Happy World Metrology Day - 20 May - 2015

World Metrology Day 

World Metrology Day celebrates the signature by representatives of seventeen nations of the Metre Convention on 20 May 1875. The Convention set the framework for global collaboration in the science of measurement and in its industrial, commercial and societal application. The original aim of the Metre Convention – the worldwide uniformity of measurement – remains as important today as it was in 1875. The World Metrology Day project is currently realized jointly by the BIPM and the OIML together with PTB International Technical Cooperation. The theme for World Metrology Day 2015 is ‘Measurements and Light’. The topic was chosen to align with the UNESCO International Year of Light and Light-based technologies 2015 (IYL 2015), a global initiative designed to highlight the key role light and optical technologies play in our daily lives and their importance for our future and for the sustainable development of the society we live in.Metrology plays a central role in enabling the application of light-based technologies, and in turn, light is at the heart of many of the most important new elements of leading-edge measurement technologies.World Metrology Day is an annual celebration of the signature by representatives of seventeen nations of the Metre Convention on 20 May 1875. The Convention set the framework for global collaboration in the science of measurement and in its industrial, commercial and societal applications. The original aim of the Metre Convention - the world-wide uniformity of measurement - remains as important today as it was in 1875.The World Metrology Day project is realized jointly by the BIPM  and the OIML.

BIPM

The International Bureau of Weights and Measures (French: Bureau international des poids et mesures), is an international standards organisation, one of three such organisations established to maintain the International System of Units (SI) under the terms of the Metre Convention (Convention du Mètre). The organisation is usually referred to by its French initialism, BIPM.

The other organisations that maintain the SI system, also known by their French initialisms are the General Conference on Weights and Measures (French: Conférence générale des poids et mesures) (CGPM) and the International Committee for Weights and Measures (French: Comité international des poids et mesures) (CIPM).

OIML

The International Organization of Legal Metrology (French: Organisation Internationale de Métrologie Légale - OIML), is an intergovernmental organization, created in 1955 and based in Paris, to promote the global harmonization of the legal metrology procedures that underpin and facilitate international trade. Such harmonisation ensures that certification of measuring devices in one country is compatible with certification in another, thereby facilitating trade in the measuring devices and in products that rely on the measuring devices. Such products include weighting devices, taxi meters, speedometers, agricultural measuring devices such as cereal moisture meters, health related devices such as exhaust measurements and alcohol content of drinks.

Since its establishment, it has developed a number of guidelines to assist members, particularly developing nations, to draw up appropriate legislation concerning metrology across all facets of society and guidelines on certification and calibration requirements of new products, particularly where such calibration has a legal impact such as in trade, health care and taxation.

The OIML works closely with other international organisations such as the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM) and International Organization for Standardization (ISO) to ensure compatibility between each organisation's work. The organisation has no legal authority to impose solutions on its members, but its recommendations are often used by member states as part of their own domestic law.

As of October 2013, 59 countries had signed up as full members and a further 67 as corresponding (non-voting) members including all the G20, EU and BRICS countries. Between them, the OIML Members cover 86% of the world's population and 96% of its economy.