The Department of Science and Technology-Advanced Science and Technology Institute (DOST-ASTI) has expressed hope that the United States’ Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) “continuous recognition” of the Electronics Product Development Center’s (EPDC) testing capabilities will pave the way for the Philippines’ expansion of its electronics testing market to the United States.
The DOST-ASTI cited that the FCC continued recognizing the EPDC’s accreditation granted by the American Association for Laboratory Accreditation (A2LA).
"With the recognition, the EPDC is set to conduct compliance testing for FCC Part 15 Subpart b on equipment subject to the Commission's Declaration of Conformity (DOC) and Certification rules for Unintentional Radiators. This further widens the reach of EPDC’s potential clients and electronics testing market to the United States,” it said in a statement.
The six-year old EPDC obtained the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 17025 accreditation from the A2LA in September 2019, the DOST-Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development (DOST-PCIEERD) had noted.
Currently, the EDPC currently offers services including the conduct of trainings and seminars in the field of electronics, Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) and Electromagnetic-Susceptibility (EMS) Testing, Ventilator Validation, Electronic Product Prototyping, and Product Safety Testing. The Center is managed by the Electronics Industries Association of the Philippines, Inc. (EIAPI)
Earl Lawrence S. Qua, president of EIAPI, described the accreditation as “a great validation of the hard work of the men and women at the EPDC who are offering certified world class services.”
“This means that test results coming from EPDC will be recognized by the FCC,” he said.
The EPDC serves as a world-class electronics testing facility designed to support the country’s electronics industry by providing various technical support services to promote innovation and high value product development.
Inaugurated in July 2015, the Center aims to house hardware and software tools that can be used by companies or schools to design, develop, and test hardware and software for electronics products.