NIST Launches Online International Measurement Database

Measurement-related questions and disputes, including those that could hamper global commerce, soon may be resolved with a click of a mouse, thanks to a new international database of measurement comparisons unveiled by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST; Gaithersburg, MD) and the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM; Sèvres, France).

Developed by NIST, the Internet-accessible International Comparisons Database will enable companies, regulators, and others to evaluate the equivalence of calibrations and other measurement services performed by national metrology institutes (NMIs) in nearly all parts of the world. The database is designed to make it easier for businesses and other organizations that rely on these services to prove compliance with the measurement-related requirements of regulations and standards. According to NIST, these requirements affect about 80% of worldwide product trade.

"This database of measurement comparisons will be an integral part of the infrastructure necessary to expand free trade and to eliminate technical barriers to export markets," said NIST Director Ray Kammer. "It advances the goal of ‘measured once, accepted everywhere.' Measurement traceability on a global basis should help to reduce redundant product testing."

Promoting Worldwide Standards
The database is a key item in the 38-nation pact signed in October that called for "mutual recognition of national measurement standards." (See Pact Calls for System to Evaluate the Accuracy and Reliability of Measurements Worldwide, Metrology World Online, Oct. 19, 1999.) In anticipation of the agreement, NIST began designing the database in early 1998. BIPM joined the effort in 1999, and supplied data for more than 240 primary and supplementary comparisons. Comparisons provide the basis for estimating the degree of equivalence between the measurement results of NMIs. According to NIST, high levels of agreement foster confidence in measurement-related transactions between international trading partners.

Getting Up to Speed
Initially, the database will record and display results of completed and ongoing key comparisons among the NMIs of nations that signed the October pact. About 130 of these measurement exercises are currently underway, according to BIPM. Measurement experts from around the world will assess the reliability of the results before entering them into the database.

Later, the database will be expanded to include all other NMIs through their participation in one of the world's six regional metrology organizations, explained Robert Watters, Jr., the NIST scientist who led the database-development team.

The International Comparisons Database can be accessed from the BIPM web site at www.bipm.fror from the NIST site at http://icdb.nist.gov/.