Case Study: Benefits of EuroGeographics Membership – Knowledge Exchange

“Participating in my first quality knowledge exchange meeting gave me a lot of confidence and a massive head start in creating my own quality model, without this I would not have accomplished my project. We work in a dynamic geo-world and every year there are new challenges waiting. That’s why it is good to have contact with peers to get tips and feedback, share experiences and stay informed of international developments.”

Karin Mertens, Quality Officer, National Geographic Institute, Belgium

Challenge

In her new role as Quality Officer at the National Geographic Institute in Belgium, Karin Mertens was responsible for developing a quality model for a new data production process. With limited experience, and her research revealing many different ISO standards, guidelines and quality management systems, she turned to EuroGeographics Quality Knowledge Exchange (QKEN) to help her make sense of this ‘information overload’.

Solution

Joining this group of experts, who were willing to share both their successes and failures, provided clarification on which definitions and ISO standards were relevant. This not only enabled Karin to focus on the information that was important to her project, but also highlighted future developments. She was also able to gain new knowledge at an international level and learn from the quality assurance and control methods used by other National Mapping, Cadastral and Land Registry Authorities. Karin remains an active member of QKEN as it enables her to remain connected to the quality community to share experiences and keep up to date with the latest developments.

 Benefits

• Provides clarification of ISO standards and clear definitions.
• Enables a focus on important aspects by identifying what was relevant.
• Raises awareness of activities on (inter)national level and enables participants to stay informed.
• Promotes learning through the sharing of successes and failures.
• Improves knowledge through contact with peers who share experiences, tips and feedback.