key: cord-0070622-o5l9jnt5
authors: Hurevich, V. L.; Liakhova, N. D.
title: 30 Years to Coomet: Results and Prospects of Cooperation
date: 2021-12-01
journal: Meas Tech
DOI: 10.1007/s11018-021-01969-3
sha: 942c86e651b629f34a17d687f1e400268ab30096
doc_id: 70622
cord_uid: o5l9jnt5

The history of Euro-Asian Cooperation of State Metrological Institutions (COOMET) began three decades ago, on June 12, 1991, when the COOMET Memorandum of Understanding was signed. COOMET is an officially recognized regional organization on metrology, as well as a regional organization on legal metrology. Cooperation in COOMET allows its member countries to successfully solve urgent metrological problems facing the national economies in the context of market globalization, as well as to integrate into the international metrological system. This article briefly reviews the history of COOMET and its major achievements. An assessment of the COOMET effectiveness is given, and promising directions of COOMET development are outlined.

cooperation between metrologists from Eastern and Central Europe. Z. Referovski was elected the fi rst President of COOMET and, after completing his term, was awarded the title of Honorary COOMET President for his great contribution [2] .

The subsequent increase in the number of COOMET members was associated with the collapse of the USSR and, to a large extent, with the growing international recognition of COOMET activities.

In 2000, the expanding geographical boundaries of COOMET led to its renaming as the Euro-Asian Cooperation of National Metrological Institutions. As a result, a number of associate members from Asian COOMET countries received the status of full members and joined the RMO (Table 1) .

In 1994, the functions of the presiding country in COOMET were transferred from Poland to Slovakia. The subsequent chronology of chairmanship in COOMET is shown in Table 2 . Each presiding country has contributed greatly to improving the effi ciency and international recognition of COOMET. The heads of COOMET and its structural bodies (CSBs) had to overcome a number of diffi culties on the way of establishing and developing cooperation, in order to turn the organization into a full-fl edged member of the international metrological community along with such RMOs as AFRIMETS (Intra-Africa Metrology System), APMP (Asia Pacifi c Metrology Programme), EURAMET (European Association of National Metrology Institutes), and SIM (Inter-American Metrology System). It is pertinent to note that the COOMET Memorandum of Understanding initially contained a number of provisions, which were not characteristic of other RMOs at that time. For example, the COOMET scope covered not only research, but also legal metrology. This allowed COOMET to obtain the status of a regional organization for legal metrology. Among other distinctive features were the equal status of associate and full members of COOMET, as well as 2 offi cial languages -English and Russian (compared to English in other RMOs) [2] .

According to Table 1 , COOMET includes national metrological institutions from 21 countries representing various regions. Table 3 , along with the status of COOMET membership, contains information on the participation of the members in the Metre Convention.

Development of COOMET activities. In order to meet the highest standards of quality and effi ciency, COOMET is continuously working on improving its processes and activities. One of such measures was the formation of a clear organizational structure and the introduction of 3-year development programs. The latter allowed the level and effi ciency of cooperation within the RMO to be signifi cantly raised.

At the 10th meeting of the COOMET Committee (Alma-Ata, 2000), in addition to the above-mentioned decision to rename the organization, the institute of COOMET Vice-Presidents was introduced and the COOMET Presidential Council Each member of the Council was assigned a set of delegated responsibilities and supervised areas (Table 4 ). At the time of its formation, the Presidential Council included the representatives of Belarus, Germany, Russia, Slovakia, and Ukraine, which made it possible to form an active core of COOMET. This core continues to play an important role in organizing COOMET activities, particularly in the periods between COOMET Committee meetings. This core is continuing to function at the present time. In 2018, the representative of Slovakia in the Council was replaced by a representative of Georgia. In 2021, at the initiative of the COOMET President, the representative of Kazakhstan joined the Council. The representative of Kazakhstan was commissioned to coordinate a new COOMET direction -cooperation with countries, whose metrological systems are in a phase of development. The post of a new Vice President was introduced following the results of a questionnaire survey conducted among the COOMET participants in 2021 with the purpose of assessing the satisfaction with the work of the Presidential Council.

The COOMET organizational structure, which was introduced in 2002 in accordance with the COOMET Development Program and the Memorandum of Understanding, implied the creation of structural and working bodies in all areas of cooperation [2] . Such an approach allowed more highly-qualifi ed specialists to be involved in cooperation within COOMET. This structure, with some changes and amendments, has been preserved to this day. Figure 1 shows the organizational structure of COOMET, updated in accordance with the decisions of the 31st meeting of the COOMET Committee (June 15-17, 2021).

COOMET is run by two governing bodies (COOMET Committee and Presidential Council) and 15 COOMET structural bodies (CSBs), which include the Joint Committee for Measurement Standards, all technical committees (TCs) and the Quality Forum. More than 250 specialists from COOMET member countries participate on a permanent basis as members of the COOMET Committee, heads and members of the CSBs, subcommittees (SCs) and working groups (WGs). Taking into account the coordinators and participants of various COOMET thematic projects, about 300 specialists annually participate in cooperation.

Currently, the work of TC 5 "Joint scientifi c research in the fi eld of metrology" has been suspended. However, the authors hope that its work will be resumed in the near future at a new qualitative level, taking into account Task F "Organization of innovative scientifi c research in the fi eld of metrology" of the COOMET Strategy for 2020-2025.

An important criterion for the activity of countries within COOMET is the management of various structural bodies. At present, the representatives of Belarus are in charge of 2 CSBs, Russia -9 CSBs, Georgia -1 CSB, Moldova -1 CSB, and Ukraine -4 CSBs. This group of countries also includes Germany, which headed TC 2 "Legal Metrology" and the Quality Forum for a number of years, Lithuania, whose specialists coordinated the work of TC 1.6 "Mass and Related Quantities," and, of course, Slovakia, whose representatives (M. Bily, S. Musil, and E. Kromkova) stood at the origins of the COOMET Quality Forum and, in fact, were the developers of the entire scheme for assessing quality management systems (QMS) of National Metrology Institutes (NMIs) and designated institutes (DIs) of COOMET member countries. At the 30th meeting of the COOMET Committee in 2020, a decision was made to amend the COOMET Memorandum of Understanding in terms of limiting the term of offi ce of the current CSB chairpersons to 2 four-year periods. The intention was to allow all countries to undergo experience in managing CSBs. All initiatives and amendments aimed at improving COOMET activities are refl ected not only in the Memorandum of Understanding, but also in the COOMET Rules of Procedure. In 2021, amendments were made to this document in terms of establishing the possibility of holding COOMET events in an online format (consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic) and a more detailed procedure of voting on various agenda issues. Thus, an algorithm for making decisions on behalf of the COOMET Committee through electronic voting was described, along with a procedure for working with COOMET topics and approaches to the formation and submission of annual CSB reports.

Various procedural issues of COOMET activities have been developed and fi xed in the relevant documents that make up the COOMET regulatory framework, which was formed taking into account the experience of international and regional metrological organizations [2] .

The COOMET document D4/2003 was one of the fi rst to be adopted, establishing the classifi cation of COOMET publications, the procedure for their development, approval and registration. According to this classifi cation, COOMET publications include:

"Documents -D" regulating procedural issues and fundamental issues of cooperation, which govern the activities of national metrological institutions, COOMET and CSB members;

"Recommendations -R" regulating organizational and methodological issues or technical content and are used by CSBs and the national metrological institutions of COOMET member countries in metrological practice;

"Information materials -I." In 2014, this document was updated to include a new classifi cation category "Programs -P," regulating cooperation policy issues and outlining the short-, medium-or long-term activities of the RMO as a whole or its CSBs.

At present, COOMET functions on the basis of 28 documents, 31 recommendations, 6 programs and 13 information materials, which are posted on COOMET information resources (Euro-Asian Cooperation of National Metrological Institutions: [website] . URL: www.coomet.org, www. coomet.net).

In 2005, the Concept of Cooperation and Related Activities of COOMET was adopted. Considering that 15 years have passed since then, the COOMET Development Program for 2017-2019 announced the need for its updating. However, in 2020, the COOMET Committee made a decision on the inexpediency of developing an updated version of the Concept. The main prerequisite for this decision was the creation in 2018 of a working group to develop a COOMET development strategy (hereinafter the WG for Strategy).

The main goal of the WG for Strategy was preparation of proposals for determining the institutional status of COOMET. The assigned tasks concerned the development of proposals on the following topics: the mission and vision of COOMET; strategic tasks of COOMET; the organizational and legal form of COOMET; funding mechanisms; identifi cation of COOMET assets.

The discussion of issues concerned with changing the institutional status of COOMET and its possible future forms is currently impeded by the ongoing pandemic. Among other questions discussed by the WG for Strategy are the possibility of registration of a legal entity in one of the participating countries and the feasibility of implementing a permanent COOMET Secretariat. At present, the scheme of a rotational Secretariat is used, when the activities are carried out by specialists of the NMI represented by the President. Some RMOs have already undergone reorganization: EURAMET, WELMEC, and SIM have been registered as legal entities, and discussions are still underway in AFRIMETS and APMP. The WG for Strategy is planning to present the fi nal proposals on a possible institutional status of COOMENT in 2022. Any fundamental changes will be effected only under the support of all COOMET members.

In 2020, at the 30th meeting of the COOMET Committee, the following provisions were approved: COOMET mission: raising the level of metrology development, support and expansion of an integrated measurement infrastructure for countries in the Euro-Asian region and other interested countries in order to promote innovation, competitiveness, trade, consumer safety, sustainability and international recognition in every national metrology institute;

COOMET vision: an effi cient, representative, and competent regional metrological organization, recognized by the international community.

At the same meeting, the COOMET Strategy for 2020-2025, a roadmap for its implementation, as well as the COOMET Development Program for 2020-2022, were unanimously adopted. The Roadmap and the Development Program detail measures and actions aimed at improving the activities of COOMET [3] .

The COOMET Strategy, developed by the WG for Strategy, is based on 7 strategic objectives: facilitation of international recognition of national measurement standards; facilitation of recognition of QMS of the national metrology institutes (NMIs) and designated institutes (DIs) of COOMET member countries; support of COOMET member countries in gaining the status of membership in the Metre Convention; facilitation of international practice in legal metrology; facilitation of advanced training and knowledge transfer in COOMET member countries; organization of innovative scientifi c research in the fi eld of metrology; COOMET internal development and external representation. The problem of institutional status is inextricably linked with the need to update the fundamental COOMET documents defi ning membership in the RMO, in order to attract active cooperation within COOMET of all NMIs and DIs. The questions of institutional status and funding COOMET activities are relevant tasks that should be solved by COOMET in the nearest future.

Brief review of COOMET achievements. The global pandemic Covid-19 has led to the reorganization of international cooperation in all fi elds of science and technology, including metrology. These force majeure circumstances have required transition to remote work within COOMET, which was successfully done in 2020 [3] . The introduction of videoconferencing into COOMET activities (using the Zoom platform) was a forced step in the context of the pandemic; however, it proved effective in maintaining the ongoing work of the RMO.

In 2019, the meeting of the COOMET Committee was held in the traditional off-line format, while all subsequent meetings of the Committee were either postponed or held online [4] . During 2020-2021, 2 meetings of the COOMET Committee, 3 meetings of the Presidential Council, as well as meetings of almost all CSBs were held using the Zoom platform. Under the auspices of COOMET, webinars were also organized with the participation of a large number of interested specialists from the participating countries:

COOMET webinar to discuss a draft COOMET Strategy for 2020-2025 (July 13, 2020); COOMET webinar on joint scientifi c research (September 23, 2020); COOMET webinar on KCDB 2.0 for TC 1.6 "Mass and Related Quantities," TC 1.4 "Flow Measurement," TC 1.5 "Length and Angle" and TC 1. Based on the results of key comparisons, the degree of equivalence of national measurement standards is determined. Data on key comparisons are published in the form of tables and diagrams for each measured quantity and placed in the KCDB database, which is a freely accessible web resource on the website of the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM) (KCDB, www.bipm.org/kcdb ). This information is also presented in the form of scientifi c articles in BIPM journals, for example [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] .

COOMET NMIs/DIs provide a list of metrological services -calibration and measurement capabilities (CMC), confi rmed by the issuance of appropriate certifi cates, which are recognized by all CIPM MRA participants.

COOMET member countries are actively involved in the formation of the KCDB database in terms of CMC entries. The share of CMCs of COOMET member countries, published in the KCDB and recognized at the international level, comprises 30%. Directly through COOMET, CMCs are represented by Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Cuba, Russia, Uzbekistan, and Ukraine. Bulgaria, Germany, Slovakia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Moldova, Lithuania, Romania, and Turkey submit CMCs via EURAMET, China -via ARMR.

As of June 20, 2021, KCDB has published 7624 CMC entries from COOMET member countries, of which 2691 CMC entries were from countries representing them through COOMET. It should be noted that, in terms of the number of CMC entries published in KCDB, such COOMET member countries as Russia, China, and Germany, confi dently occupy the fi rst three places among the countries participating in the CIPM MRA Agreement. Table 5 demonstrates the current situation on the number of published CMCs of COOMET member countries.

The CMC expertise, as well as planning and coordination of regional comparisons, is provided by the Joint Committee for Measurement Standards. This Committee interacts with the Quality Forum, which is responsible for evaluating the QMS of NMIs/DIs. Among the COOMET publications regulating the activities of COOMET within the framework of the CIPM MRA, the following recommendations should be noted:

СООМЕТ Information about the NMIs recognized within the framework of COOMET QMS and the appointed institutes of the COOMET member countries is given in Tables 6 and 7. In 2021, a fundamentally new algorithm was implemented for external peer-review audits of the QMS of those NMIs/DIs of Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, and Ukraine, whose COOMET certifi cates of recognition were expired. Hybrid inspection of DIs by COOMET auditors and 1-2 technical experts was conducted. Other technical experts participated in external peer review by evaluating the submitted documentation and working with the laboratories of the audited NMIs/DIs online by videoconferencing.

It is important to note that the Joint Committee for Measurement Standards coordinates the work of all COOMET Technical Committees in terms of: preparation and implementation of the Roadmap for the Implementation of Decisions Related to the Redefi nition of the Basic Units of the International System of Units (SI) (COOMET P6/2021 program); formation and implementation of a plan for the development of COOMET recommendations containing requirements for the calibration of various groups of measuring instruments; development of CSB working programs aimed at implementing the strategic tasks and mission of COOMET, as well as modern tasks of metrology concerned with sustainable development of economy and society; development of recommendations on ensuring traceability of measurement results/standards in COOMET (topic 812/RU/20, coordinator VNIIM, Russia), etc.

Under the auspices of the Joint Committee for Measurement Standards, the innovative project 825/BY/21 "Development of the COOMET concept on digitalization in the fi eld of metrology" was launched. This topic is relevant for the entire international community, which is particularly evident in the context of the pandemic. In the course of the implementation of this topic, it is proposed to develop a concept for the use of digital technologies in the fi eld of metrology, covering the following aspects: use of cloud technologies in the fi eld of metrology in COOMET member countries; development of unifi ed approaches to the creation and maintenance of national information funds in the fi eld of ensuring the uniformity of measurements in COOMET countries.

Within COOMET, cooperation is actively developing in the fi eld of reference materials (RMs) of composition and properties of substances and materials. The importance of this cooperation is explained by the role of RMs in the system of metrological support of production, testing of products and materials. Created within the framework of joint projects, COOMET RMs can be freely applied in the member countries without additional research in economic, scientifi c, and technical cooperation [10] . At present, the register and database of COOMET RMs contain information on 117 types of RMs.

Cooperation in the fi eld of legal metrology is coordinated by TC 2 and is based on up-to-date information on modern principles and approaches, international and European norms. TC 2 is aimed at solving a wide range of legal metrology problems associated with harmonization of national requirements in COOMET countries.

At the 31st meeting of the COOMET Committee (2021) In addition, the following COOMET projects are being implemented within the framework of TC2: 716/BY-a/17 Development of rules for setting up reverifi cation and recalibration intervals for measuring instruments used in the fi eld of legal metrology (coordinator -BelGIM, Belarus); 797/BY/19 Review of approaches to the metrological support of medical measuring instruments (coordinator -BelGIM, Belarus); 827/RU/21 Translation of the UNIDO-OIML Brochure "Certifi cation of measuring instruments" (coordinator -VNIIMs, Russia); 844/UA/21 Drawing up a List of adopted rules, guides, recommendations in the fi eld of legal metrology of other RLMOs, which are of interest to COOMET member countries, and agreement on the possibility of their application in COOMET member countries (coordinator -SE "Ukrmetrteststandart," Ukraine) etc.

COOMET activities in the fi eld of information and training are traditionally carried out along two directions: through the activities of the COOMET Secretariat in terms of maintaining information resources, preparing reports on COOMET activities, coordinating work on updating COOMET publications, ensuring public relations, as well as through TC 4 "Information and Training." Thus, among the applied tasks of TC4, it is important to note the work related to ensuring the implementation of the CIPM MRA within COOMET, for example, in terms of developing a software application for running the COOMET Comparison Program online). The databases developed by VNIIFTRI (Russia) on COOMET, COOMET RMs, and other topics are of great importance for the participants.

TC4 is also responsible for identifying needs and resources, coordinating work and supporting capacity building activities in the fi eld of training and knowledge transfer, organizing and conducting training events under the auspices of COOMET. This work is regulated through the development of 2-year plans of COOMET training events. Over the entire history of TC 4, more than 100 training sessions have been organized and carried out both by TC 4 and jointly with other CSBs and the COOMET Secretariat.

At the 31st meeting of the COOMET Committee in 2021, the Work Program of TC 4 for 2021-2023 was approved, which, among other things, provides for the following projects: development of an internal procedure for assessing training needs and planning training events within COOMET (project 829/UA/21; coordinator NSC "Institute of Metrology (IM)," Ukraine);

formation of a list of fundamental documents of international metrological organizations that require translation into Russian and development of a schedule of translations; development of a methodology for organizing and conducting interactive or e-learning through COOMET web resources and preparation of proposals on the topics of such training;

conducting a survey about the needs of COOMET NMIs concerning personnel training in the format of internships and about the possibilities of such training in the NMIs of COOMET member countries, etc.

COOMET pays much attention to the training and advanced training of metrology specialists. Over the years of cooperation, a new generation of COOMET employees has been raised up, and an experienced highly-professional team has been formed. Today, the COOMET team consists of both young specialists and those who stood at the origins of COOMET traditions. Since 2005, the international competition "The Best Young Metrologist of COOMET" has been held every two years. The 9th International Competition was held online on April 21-22, 2021.

Since its inception, COOMET has been working in close cooperation with international and regional metrological organizations. COOMET is a member of the Joint Committee of Regional Metrology Organizations and the BIPM (JCRB), maintaining close ties with the OIML in accordance with the agreement signed with the BILM in 1993. Cooperation of COOMET with international (CIPM, BIPM, OIML) and regional (AFRIMETS, APMP, EURAMET, WELMEC, SIM, GULFMET) metrological organizations continues, aimed at strengthening business contacts. Thus, in April 2018, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed with EURAMET, the main goal of which is to strengthen the interaction of the two organizations and facilitate the participation of COOMET members in European metrological research programs. At the 55th meeting of the Euro-Asian Council for Standardization, Metrology, and Certifi cation of CIS countries, held in June 2019, an updated Protocol of Cooperation and Interaction in the Field of Metrology with COOMET was signed.

COOMET today is an active participant in the international metrological community, which contributes to both ensuring the uniformity of measurements in the Euro-Asian region and developing national metrological infrastructures of the member countries in accordance with international requirements.

Conclusion. The achievements of COOMET, as an offi cially recognized RMO and a regional organization for legal metrology, indicate that COOMET carries out large-scale practical work in many areas of cooperation, acting as a forum for metrologists of the Euro-Asian region and other countries.

Cooperation in COOMET allows its member countries to successfully solve metrological problems facing national economies in the context of market globalization, thereby facilitating the international exchange of goods and services.

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20 years of COOMET -We measure together for a better tomorrow

29th COOMET Committee Meeting

COOMET supplementary compa rison on wavelength for fi ber optics

COOMET. Quality of measurements as the focus of attention