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Events

Resilient time: Delivering impact for the UK

Supporting industry, enabling innovation and delivering confidence

Join us for this webinar to find out more about how we're managing the UK's timescale to ensure confidence. Our experts will be discussing:

  • why the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) is the home of time in the UK
  • how the National Timing Centre (NTC) programme will deliver the resilient time for the future
  • how NPL delivers impact for the UK with our time and frequency expertise
  • the capabilities of our NPLTime Certified®  and NPLTime Access®  services.

We will also be joined by speakers from across industry to talk us through timings needs within in their sectors.

In this webinar our experts will explain why accurate, resilient, and traceable timing plays a vital role in critical national infrastructures such as:

  • finance                                                    
  • telecommunications
  • broadcast
  • transportation
  • cloud services
  • energy
  • national security.

The rapid growth in the adoption of digital services in recent years has also increased the need for tight synchronisation of systems and traceability to a common reference time scale.

The most common mechanism for accessing time up until recently was primarily via Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS). It is widely acknowledged that GNSS timing signals can be subject to disruption, with the loss of position navigation and timing (PNT) services recognised on the UK’s 2023 National Risk Register and the UK Government’s PNT policy framework announcement in October 2023.

Operational resilience is currently one of the highest priorities for any commercial entity that relies on time synchronisation of devices and servers, as they seek to achieve operational continuity. It also has impacts on risk mitigation of financial and reputational damage associated with the potential loss of the GNSS signal.

NPL operates the national time scale UTC(NPL) and the UK primary frequency standards, using these to contribute to global timekeeping. We also disseminate accurate time and frequency to users across the UK, via services such as the MSF radio time signal, our internet time service, and NPLTime®. Atomic timekeeping underpins technologies that are part of our daily lives, such as mobile phones, the internet and GNSS. We are also a government advisor on matters of PNT security and resilience.

10 September

16:00 - 17:00 (UTC)


Webinar

Online

Register for webinar

About the speakers

Dr Robert Barnes, Co-CEO, BPX

photo.pngRobert, Chartered FCSI(Hon), is an exchange expert of 30 years in financial markets, including as CEO of two successful regulated trading venues, Turquoise (2013-2022) and UBS MTF (2010-2013, while at UBS 1994-2013). He founded Anopolis, advising market structures, in 2013. Since 2021, he is a member of the NTC programme Steering Committee led by NPL. His peers voted him The TRADE’s first Industry Person of the Year at its Leaders in Trading Awards, and he received the European Markets Choice Award for Individual Market Recognition in 2022. 

Dr Phil Evans, Transport Market Specialist and Account Director for NATS, Capita

Phil-evans-(1).jpgAs a domain expert, Phil provides business development and strategy expertise with a focus on new technologies, innovation and digital transformation. He fully supports the whole system approach to shaping the future of our places by working collaboratively with government, regulators, the utility sector, the transport sector amongst others for the benefit of all citizens. He is working with the NTC programme with a view to Capita hosting one of the service nodes being developed as part of the UK’s first nationally distributed time infrastructure. 

 

 

Dr Leon Lobo, Head of the National Timing Centre, National Physical Laboratory

leon-lobo-jpg.jpg

Leon joined NPL in 2011 as Group Leader for the Time and Frequency group, working with the team managing the UK’s time scale and developing quantum frequency standards. He led the team developing NPLTime®, NPL’s certified fibre-delivered time dissemination solution to the City of London for high frequency trading systems and regulatory compliance. As Head of the NTC programme, Leon is focussed on developing and delivering a national timing strategy.

Tamaryn Shean, Head of Department for Time and Frequency, National Physical Laboratory

tamaryn-shean-jpg.jpgTamaryn joined NPL in 2011 as a Higher Scientist looking at the benefit standardisation of nanoindentation for characterisation of soft materials. After successfully leading teams within Advanced Engineered Materials, Continuous Improvement and the Project Management Office, she was appointed as Head of Department for Time and Frequency in 2022. Tamaryn is responsible for the delivery of all the projects and programmes within Time and Frequency, including the successful delivery of the NTC programme.

Ali Ashkasi, Senior Scientist, National Physical Laboratory

Ali is a Senior Scientist in the Time and Frequency department at NPL, working in the NPLTime® team. He joined NPL in 2018 following the design and development of electronic hardware for the time and frequency sectors. Within the NTC programme, Ali is the technical lead on designing and developing innovation nodes to provide time and frequency capabilities for different applications. He also works with the NPL fountain clock team on designing and developing electronic hardware for atomic fountain clocks.

NPLTime® Services

NPLTime Certified® and NPLTime Access® services offer users a time signal that is traceable to Coordinated Universal Time UTC(NPL).​

Find out more