The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has launched an international measurement database to facilitate the mutual recognition of national measurement standards. The database, developed as part of a 38-nation agreement, will allow companies, regulators, and other organizations to evaluate the equivalence of calibrations and measurement services performed by national metrology institutes (NMIs) worldwide.
The database, accessible via the internet, will enable participating NMIs from nearly all parts of the globe to record and display results of completed and ongoing key comparisons. Early results will focus on key comparisons among the NMIs of nations that signed the October mutual recognition pact, with approximately 130 such round-robin measurement exercises currently underway.
The International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM) provided data for over 240 key and supplementary comparisons. International teams of measurement experts will evaluate the reliability of the results before entering them into the database, which will later be expanded to include all other NMIs through their participation in regional metrology organizations. NIST scientists like Robert Watters, Jr. led the development of this database.
The new measurement comparisons database will be crucial for expanding free trade and eliminating technical barriers to export markets, as well as promoting the goal of ‘measured once, accepted everywhere.’ This system aims to improve confidence in measurement-related transactions between international trading partners and reduce redundant product testing by improving measurement traceability on a global basis.
Source: https://www.nist.gov/news-events/news/1999/12/international-measurement-database-goes-online
Keywords: measurement standards, national metrology institutes, key comparisons
