Taiwan and UK National Measurement Laboratories Sign MoA, Marking a New Chapter in Tech Collaboration

The National Measurement Laboratory (NML) of Taiwan signed a cooperation agreement with the UK’s National Physical Laboratory (NPL). The signing ceremony was witnessed by Chun-Chieh Lai, Deputy Director-General of the Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection (BSMI), MOEA (center, back row); Dave Smith, National Technology Advisor at the UK Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (right, back row); and Edwin Liu, President of the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) (left, back row). Representing the two parties, Yu-Ping Lan, Executive Director of ITRI’s Center for Measurement Standards (left, front row), and Gareth Edwards, Head of Advanced Manufacturing and Materials Strategy at NPL (right, front row), signed the agreement.

The Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection (BSMI) of the Ministry of Economic Affairs commissioned the Center for Measurement Standards (CMS) of the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) to establish the National Measurement Laboratory (NML), tasked with building and maintaining Taiwan's highest-level measurement standards. Under BSMI's supervision, NML has continued to deepen its involvement in international metrology and, in response to rapid global technological advancements and supply chain restructuring, has actively expanded cross-border collaboration.

On September 11th, ITRI's headquarters in Hsinchu hosted the official signing of a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with the UK's National Physical Laboratory (NPL). This agreement lays a solid foundation for long-term collaboration between the two parties in advancing measurement technologies and industrial applications in forward-looking fields such as semiconductors, artificial intelligence, and critical materials.

The collaboration agreement was signed by Yu-Ping Lan, Executive Director of CMS, and Gareth Edwards, Head of Advanced Manufacturing and Materials Strategy at NPL. The signing was witnessed by Jun-Jie Lai, Deputy Director-General of BSMI; Edwin Liu, President of ITRI; and Dr. Dave Smith, the UK Government's National Technology Adviser, marking a new milestone in Taiwan–UK scientific and technological cooperation.

The BSMI stated that both NML and NPL serve as the core institutions of their respective national metrology systems and have long collaborated in measurement standards and international comparisons to promote global measurement consistency. The newly signed MoA will further strengthen their partnership in metrology technologies. Going forward, the two sides will enhance cooperation through international conferences, technical exchanges, talent exchanges, joint training, and standards development, thereby accelerating metrology innovation and helping Taiwan's industries gain greater advantages in the global market.

BSMI emphasized that this collaboration not only deepens Taiwan–UK research exchange, but also leverages the precision metrology expertise of ITRI's CMS and NPL's world-class technical capabilities to jointly advance cross-border technology cooperation and standards development. By complementing each other's strengths in semiconductors, AI, information and communication technology (ICT), advanced materials, and process metrology, both parties will accelerate the development and application of critical technologies, injecting new momentum into industrial innovation and helping industries expand into new markets and applications.