Image: RNT Foundation
Blog editor’s note: We received this update from the relatively new UK national Timing Centre and thought it would be of interest to our readers. The centre has three objectives:
Objective 1 Deliver a resilient UK national time infrastructure through the building and linking of a new atomic clock network distributed geographically in secure locations.
Objective 2 Provide innovation opportunities for UK companies through funding projects in partnership with Innovate UK based on a successful NPL and Innovate UK partnership model.
Objective 3 Respond to the specialist skills shortage in time and synchronisation solutions through specialist, apprentice and post graduate training opportunities.
A praiseworthy effort, though it does not seem to address how time is going to get from all the nodes to everyone who needs it. It seems to us that to be effective it would need to have a wireless component so users are not constrained by fiber and/or the need to remain in a fixed location.
Also note the upcoming webinar for telecom users mentioned below.
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Resilient time for the future
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An update from the team behind the National Timing Centre programme
A year ago, the National Timing Centre (NTC) programme was funded by the UKRI’s Strategic Priorities Fund and embarked on delivering against its core objectives and main aim to support, advance and future proof UK business.
This update provides a roundup of news and insights from the NTC team at NPL. Find out how we kept time going during COVID-19 lockdown, read the new blog from Dr Leon Lobo, Head of the National Timing Centre programme, and sign up to learn more about the fundamentals of resilient time for the future.
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| Supporting the ‘new normal’- read our new blog from Leon Lobo
A year after the National Timing Centre programme was initiated, we have experienced vast changes to the way in which we live and work due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
There is widespread acceptance that the ‘new normal’ will have an increasing reliance on our digital infrastructure, however there are more subtle changes afoot with our digital infrastructure that also require our urgent attention and understanding. |
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New webinars
Our engagement programme includes a new webinar series – Resilient Time for the Future – providing specific sectors an opportunity to find out how they can benefit from the NTC programme now and in the future, and become part of the discussion.
The first in the series – Resilient Time for the Future for Telecoms – will be held on 30th September and is supported by BT. |
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| Keeping time during lockdown
The national time scale and NPL’s time and frequency dissemination services are among those critical services that NPL has kept running throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. |
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| NPL’s Time and Frequency team has continued to provide the national time scale UTC(NPL), international time transfer links, the NPLTime® service for the finance sector, the internet time service and the MSF radio time signal – all continuing to operate normally. |
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Skills Survey results
The Time, Frequency and/or Synchronisation (TFS) community share their views of their TFS skills, the challenges they face and future interests.
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- 76% of respondents say that TFS skills are important to their organisation
- 60% of companies have difficulty recruiting in this area, often finding it is easier to recruit people with complementary skills and then train them ‘on the job’
- Organisations are currently very dependent on in house or on the job training but many would be interested in external training such as courses, workshops, conferences or online training.
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The NTC programme aims to improve security and resilience, communication, and implementation of new technologies across the country.
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