International Testing Firm TUV-SUD Workshop Report

Dr Alisdair Ritchie 
PETRAS Impact Champion

On the 4^th June, the PETRAS management team was delighted to welcome to the University of Surrey a number of senior executives from the German testing firm TUV-SUD to discuss potential collaborations with PETRAS.

Headquartered in Munich and founded in 1855, TUV-SUD operates across the globe with around 24,000 employees working in more than 1,000 locations. The core activities it undertakes are testing, auditing, inspection and certification.

From the outset attendees were able to see synergies between TUV-SUD and PETRAS. TUV-SUD’s founding mission is to “protect people, the environment and property against technology-related risks” which fits well with PETRAS’s own goal to apply Privacy, Ethics, Trust, Reliability, Acceptability and Security to the Internet of Things. In a morning which was wide-ranging and positive in nature, one particular conversation stood out: What is the nature of digital harm in the future? As we step into a future filled with machines which talk to other machines, and with further developments in the currently nascent Artificial Intelligence sector, the concept of digital harm to “people, the environment and property” will evolve. TUV-SUD and PETRAS agreed that this presents new challenges and the way that they operate; the value of working together to achieve this through different approaches to the digital domain became apparent.

The possibility of a long-term relationship was discussed and both parties considered this something that should be worked towards. However, relationships are built on trust and engagement, so in the first instance the objective was to work towards TUV-SUD taking up a role within PETRAS projects, specifically Demonstrator projects, which are now in the process of being launched. Their initial engagement will involve Chris Guy, TUV-SUD’s UK Divisional Director, joining the board of the Transport and Mobility demonstrator which is due to be launched soon

In return members of the PETRAS team will attend TUV-SUD’s UK Customer Open Day and their Quarterly global digital services meeting in Munich. It is hoped that by meeting some of the TUV-SUD’s customers and senior executives at these meetings that we can further cement the progress that has been made and to develop a deeper understanding and mutually beneficial partnership.

PETRAS would like to give special thanks to Haitham Cruickshank, the 5G Innovation Centre and the University of Surrey for kindly agreeing to host this meeting.