Abstract The First Danish-Israeli Symposium on Nondestructive Evaluation was held in Lyngby, Denmark, on 27 June–1 July 1988. Thirty-five papers were presented on a wide range of topics including the science of measurement, automation in quality control, NDE methods based on penetrating radiation and acoustic energy, new NDE systems and new applications. This paper discusses some of the major themes to emerge from the meeting and comments on possible future trends, particularly in modelling of measurement systems.