You are on page 1of 9

IN COL AB

COMPETITIVE AND SUSTAINABLE GROWTH


(GROWTH PROGRAMME)

INitiative and CO-ordination to prepare LABoratories in


Newly Associated States for full implementation of the LowVoltage Directive (LVD)
Thematic Network

Project Report for period January to June 2005


Contract number:G7RT-CT-2002-05106
Project acronym: INCOLAB
Duration:
48 months
Home page:
www.incolab.info
Project
Co-ordinator:

University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Electrical Engineering,


Laboratory of Metrology and Quality (ULJUBL.EC.MQ), SI

Members:

Nederlands Meetinstituut, Van Swinden Laboratorium B.V.


(SWIN), NL
Ministry of Economic Affairs of the Republic of Estonia
(MEA.IND), EE
Dansk Institut for Fundamental Metrologi (DIFM), DK
State Agency for Metrology and Technical Surveillance
(SASM.HEA), BG
SP Swedish National Testing and Research Institute
(SNTRI.DOE)
Czech Metrological Institute (CMINST.LFM), CZ

INCOLAB Progress Report January to June 2005

page 1 of 9

TABLE OF CONTENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS..........................................................................................................2
1

INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY.............................................................................3

PROJECT OBJECTIVES................................................................................................4

NETWORK ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT..............................................5


3.1
3.2
3.3

WORKPLAN.....................................................................................................................7
4.1
4.2

OVERVIEW OF DELIVERABLES AND MILESTONES............................................................7


FURTHER ACTIVITIES FOR 2005 AND 2006...................................................................7

RESOURCES AND BUDGET.........................................................................................8


5.1
5.2

INSTITUTIONAL TRIANGLES............................................................................................5
COMMUNICATION FLOWS AND METHODS......................................................................5
NETWORK PROGRESS CONTROL AND PLANNING.............................................................6

TRANSFER OF MONEY...................................................................................................8
COST STATEMENT REPORTS...........................................................................................8

ANNEX 1 - REPORTS OF INCOLAB PROJECT MEMBERS..................................9


6.1
6.2
6.3
6.4
6.5
6.6
6.7

PROGRESS
PROGRESS
PROGRESS
PROGRESS
PROGRESS
PROGRESS
PROGRESS

REPORT
REPORT
REPORT
REPORT
REPORT
REPORT
REPORT

OF
OF
OF
OF
OF
OF
OF

SLOVENIA..................................................................................9
THE NETHERLANDS....................................................................9
ESTONIA....................................................................................9
DENMARK..................................................................................9
BULGARIA..................................................................................9
SWEDEN....................................................................................9
THE CZECH REPUBLIC...............................................................9

INCOLAB Progress Report January to June 2005

page 2 of 9

INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY

In this report the progress of the INCOLAB project is described for the first half of year 2005.
In the second chapter objectives of the project are summarized.
The third chapter of this report contains the description of formation of institutional triangles
in all country members of the project. The formation of institutional triangles was essential for
further development of the project. Methods of communication and network progress control
and planning are described.
In the fourth chapter of this report overview of deliverables and milestones is presented as
well as planning of future activities.
In the fifth chapter the financial matters related to money transfer and cost statement reports
are described.
In the annex 1 the annual progress reports of all project members are attached to this report as
separate reports in the original form as they were sent to the coordinator.

Ljubljana, 31st August 2005


INCOLAB coordinator
Prof. Dr. Janko Drnovek

INCOLAB Progress Report January to June 2005

page 3 of 9

PROJECT OBJECTIVES

The objective of network activities is to support measurement and testing (M&T) laboratories
and related infrastructures in newly associated states (NAS) for the full implementation of the
Low-voltage Directive (LVD). Equally important is to enhance their interrelations and
partnership with regulatory bodies and administrative infrastructures as well as with related
industries, thus forming so called "institutional triangles". Particular emphasis of the
proposed project is to enable and facilitate mutual recognition agreements based on
conformity assessment in order to prepare the M&T laboratories for their future role in the
enlarged single market.
The consortium consists of seven partners. They belong to 1 NAS, 3 former NAS and 3 old
EU member states. The 3 former NAS are: Slovenia - SI, Czech Republic - CZ, Estonia EE.
They became EU member states in 2004. The NAS is Bulgaria - BG. The EU member states
are: The Netherlands - NL, Denmark - DK, and Sweden - SE. The Co-ordinator of the project
is University of Ljubljana, UL, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, FE, Laboratory of
Metrology and Quality, LMK, Ljubljana, who is also holder of national measurements
standard for thermometry and electric safety testing laboratory.
It has been realized during previous relations among partners, that M&T activities related
to the LVD represent a common field of interest. Consortium is well balanced in terms of a
geographical coverage, since the NAS and former NAS cover the European South/North
orientation. They also represent countries with maximal diversity in terms of a level of
adoption of the community acquis, substantial differences in size and population and gross
domestic product (GDP). The asymmetry of project member economies gives an
additional challenge to the project itself. It also results in asymmetric information where
agents, stake holders, on one side of the European internal market have much better
information than those on the other side, thus generating severe problems among future
members of the internal EU market. The project objective is to analyze and propose the
solutions in the LVD area, to generalize the conclusions and to use them also elsewhere,
when applicable!
In addition, the participating NAS and former NAS are among smallest countries in
Europe, either in terms of population or geographically. Therefore market rules in establishing
M&T infrastructures cannot be applied directly, namely without governmental participation.
For these reasons, also the choice of EU partners is not arbitrary, but either reflects or
understands specifics due to certain level of similarity in size, population, institutional
organization, historic development, socio-economic relations etc.
The EU project partners exhibit features and expertise that match the requirements and
needs of NAS and former NAS partners in the field of full implementation of the LVD.
Particular features and expertise of particular importance for NAS and former NAS are: legal,
financial and economic aspects of technical regulations, statistics, measurement uncertainty
problems and industrial perspectives as well as broad M&T range of activities.

INCOLAB Progress Report January to June 2005

page 4 of 9

NETWORK ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT

3.1 INSTITUTIONAL TRIANGLES


During the first 5 months of the project the key task of each individual project member was
formation of the institutional triangle in its own country. Generally the triangles were formed
successfully. Some problems were encountered in finding industrial partners in Sweden, The
Netherlands and Czech Republic. Until the end of 2003 in Sweden an industrial partner was
still not found. The reason was because the industry was apparently very busy and money
oriented. They saw potential visitors as a competition. Nevertheless, the institutional triangles
were successfully formed in early 2004 as shown in Figure 1.

E T I, E T A
TESLA

G o r e n je , G Z S
M IR S , S A , S IS T ,
T IR S , M G , o t h e r s L V D r e la t e d in d u s t r y M in is t r y o f P u b lic
H e a lth , W e lf a r e
a n d S p o r ts
S I-W P 0 & 1
LM K

C A I,
CO SM T

C Z -W P 7
CM I

T e s t in g la b s
( T C L , S IQ , e tc .)

N L -W P 2
TNO NM i

IN C O L A B

D o o r A u t o m a t io n
N em ko

M EA

P h ilip s
d o m e s tic
a p p lia n c e s
EAEE
TI

E E -W P 3

SP

S E -W P 6

T L /H E A

TTU,
CEC

DFM
SAM TS
SW EDAC
E ls a k e r h e ts v e r k e t

D K -W P 4

B G -W P 5

E ld o m in v e s t
G am akabel

E A C & T ,
EA BAS,
C T C P, M S D

DAN AK
D e lta ,
D e m k o -U L ,
A re p a

Figure 1: Institutional triangles of INCOLAB project members

3.2 COMMUNICATION FLOWS AND METHODS


The Internet home page, dedicated to the project, has been established at the start of the
project (www.incolab.info). All relevant information and results suitable for dissemination are
published there, and links to some other web-sites are made. Home page of INCOLAB project
is operational from the beginning of the project. Additionally we set up also the INCOLAB
forum, which is at the end of the testing phase. The reason that it took us more time than
expected is that we had to buy a new computer for the server, install it, find programme and
test an appropriate platform for the forum. When the testing phase is over all the
communication between members and other interested parties will be possible through the
INCOLAB forum. There will be created three levels of access. One will be completely
accessible to the public with no restrictions, while the members will have a password related
access to the pages and files related to financial information and draft versions of reports.
Further development of the home page and forum will proceed according to the needs. The

INCOLAB Progress Report January to June 2005

page 5 of 9

forum will be presented and explained for successful use to the project members at the next
SC meeting in Tallinn, Estonia in September 2005.
Majority of communication so far was conducted by e-mail, but also phone, fax and
ordinary mail was used.
3.3 NETWORK PROGRESS CONTROL AND PLANNING
The project progress control and planning in the first half of 2005 was successfully done by
meetings (Steering Committee meetings, meetings on a national level) and remote
communication (email, phone, fax).
The Steering Committee meeting was not held on six-month basis in order to reduce costs
due to the prolongation of the project from 36 to 48 months but in principle on a yearly basis,
which was unanimously agreed among the project members. Several bilateral discussions
were constantly held in between to fully monitor and control the project. The prolongation
was officially approved on 28th of February 2005 but the coordinator received it by fax on 5 th
of April 2005.
The reports of project members showed that all members are successfully progressing in
the course of planned activities as they were described in the technical annex of the project.
The report of INCOLAB activities of all project members for 2004 was sent to the project
officer as a project delivery in March 2005.

INCOLAB Progress Report January to June 2005

page 6 of 9

WORKPLAN

4.1 OVERVIEW OF DELIVERABLES AND MILESTONES


Due to expected prolongation of the project we prepared on 6th of December 2004 a revision
of the technical annex, which was sent to the project officer Mr. Paolo Salieri. Changes were
made to man power bar chart, deliverables and milestones. Four (4) new deliverables were
included to the list of deliverables, while ten (10) deliverables were rearranged in terms of
time execution. Three (3) new milestones were included to the list of milestones, while seven
(7) milestones were rearranged in terms of time execution.
According to the new lists of deliverables and milestones, in the year 2004 the entire project
scheduled deliverables and milestones were met. So far the following deliverables and
milestones were achieved:
Deliverables D1-D19
Milestones M1-M13

4.2 FURTHER ACTIVITIES FOR 2005 AND 2006


Based on the reports of project members further activities are well defined and in progress.
The most important further activities of common interest and with participation of all project
members are as follows:
1. Intercomparison in testing, in which all members take part with one of their testing
laboratories. The Laboratory of Metrology and Quality has developed the schedule,
procedure and logistic for intercomparison of two different testing samples. The execution
of the intercomparison is progressing well. More details are available in the report of
INCOLAB Slovenia activities. The measurement part of intercomparison at all
laboratories will be probably concluded by the end of September 2005. After that the most
important part follows and that is evaluation of results. If necessary, the pilot laboratory
will address additional questions to the praticipating laboratories. The final results are
expected in the spring 2006.
2. SC Meeting in Tallinn, Estonia; At the meeting steps will be taken to define execution of
the remaining project activities.
3. Preparation for organization of the final Conference in Slovenia. The details will be
elaborated during the 6th Steering Committee meeting.
The project so far developed according to the workplan of each individual project member. It
must be taken into consideration that the full implementation of LVD activities and some
additional spin off effects might require extra implementation time, or could be implemented
much deeper. Namely, the project results do not depend only on the work of project members
but also on wider socio-economic development in the particular countries and various
partners, which inevitably takes some time. Therefore we applied for a no-cost extension of
the project. The decision was met with the consent of all project members. This will give our
project results and us extra visibility and usage. It is of course absolutely necessary that all the
objectives planned in the project proposal are fully met but rational use of resources might
give us the chance to stretch the project over longer period.

INCOLAB Progress Report January to June 2005

page 7 of 9

RESOURCES AND BUDGET

5.1 TRANSFER OF MONEY


At the beginning of the project, advanced payment, 40% of the allocated sum of each project
member for the entire duration of the project, was transferred by the coordinating institution
UL/FE/LMK to all INCOLAB project members.
According to the financial reports of project members for 2003, the EC transferred to the
coordinating institution the second payment. The project members agreed during the 4 th SC
meeting in Bors, Sweden, how to distribute the second payment. The money was transferred
from the coordinating institution to the project members in the beginning of July 2004.

5.2 COST STATEMENT REPORTS


The financial report, consisting of the form PART E-2 INTEGRATED COST STATEMENT
IN EURO TO BE SUBMITTED BY THE CO-ORDINATOR FOR HIS MEMBERS was sent
to the EC together with E-1 cost statement reports of each project member. Afterwards, on
request of the project officer the project members provided also certified copies of invoices
for subcontracting and other specific costs.
All actions in order to obtain the third payment from the EC were done but prior to the
Steering Committee meeting in Tallinn, Estonia, the coordinating institution did not receive
any money. By the time this report was written, the coordinator did not receive any
information about the result of financial department on cost statement approval and its
decision on the next (third) payment. Based on the amount of money for the third payement
the project members will make an agreement on money distribution.

INCOLAB Progress Report January to June 2005

page 8 of 9

ANNEX 1 - REPORTS OF INCOLAB PROJECT MEMBERS

6.1 PROGRESS REPORT OF SLOVENIA


File: INCOLAB Progress Report SI Jan_June 2005.doc
6.2 PROGRESS REPORT OF THE NETHERLANDS
File: INCOLAB Progress Report NL Jan_June 2005.doc
6.3 PROGRESS REPORT OF ESTONIA
File: INCOLAB Progress Report EE Jan_June 2005.doc
6.4 PROGRESS REPORT OF DENMARK
File: INCOLAB Progress Report DK Jan_June 2005.doc
6.5 PROGRESS REPORT OF BULGARIA
File: INCOLAB Progress Report BG Jan_June 2005.doc
6.6 PROGRESS REPORT OF SWEDEN
File: INCOLAB Progress Report SE Jan_June 2005.pdf
6.7 PROGRESS REPORT OF THE CZECH REPUBLIC
File: INCOLAB Progress Report CZ Jan_June 2005.doc

INCOLAB Progress Report January to June 2005

page 9 of 9

You might also like