NPL Re-launches to Bring Emerging Technologies Closer to Market

NPL, the UK's National Measurement Institute, will re-launch this month to help the UK become a world-leader in emerging technologies such as 5G, quantum devices and graphene, and harness the power of big data for social and economic good.

Digital technologies are already driving productivity, and are estimated to boost the UK economy by £55bn by 2020^[1] . In order to realise the potential of these technologies across all aspects of business and life, consumers and industry alike must have confidence in their performance, and in the accuracy of the data they generate. NPL helps to achieve this by applying the latest advances in measurement to provide assurance across the entire digital ecosystem, whether in the intelligent and effective use of data, the quality and accuracy of signals, or the ability of new digital products to achieve what they claim.

For more than a century, NPL has maintained the UK's physical measurement standards, and provided technologies and skills based on those standards for industry. It is now applying this expertise to the digital world to get ground-breaking products to market more quickly, provide a competitive edge to UK businesses and transform the way we collect, connect and comprehend data.

In direct response to government policy, including the Industrial Strategy, as well as extensive consultancy with industry, it is now unveiling a number of new programmes to increase the impact of new digital technologies:

Neil Stansfield, Head of Digital at NPL, said: "By 2020, more than 20 billion connected devices will be in use across the world^[2], paving the way for smart cities, Industry 4.0, autonomous cars and precision agriculture. Despite this future promise, companies on average currently use just 10% of their data^[3], and a lack of standardisation means communications between systems are limited. Digital standards are vital to bridging this gap. They will enable us to help industries develop new hardware and infrastructure fit for purpose, make sense of the explosion of data from new sensors, and to enable networks to communicate with each other and interoperate. Without standardisation, truly smart cities and industries will remain an aim, not a reality. As the UK's National Measurement Institute, and the custodian of physical standards in the UK, NPL has a unique capability to provide the confidence needed to get new products to market, manage data in a way never before possible, and create a truly data-enabled economy."

1. https://www.digitalcatapultcentre.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Digital_Catapult_Strategy_Document-1.pdf

2. http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/3598917

3. https://www.accenture.com/t20150523T054055__w__/us-en/_acnmedia/Accenture/Conversion-Assets/DotCom/Documents/Global/PDF/Technology_1/Accenture-Whats-Your-Data-Worth.pdf

Dr Peter Thompson, CEO of NPL, said: "Many people are unaware of the scope, scale or quality of work that NPL delivers, or the part that it has played in some of the biggest discoveries in modern history. The effects of the science, technology and engineering that NPL delivers are felt by everyone, everywhere. After a century as the silent partner to industry, we are proud to re-launch NPL, to ensure it can further accelerate UK industry and deliver extraordinary impact on our economy and quality of life for many years to come."

Contact: Alex Cloney, AprilSix Proof on behalf of NPL: +44-0203-141-2970, [email protected]