Government

As the UK's National Metrology Institute, our role is to support government policy. We work with departments and agencies, including the Met Office, the Environment Agency, the NHS and the MOD to enable them to make evidence-based decisions for the safe and effective delivery of public services.

We use our expertise to inform government policy and recently led the development of the UK Measurement Strategy with other UK measurement laboratories. Accurate measurement and standards underpin trade and are essential to increasing UK productivity and growth.

The work we do strongly supports national challenges and the delivery of the government’s Industrial Strategy. Many of our collaborative research and development projects help to address the Industrial Strategy’s Grand Challenge areas of clean growth, AI and data, the future of mobility and aging society. For example, our research ranges from improving the accuracy of air quality emissions monitoring, to developing new hydrogen technologies to designing new ways to map tumours in cancer. We are building the UK’s capabilities to test and verify products and services in new and emerging areas of technology such as quantum communications and 5G.

Contact us

Chris Skidmore, Minister for Universities, Science, Research & Innovation discussed the importance of standards and regulation for new technology in his speech at the Tech UK Conference 8 October 2019. Read full speech

"As a government, we know we must do everything we can to make the UK the most attractive place to come and start a tech business, to undertake new research directions, and to test and develop new technologies. That means having a dynamic, fit-for-purpose regulatory environment – an environment that enables new technologies to develop faster, to be tested at pace, and implemented and adopted in new and exciting ways. This isn’t just about removing the hurdles created by out-of-date rules and regulations. It’s about creating new standards and frameworks that provide confidence to investors and customers.

I saw a great example of this when I visited the National Physical Laboratory in Teddington the other week. The important work they are doing with electric engines, with their hydrogen fuel cell testing rig, is all about taking this new technology and measuring its response to different qualities of hydrogen supply – stress-testing it, finding its limits, and developing new performance benchmarks and new standards.

These will become the benchmarks and standards that others will build on, providing confidence to wider industry partners and investors, and in turn speeding up adoption of that all-important green technology. This is modern, smart regulation in action – regulation that can lift technology up, not squash it down.”