Engagement and Education: A New Challenge for the International System of Units

The proposed changes to the International System of Units (SI) to use fundamental constants of nature represent a significant challenge for the global metrology community in terms of understanding and implementing the new system.

The report of the 20th meeting of the Consultative Committee for Units of the International Committee for Weights and Measures (CIPM) (September 2010) stressed the subject of awareness campaigns and specifically highlighted that redefinition information needs to be “widely distributed in order to foster discussion and raise awareness of the redefinitions” and noted at least two other actions: 1) “creation of a Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (BIPM) website dedicated to the explanation of the “New SI”,” and 2) production of a concise SI Brochure for providing a simplified view to governments, teachers, students and other stakeholders.”

The report of the Convocation of the General Conference on Weights and Measures, 24th meeting (October 2011) “On the possible future revision of the International System of Units, the SI, Draft Resolution A,” encouraged 1) “researchers in national metrology institutes, the BIPM and academic institutions to continue their efforts and make known to the scientific community in general and to CODATA in particular, the outcome of their work relevant to the determination [applicable] constants” and 2) invited  “the CIPM, the Consultative Committees, the BIPM and National Metrology Institutes significantly to increase their efforts to initiate awareness campaigns aimed at alerting user communities and the general public to the intention to redefine various units of the SI and to encourage consideration of the practical, technical, and legislative implications of such redefinitions, so that comments and contributions can be solicited from the wider scientific and user communities.”

Questions that have already been asked by industry include: When will this happen? How much will it affect the reference values of my standards, their associated uncertainty, and any measurement processes? Who is going to help explain what these changes are, and why they are occurring, to my company and to my customers? How will the change in the SI get disseminated to my organization?

Some aspects of engaging the community – outreach to academia, students, users, industry, instrument manufacturers, media, and the public, with the goal of raising awareness and building a supportive infrastructure to speed and ease the transition – must address more than the technical basis for the definitions. Questions such as those raised by industry and those that will be asked by the general public, must be answered at the appropriate level of technical rigor with attention to the level of significance and impact for each particular audience.