Recommended Reading | Discussion on the Definition, Scope, and Classification of Authentication Technology

Certification activities are an indispensable third-party conformity assessment activity in current commercial, social, and even government activities. Many technologies are applied in certification activities, but there is still no clear definition of what certification technology is internationally or domestically, including by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).

Without a definition of certification technology, the development and introduction of new certification technologies lack a unified evaluation concept and principles. This situation poses two risks: first, new technologies suitable for the certification field may face disputes and delayed application due to the absence of unified rules and understanding; second, new technologies unsuitable for the certification field may harm the certification domain due to the lack of unified rules and understanding. Therefore, this article attempts to explore the definition of certification technology. Due to limited expertise, the views presented may not be correct, but it is hoped that this article will attract attention and discussion from experts and scholars in the certification field.

1. What is Certification

Before formal certification was introduced in our country, certification activities had long existed among the people. For example, in the agrarian society, draft oxen played a crucial role in agricultural production, and trading draft oxen was quite common. However, since buyers often lacked knowledge and skills to identify draft oxen, they worried about purchasing oxen that did not live up to their reputation. This led to the emergence of "tooth guild" organizations and "tooth men" workers, who acted as impartial intermediaries between buyers and sellers. These "tooth men," called "驵侩" in Chinese, possessed extensive knowledge and skills in identifying draft oxen. After their evaluation, they could provide information on the ox's age, breed, and physical condition, which then served as the basis for price negotiations between buyers and sellers.

In modern and contemporary society, during the circulation and exchange of goods, producers need to prove that their products meet corresponding quality requirements and can continuously and stably meet these requirements. Consumers need to know whether the quality of the goods they purchase is reliable and consistently so. However, due to the wide variety of goods and increasingly complex structural performance, people can no longer judge product quality by general intuition and experience. The unilateral guarantee of "manufacturer (supplier) compliance declaration" lacks sufficient trustworthiness and fairness, making it difficult for buyers to fully accept. Under these circumstances, a certification activity by a third party independent of both supply and demand sides to prove product quality conformity has emerged. It is an inevitable product of the development of the commodity economy.

The English term for certification is "certification," whose root and affixes are: cert (believe) + fic (make) + ation (noun suffix indicating an action), originally meaning to do something to make others believe oneself, often referring to an abstract proof, such as the "action" or "process" of proving.

From the above explanation, the essence of certification is a third-party proof of conformity of the certified object, which is a quality measurement of the certified object, i.e., the degree to which the certified object meets specified requirements. It has fairness (supported by independence, objectivity, reliability, professionalism, systematization, etc.) and is considered fair. The goal of certification activities is to obtain the trust of the "user of the certification result" in the certification body's proof. Although most certification applications are submitted by providers of products, services, processes, or management systems, and the certification fees are paid by the applicants, the ultimate goal of the applicants is to make the recipients of the products, services, processes, or management systems trust the third-party certification body's results to facilitate smooth transactions. If the trust of the certification result users is lost, the certification activity loses its meaning. Therefore, certification bodies must uphold "impartiality" as the baseline and red line for the existence of the certification industry.

ISO17000 "Conformity Assessment — Vocabulary and General Principles" defines certification-related terms as follows:

Certification: Third-party attestation related to products, processes, systems, or personnel;

Attestation: A statement issued based on a decision after review to confirm that specified requirements have been fulfilled;

Review: Verification of the suitability, sufficiency, and effectiveness of the selection and determination of activities and their results concerning the conformity assessment object meeting specified requirements.

Currently, due to the low popularization of knowledge about certification information and its role, and limited channels for obtaining information, most consumers do not pay attention to certification information of products (except for energy-saving products) and often trust so-called online reviews. Most manufacturers of end consumer goods are unwilling to pursue certification (except for mandatory certification objects) because certification does not add value to their sales; even if certified, it is often due to government, group, platform, or procurement organization requirements. The State Administration for Market Regulation issued the "Notice on Carrying out Special Rectification Actions against Illegal Acts of Selling Fake Inspection and Testing Reports Online" (Market Supervision Testing Issuance [2021] No. 54). The notice points out that recently, public opinion has reflected that some online trading platforms have engaged in illegal activities such as buying and selling fake inspection and testing reports, seriously disrupting the inspection and testing market order. To maintain a fair and orderly market environment, combat illegal acts, and protect consumer rights, the State Administration for Market Regulation decided to carry out a special rectification action against illegal acts of selling fake inspection and testing reports online from mid-July to mid-September. These indicate that consumers' awareness of rights protection is increasing, reflecting from another perspective the market's need for third-party certification.

However, current certification often remains at the level of conformity or basic needs based on safety and health considerations, while Chinese consumers have surpassed basic needs and require goods that satisfy higher-level needs beyond the basics. This is a major contradiction in China today: the supply side cannot meet the demand side's needs. The 2015 version of ISO9000 defines quality as "the degree to which a set of inherent characteristics of an object fulfills requirements." From the quality definition, the quality of an object is not simply a binary distinction of "conforming" or "non-conforming" but a quantitative concept. However, current certification results are often conformity proofs with very low or no differentiation in the quality level of the certified object. From this perspective, most certification fields have not yet met the market demand for differentiation in certification results. But there are good examples, such as the energy efficiency rating labels for home appliances, which differentiate the energy-saving effects of home appliances, provide consumers with identification marks for product energy efficiency, guide consumers, and promote energy-saving innovation in the home appliance industry.

Due to the lack of quantitative evaluation technology (methods), certification results often cannot reflect the quality level of the certified object, greatly reducing certification effectiveness. Therefore, the development of quantitative evaluation technology is urgent. Quantitative certification conclusions will be the future trend of certification, which will significantly improve certification effectiveness and expand the certification market.

So how to obtain and convey trust? The objectivity, independence, reliability, and sustainability of certification bodies' certification activities are the foundation for gaining trust. These characteristics of certification bodies are achieved not only through governance, management, and systems but largely stem from certification technology. If certification technology itself has problems, the conclusions drawn will inevitably be unreliable or even incorrect. For example, in certification activities, sampling technology may have unrepresentative samples or insufficient sample sizes to draw conclusions; in audit activities, auditors as the main body may lack necessary knowledge, experience, skills, and methods, leading to a high probability of misjudgment in audit conclusions. Therefore, possessing, developing, and mastering objective, independent, and reliable certification technology is especially important for certification practitioners. This is particularly prominent for management system certification, which differs from product certification in that most audit evidence is informational (e.g., documents, records, interviews, observations, feedback), requiring auditors to have rich knowledge, experience, and skills.

Therefore, it is necessary to clearly define certification technology and use this definition to guide the establishment of evaluation rules, criteria, guidelines, and methods for determining whether newly developed or introduced technologies can be applied in the certification field.

Below, the author will discuss what technology is and what certification technology is, and then explain the definition of "certification technology."

2. What is Technology

To clarify the definition of certification technology, one must first understand what "technology" is. The Western term technology originates from the Greek word "techne," meaning "skill, craft," combined with logos (word, speech), meaning the words and speech that carry craft or skill, transmitted through the Latin "technicaars." By the 17th century, it became "technique" in French and "technology" in English. Although Chinese dictionaries define technology as "① The experience and knowledge accumulated by humans in utilizing and transforming nature, reflected in productive labor, also generally referring to other operational skills: research ~ advanced. ② Refers to technical equipment: ~ transformation." Other technologies are not included in the definition because, as the essence and concepts of things continuously evolve, the original meaning of technology cannot fully encompass the scope and meaning of modern "technology." Currently, there is no unified definition of technology; people define technology differently from various perspectives. Therefore, as a tool-type dictionary, it cannot include controversial content. Regardless of how the meaning of technology expands, the basic core and starting point of technology are skills and techniques. Whether machines, tools, crafts, procedures, technical knowledge, or technical theories, the fundamental reason they are included in the meaning of technology is that functionally they all enhance skills and techniques, improving efficiency and effectiveness, thus inherently connected to the core of skills and techniques. For modern society, wherever there is human activity, corresponding technology exists. Therefore, technology is widely present in various fields, including the certification field.

3. What is Certification Technology

Certification technology serves certification activities. The essential attribute of certification is fairness, which is supported by the objectivity, independence, reliability, accuracy, and systematic nature of certification activities.

Therefore, any certification technology must possess one or more characteristics such as objectivity, independence, reliability, accuracy, and systematic nature, while also considering the risks associated with the certification technology and adopting appropriate measures to reduce or eliminate those risks.

So, what is the relationship between certification technology and other technologies (such as production technology, development technology, software application technology, management technology, etc.)? Essentially, they are the same, as all are the sum of knowledge, experience, skills, means, methods, and techniques. The same technology can be used for certification activities as well as other activities. The difference between certification technology and other technologies lies in the greater emphasis on objectivity, independence, reliability, accuracy, and systematic nature to ensure the fairness of certification results. For example, the conformity assessment functional method technology can also be used by enterprises for self-evaluation, and sampling methods are similarly applicable. Therefore, any technology that helps achieve certification goals and fairness can become certification technology. For example, product testing technology is used in the production field during product design, production, and storage stages to verify product conformity with requirements, analyze problems in design, production, and storage processes, and improve them. In the certification field, testing technology is applied during the determination stage to obtain evidence that the product meets specified requirements, serving as one of the conditions for issuing a certificate that the product model complies with the requirements. The application of any certification technology must consider and manage risks.

In summary, certification technology can be understood as the sum of skills and techniques that help determine the extent to which the certification object meets specified requirements or improve certification efficiency or effectiveness, possessing one or more characteristics such as objectivity, independence, reliability, accuracy, and systematic nature.

4. Scope of Certification Technology

(1) From the perspective of the application and object of certification technology (set), certification technology is an applied system.

Certification technology always has an application subject and an object of effect. The application subject refers to the user of the certification technology (person or organization), and the object of effect refers to the target of the certification technology (products, services and processes, management systems, personnel, etc.). Certification technology cannot exist independently without the subject and object; the subject, technology, and object of certification technology should be regarded as a system. The so-called certification technology system refers to an organic whole with a specific structure and function composed of three elements—people (subject), certification technology (intermediary), and certification object (object)—which are interconnected, interact, and distinguishable. It can be represented as: Person (subject) — Certification Technology (intermediary) — Certification Object (object).

In daily certification activities, the term certification technology often specifically refers to the technology (intermediary) element within the certification technology system, which this article calls narrow-sense certification technology, for example: certification sampling technology, testing methods, etc.

The technology system composed of the three elements of person (subject), technology (intermediary), and object of effect (object) is called broad-sense certification technology in this article, for example, certification rule series, certification criteria series, audit scheme technology, quality management system standards, etc.

The reason for distinguishing between narrow-sense and broad-sense certification technology is that when introducing some technologies into the certification field, if there is no systematic consideration and evaluation of whether they are suitable for application in certification or whether additional conditions are needed, the fairness of certification may not be guaranteed. This distinction helps avoid and overcome the one-sided approach of studying certification technology in isolation from the technology subject (person) or the technology object (object of effect).

(2) From the meaning and content of certification technology (set), certification technology is a hierarchical system.

Certification technology is the sum of skills and techniques that help achieve certification activity goals and improve efficiency and effectiveness, including machines, tools, crafts, procedures, technical knowledge, technical theory, management theory, concepts, etc. From this perspective, the certification technology system can also refer to an organic whole with a specific structure and function composed of elements such as certification technology practice, certification technology products, certification technology science, certification technology institutions, certification technology culture, and certification technology spirit, which are interconnected, interact, and distinguishable (see Table 1).

Thus, in daily certification activities, the certification technology often mentioned actually refers to one or several technical elements within the technology system, which this article calls narrow-sense certification technology, for example: certification sampling technology belongs to the skill level, testing theory belongs to the knowledge level, testing technology belongs to the skill level, etc. The entire certification technology system is called broad-sense certification technology or major certification technology in this article.

In summary, all concepts, principles, culture, systems, knowledge, methods, instruments, and practical experience related to certification activities fall within the scope of certification technology.

5. Classification of Certification Technology

From Table 1, it can be seen that the technology in the certification technology system is layered, composed from top to bottom from concepts to practice. These technical elements are interconnected and interact; for example, practice can verify upper-level or even top-level technology, and through summarizing and improving upper to top-level certification technology, the top-level technology is then practiced layer by layer from top to bottom. This closed-loop operation continuously improves the certification technology system.

Regarding the classification of the certification technology system, this article does not provide a specific classification but only gives examples for illustration (see Table 2).

Note 1: This table is only an example. In fact, a certain certification body has a certification technology system (for the entire certification field, the technology systems of various certification bodies are part of the entire certification technology system, i.e., subsystems).

Note 2: A specific named certification technology may include several authentication technical elements, for example, the conformity assessment functional method includes knowledge level, skill level, etc.

6. Evaluation of Certification Technology

With the development of social technology and the popularization of digital applications, certification technology must keep pace with the times and follow the trend. If related certification technology lags behind, it will reduce the fairness and authority of the certification field, which is not conducive to the development of the certification industry. To give an extreme example: measuring car speed—if the certification field currently uses a fixed distance, manual stopwatch timing, and then calculates the car speed using a mathematical formula, how would such a technical method be perceived by the public? Many practitioners in the certification field are continuously thinking, exploring, developing, and trying new certification technologies. Opinions on the applicability, advancement, and reliability of certification technology sometimes vary. If a unified certification technology appraisal principle can be established in the certification field, it will help new certification technologies gain recognition and accelerate their promotion and application. At the same time, it can sort out and eliminate unsuitable certification technologies currently in use.

Conclusion

In summary, the author believes that certification technology can be defined as follows:

A set of skills and techniques possessing one or more characteristics such as objectivity, independence, reliability, accuracy, and systematicity that help determine the extent to which the certification object meets specified requirements or improve certification efficiency or effectiveness.

Note 1: Certification technology has narrow and broad meanings. The broad perspective focuses on the entire certification field or the whole system of a certification body. The certification technology system must be an integrated whole system that combines the "applicator (subject) — narrow certification technology (intermediary) — actor (object)" and their mutual connections and interactions;

Note 2: Certification technology is a unified whole system with hierarchical distinctions, linking from the level of consciousness to the level of practice through mutual connections and interactions.

Note 3: Includes skills and techniques, as well as the expansion and extension of skills and techniques.

The above content is for reference only. It is hoped that it will attract the attention and discussion of practitioners in the certification field, thereby improving the definition of certification technology.