Article Ref: G-017

Measurement Matters, Vol. 11, Issue 4 October 2021 Page 1

Why the Recent Global Attention on Digital Transformation 

in (Legal) Metrology?

Byline: Katya Delak, Bob Hanisch, and Chuck Ehrlich

The last half-century has witnessed a sea change in how information technology affects our lives, largely 

enabled by the advent of increasingly cheap computing power and memory, along with interconnected 

networks. Computing technology has sought (and largely succeeded) to automate mundane tasks in that

most people can share photographs or bank online without thinking about the underlying processes. 

Technology has matured enough that we are now poised for the emergence of driverless cars and sensor 

networks to enable smart homes and seamless manufacturing. We can all agree that much of our everyday 

activities have undergone and are continuing to undergo a digital transformation.

What then is digital transformation in legal metrology? Legal metrology relies on a set of tests, calibrations,

and method assurances through a variety of established protocols. In some cases, calibrations are done by 

hand. Type evaluation occurs at a type evaluation authority, or in some cases by a manufacturer via inhouse tests, that then provide a data set to a type approval authority for certification. Type evaluation 

certificates are then stored in digital form with the type evaluation authority and made publicly available 

through web access. In the case of modifications to a legal metrology instrument, type evaluation may also 

be updated. Field tests are carried out by state authorities or registered service organizations; the results of 

which are logged in ways that may vary from state to state. This might include paper documents, hard copy 

files, file scans, and nowadays digital files stored locally or remotely on a cloud-like system. In all, 

considerable variability exists in how data is collected, stored, maintained, and managed. 

This process could certainly be streamlined, where many steps could be transformed to be carried out on 

digital systems. Similar enabling technologies that support constructs like smart factories could be used to 

enable a digitalization of the processes that support legal metrology, thus facilitating testing, calibration, 

certification, and reverification processes. Digital technologies could also help simplify the management

of the supporting data and documentation, making it more accessible to users and more easily searchable 

and revisable when appropriate. 

In this scenario, a person may still be required to review data associated with type testing or field testing 

reports and take appropriate action, but many steps in the system could be automated through the use of 

various digital technologies. In lieu of relying on field inspections, imagine a situation where a networked 

instrument would carry out an automated self-test to ensure it is still within calibration and tolerance 

specifications. The data would then be communicated to a state authority and automatically verified. In 

such a case, state authorities and business owners could also be notified of real-time instrument 

malfunctions, tampering, or out-of-specification conditions, and could intervene personally when 

necessary.

What is required for this transformation to happen in legal metrology? Like today’s gadgetry, an underlying 

system would require that relevant parties can have access to system data. However, if the system is 

networked, or data is stored on a cloud, this will enable parties access to data without having to be on-site 

to examine a device. They could download stored calibration and type evaluation data, or even review 

audit trails. Greater flexibility becomes apparent if networked instruments can be updated remotely and reverified virtually. However, this kind of system becomes complex quite quickly, and data privacy as well 

as security will require serious consideration. Still, certain concepts are being developed to help bring this 

scenario to reality. 
Article Ref: G-017

Measurement Matters, Vol. 11, Issue 4 October 2021 Page 2

The first of these concepts is a digital representation of a measuring instrument and could be as basic as 

instrument identifiers (model, serial number). Indeed, the Research Data Alliance has developed a 

recommendation for persistent identifiers (PIDs), a permanent reference to an instrument and its operational 

state at a given time, which could be used for such an application. The digital representation could also 

include a wealth of other information, such as the relevant legal information, including the type approval 

certificate; manufacturing information about the initial construction and testing; the instrument owner; field 

installation and verification information; and any repair, recalibration, and reverification information. Such 

a digital representation might also include reference to the legal metrology laws and regulations for the 

jurisdiction under which it operates. 

In order for digital representations to be usable and for relevant data to be retrievable by users, the data has 

to be formatted to be searchable. Thus, it is imperative to have agreed-upon or standardized data formats 

that are harmonized globally. Standardized data formats would also apply to metadata, which is the data 

that identifies what data is about. As an example, scale manufacturers would need to use the same data 

formats for specific parameters, such as common descriptions of what is being measured, consistent units 

of measurement, as well as other metadata related to the digital representation as described above. To this

end, the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (Bureau International des Poids et Mesures, BIPM)

hosted a workshop this last spring on The International System of Units (SI) in Findable, Accessible, 

Interoperable and Reusable (FAIR) Digital Data. Joint efforts such as these provide information on 

what is happening internationally towards providing a harmonized approach to formatting and reporting 

measurement data. 

The digitalization of legal metrology is already taking place in other countries, and the most recent issue 

(July 2021) of the OIML Bulletin provides a worthwhile summary of these activities. The National 

Metrology Institute of Germany (Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, PTB) and the National Physical 

Laboratory (NPL) in the UK have developed Digital Calibration Certificates (DCCs) to collect and organize 

standardized metadata and data concerning a calibration. PTB has developed a “European Metrology 

Cloud” and the Interamerican System of Metrology (SIM) has a set of task forces devoted to “Metrology 

for Digital Transformation” (M4DT) that are sharing information on automating laboratory processes, 

the use of cloud technologies for metrology, and DCCs. In fact, manufacturers that are engaged in European 

and/or Latin American markets may have already considered how to integrate with these digital systems. 

In the U.S., NIST has begun an effort towards realizing the “Digital NIST” with an initial focus on DCCs 

and their potential customization for Standard Reference Material (SRM®) Certificates of Analysis and 

NIST calibration reports. Future efforts will include a major overhaul and modernization of data 

acquisition, extraction, representation, and management throughout the organization. Beyond this, NIST 

has an eye towards the development of the NIST Metrology Cloud, that would be used by industry, 

governments, academia, and regulators as a source of information and a guarantee of quality for legal 

metrology, international trade, data exchange, and calibration of instruments, among many other 

applications. The overarching goal of the cloud is to support the growth of U.S. companies in the global 

marketplace.

Digital transformation in U.S. legal metrology is imminent, and in some cases is already here. As we 

prepare for our future, the NIST Office of Weights and Measures is interested in learning about your current 

and anticipated needs for digital transformation in your organization as we work towards realizing the NIST 

Metrology Cloud. Please reach out to us (email: owm@nist.gov) with any insights, recommendations, or 

issues that would help inform our efforts and better serve you and the weights and measures community at 

large.