Each year World Metrology Day is celebrated at RCMRD. Tomorrow the world will celebrate the World Metrology Day. This year’s theme for World Metrology Day is “Measurements for transport”. This theme was chosen because transport plays such a key role in the modern world. We not only move ourselves, but also the food we eat, the clothes we wear, the goods we use and rely on, not forgetting the raw materials they are made from. Doing so safely, efficiently and with minimal environmental impact requires an astonishing range of measurements.

This day is marked to commemorate the day when the Metre Convention set a framework for global collaboration in the science of measurements and in its industrial, commercial, and societal application. World Metrology Day, a joint initiative established jointly by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM) and the International Organisation of Legal Metrology (OIML).

Several Governments in the RCMRD member States have committed to the expansion and upgrading of transport projects such the East African Railway Master Plan that is a proposal for rejuvenating existing railways serving Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda and extending them initially to Rwanda and Burundi and eventually to South Sudan, Ethiopia and beyond. The plan is managed by infrastructure ministers from participating East African Community countries in association with transport consultation firm CPCS Transcom.

The quest to bring standard-gauge rail to Africa has gained traction following an announcement from the Tanzanian government that it is seeking bidders for the construction of the final portion of the new line that it plans to build between Tanzania (Dar es Salaam), Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. In transportation, the communication infrastructure is also important. Other efforts include upgrading of the mobile phone and television networks, electricity, and technology.

These projects support the message of this year’s theme of the World Metrology Day. As a Remote Sensing and GIS organization, there is a role that we can play in the regions quest for a better and efficient transport system by applying our efforts in the areas of research such as urban planning, monitoring of emissions from vehicles, environment changes, or impacts of these projects.

The director of BIPM says, “As the demands for accessible and efficient transport increase, so demands like these for measurements and standard to underpin them will too”. Happy World Metrology Day.

Information for this article is provided by James Wanjohi (SERVIR E&SA/RCMRD)