assessment, and training for ISO 9001 and started working with the ReGIM Lab in 2014. Their specialist Dr. Maher el Aidy, was sent to the ReGIM Lab on a constant basis as consultant to help the team prepare the quality management system, test it and evaluate it so it matches the ISO requirements.
Finally, without the funding of the ReGIM Lab provided mainly by the ministry, the implementation of this CTP wouldn’t have been possible. Since the ministry’s funding provides more freedom in its spending directions compared to international funding it was more appropriate to use for the qualification process of the ReGIM Lab.
The idea of acquiring the ISO certification for the ReGIM Lab existed years ago in the mind of Adel Alimi, particularly after the School of Engineering of Sfax University had attained it under his administration in 2010. However, throughout the years many developments happened such as the Tunisian revolution (CTP 2), which continuously changed the direction of development of the ReGIM Lab as well as the living lab. It was at the end of 2013, when the ReGIM Lab team had reached a number of achievements peaking at RoboComp’2013 (CTP 4) and the participation in the World Robotic Olympiad (WRO), that Adel Alimi felt a move towards the international level is needed. He also felt that a new challenge for the ReGIM Lab is needed to break the repetition of the yearly competition that they have mastered by that time and to boost the excitement among the team members. This was when he and the Scientific Council decided to go through the preparation of a quality management system to attain the ISO-certification.
Several developments and events related to the ReGIM Lab as well as the living lab were induced by this CTP.
After acquiring the ISO certificate, the ReGIM Lab gained more confidence to participate in international competitions and acquired increased international recognition, support and memberships. This had a great impact on the living lab. In fact, the living lab board, which mainly includes ReGIM lab members, applied for the Sfax Smart City affiliation by IEEE (CTP 6), and attained this affiliation in January 2016, when the living lab became for the first time labelled as: ‘Sfax Smart City Living Lab’ (SSCLL). Another accomplishment encouraged by this CTP and also affecting the living lab was its affiliation and membership in the European Network of Living Labs in April 2016. All this was highly impacted by the gained international recognition of the ReGIM Lab, which has also boosted the reputation of the living lab.
Other developments induced by the CTP but affecting more the ReGIM Lab itself are the following: the ReGIM Lab has an increased coaching role at least on the national level. After acquiring the certification the ReGIM Lab has gained the capacity and position to coach other laboratories acquire the same certification. The ReGIM Lab is currently considered as the leader of adapting the ISO certificate to the non-industrial sector in Tunisia excluding universities. In addition, three members of the ReGIM laboratory were chosen to teach quality management in other Tunisian universities in 2017. These have submitted a proposal to their universities and institutes in which they explained the training they can give and got accepted. The fact that they are welcomed to teach quality management by their universities indicates the trust universities have in their ISO accreditation.
Finally, this CTP has induced a recurring event for the ReGIM Lab, as an obligation of being certified, namely bi-yearly surveys distributed to the ReGIM Lab clients, members and industrial partners to measure their satisfaction of the lab services and products. In fact, maintaining the ISO certification is a continuous amelioration procedure, it requires continuous evaluation and monitoring procedures. The lab’s evaluation is based on these surveys conducted in June and December each year. The ReGIM Lab team has to make sure it is accessible to the recipients by monitoring the opening rate of the survey received by email and by verifying if recipients understand the survey.
The preparation procedure of the quality management system was a long procedure that lasted almost twelve months. Naturally changes in the working team and organization sometimes caused tensions.
Throughout the preparation and application of the quality system to the different laboratory procedures members’ responsibilities as well as capabilities and interests became clearer. These had to be restructured, after the exact procedures, capabilities of each got clearer. This has led to some members’ realization that they are not in the position that matches their capabilities and/ or interests and that they would fit more in another role. As a result, minor temporary tensions emerged between members and the administration board, but were resolved in a professional way. Members seeking role change would submit a proposal stating how their capabilities match the desired position and the advisory board reviews the proposal and makes a decision accordingly. Wael Ouarda gives an example of himself: He was responsible for the materials infrastructure, for example: computers, working environment, other devices. During the quality management system application process he realized that he is more interested in quality management and has the skills to work in it, so he requested to change to quality management. His request was evaluated by the administrative board, who accepted his suggestion. In several cases the changes in roles went smooth and made positive impact on the member and the organization as a whole. However, in other limited cases, changes caused more tensions, when the member was not suitable for the role he or she desired. In another case, a member had to leave his role completely in a critical timing during the application procedure as he got an offer in Saudi Arabia. His responsibilities had to be transferred quickly to another member, which caused some inconvenience and delays in the process. But these changes and risks are inevitable in such a long-term process.
Finally, one must mention that there has been differences in opinion within the administrative board, which is responsible for preparing the quality management system. But these were ordinary for any group taking decisions together and were resolved by discussion and voting.
Adel Alimi claims that acquiring the ISO certification for the ReGIM Lab was not anticipated as a CTP for the living lab, but rather only for the ReGIM Lab. He was aware of the positive impacts such a quality management system would have on the ReGIM Lab, its performance and international recognition, but didn’t foresee many other positive impacts.
As for the impacts on the ReGIM Lab, activities and procedures in all domains became more organized and clear ensuring a standard quality of delivery. Moreover, research processes conducted in the ReGIM Lab have become more professional as they follow specific procedures recorded in the system. The certification did not only improve the laboratory’s performance, but also gave the ReGIM Lab a higher recognition on a national as well as worldwide level. In Tunisia the ReGIM Lab became the first and only ISO-certified laboratory, which increased the gap with other competing laboratories. On the international level it encouraged more collaborations and funding for the laboratory.
All the previously mentioned impacts on the ReGIM Lab were rather expected, however, the way in which the lab organization developed to implement the quality system were not all foreseen. Changes in the responsibilities of the members and in the organizational structure, happened spontaneously, as a result of the roles, interests and capacities of the members becoming clearer. Moreover, the distinction between the different entities: the ReGIM Lab and the living lab has become much more obvious, which was a crucial development for the living lab. For the first time all members understood clearly the meaning of a living lab, and the difference between it and the ReGIM Lab. Moreover, this solved some uncertainties of some members who didn’t understand why they are not working in the living lab while others do. So it became clear to them that the type of research is different there, and has to have certain characteristics such as innovation and openness to users and possibly to industry.
Starting the application process for the quality management system in the ReGIM Lab was planned in advance. The ReGIM Lab had arranged partnerships with two business centers since the start of the application process, and payed for them to get training and support. The laboratory was preparing for an anticipated long journey, knowing that it is worth the effort and resources used. The guidance the team got by the training centers, as well as Adel Alimi’s previous experience in acquiring the ISO certificate for the School of Engineering made the formal steps and milestones of the preparation process anticipated to a large extent.
Preparing and applying such a quality management system was a very insightful learning process for the ReGIM Lab members. The members understood more thoroughly the procedures of their laboratory and developed skills in communicating and developing of standard procedures, and quality assessment and management. Moreover, for the first time they got the opportunity to think about their responsibilities and tasks, and whether they a match their own capabilities and interests.
As an organization and research institution the ReGIM Lab has developed significantly due to this CTP. Procedures were reorganized, divided, added, besides being documented in a clearer and organized manner. For instance, procurements were initially done by an external party, which then changed to be done internally after its procedure was clarified and documented. Moreover, some restructuring took place on the organizational level after some members requested to change their responsibilities. The ReGIM Lab members also learned the importance of continuous monitoring and evaluation to maintain a standard quality of the lab. While they had previously conducted only one evaluation per year, they appreciated after the CTP the fact that they have to conduct it twice a year, as it facilitates tackling problems and challenges more frequently and before they can enlarge or become more complex. All this has made the ReGIM Lab a more professional as well as “matured” organization as Adel Alimi expresses it. He mentions that “It [the impact of implementing the quality management system] was so significant that we currently feel a huge gap between us and other non-ISO certified laboratories.”
For the living lab it was an unexpected jump in its development; for the first time it became clearly distinguished as a separate entity from the ReGIM Lab, with separate ambitions and vision. The ReGIM Lab members learned how important it is to have such a clear distinction between the different entities. It enabled them to think separately of both, and associate them with different identities, missions and visions. This cognitive development helped the living lab board take strong steps towards developing its identity and separate recognition in the following period. The living lab became afterwards labelled as the Sfax Smart City Living Lab (CTP 6) and gained international recognition by becoming an ENoLL member. Moreover, the skills developed and lessons learnt by the ReGIM Lab members when preparing the quality management system were certainly reflected on the living lab, and its board which includes many similar members.
References
Available at: http://smq.regim.org/ [Accessed 2016].
Available at: http://regim.org/ [Accessed 2016].
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