Goldman Sachs awards ISO 9001:2015 certification to Heritage Malta’s TED unit

Heritage Malta’s recently set up Technology and Experience Development (TED) Unit has been awarded the ISO 9001:2015 certification, which demonstrates its commitment towards providing quality products and services, enhancing visitor satisfaction and constantly improving its internal processes.

ISO 9001:2015 is an international standard that sets out the criteria for a quality management system. It provides a framework for organisations to establish, implement, maintain and improve their quality management processes.

Heritage Malta’s TED Unit comprises the Information Technology (IT) Department, the Experience Development Department and the Digitisation Department. The latter was awarded the ISO 9001 certification in August last year, making it the first department within the national agency for cultural heritage to acquire this prestigious certificate. The Digitisation Department holds the vital responsibility of digitising both tangible and intangible cultural heritage, in accordance with the Cultural Heritage Act, and serves as the national aggregator for cultural heritage data. The unit has diligently adopted ISO 9001:2015 as an essential administrative standard to ensure efficiency, quality and compatibility in its operations.

Following the merging of IT and Digitisation in the first quarter of this year, efforts were immediately initiated to acquire ISO 9001:2015 certification for the whole unit, whose remit is to provide core agency services in the areas of digitisation, the collections management system for the national collection, the digital outreach and accessibility policy implementation of the agency and the design of visitor experiences, among other tasks.

In a relatively short time, the IT Department was reorganised to fit within the ISO certification requirements and in July auditors from Goldman Sachs, the accreditation body for ISO, carried out an onsite audit for the whole unit. The unit was found to be in full conformity with ISO regulations and the ISO certificate was duly awarded, making TED the first unit within Heritage Malta to achieve the prestigious accreditation.

Commenting on this milestone for the TED Unit, Heritage Malta’s chief Operations officer, Kenneth Gambin, said that this achievement reflects the agency’s overall operational strategy towards quality and best practices. “The award of this certificate is an important step forward for our agency as it attests to the high standards achieved through constantly striving to improve the standard of our services and our efficiency in preserving and communicating the cultural heritage entrusted to us,” he remarked.

Anthony Cassar, who heads the TED Unit, said that the ISO certification serves as a beacon for other units to follow. He underlined that certification is not a one-time achievement; it requires ongoing commitment to continuous improvement and adherence to the strict quality criteria established by the certification body. Yearly audits are carried out by independent third party accreditation bodies in order to ensure the highest standards possible.