Dear Members,
Although I am extremely honoured by the appointment bestowed on me by the Governing Board on 11th February last, I cannot hide my deep sadness over the premature death of our Chairman, Paolo Scolari.
During the six years I worked with him in my capacity as Vice-Chairman, I had the opportunity to appreciate his kindness, skill and helpful nature, the characteristics of a true gentleman.
During his office as Chairman, Paolo Scolari successfully consolidated the role and balance that the whole national and international economic system recognises in UNI today, but above all he sparked impetus and enthusiasm in the structure, as well as interest and trust in the shareholders and market operators.
Although for a short period (by statute, the Members’ General Assembly of 2008 must renew all the company appointments), the office entrusted to me by the Governing Board has been stimulating and demanding, precisely because of the effective work done by my predecessor. In this short time, the organisation cannot however remain without the strategic input which must be assured by the Chairman, and I must stress that in these difficult past few months the Management and all of the UNI staff have remained committed to achieving the programme objectives defined.

As Chairman Scolari taught us, "UNI is a minute cog in the great machine that is the Italian System, but despite its relatively small size it can offer a significant contribution to improving the effectiveness and efficiency of the System. As we well know, voluntary technical standardisation is one of the determining factors in many aspects of economics and production, including technological innovation, competitivity, marketing, consumer and environmental protection, product and process quality".
A role that was underlined by the European Commission in its communication to the European Council and Parliament on 11th March 2008, in which voluntary standardisation is linked to innovation as a tool for its promotion and for the definition of economic, environmental and social problems that lie at the centre of the European System’s competitivity.

The aim of our work is to keep on this track, in a logic of continuity, to consolidate UNI’s role as a national standards institute, stimulating voluntary cooperation among industry, consumers, public authorities in our country, in order to assure the standard and informed definition of technical specifications of products and services that are useful for interoperability, efficiency, health, safety and environmental protection.
Tasks and objectives that first of all must be able to count on an authoritative, strong and economically independent organisation, as ours has been in the past years.

Piero Torretta - UNI President