Much of the important work of GeT is in improving awareness and good practice in Internet timekeeping through education and facilitation. But like every other form of trade, underlying infrastructure is a vital pre-requisite, and in the global market of the Internet, this needs to be world-class to compete.
The UK location on the Atlantic edge of Europe in both geographic and regulatory senses means we already have one of the best developed and constructed Internet industries, and this is reflected by the LINX in London being the largest Internet Exchange point in Europe, and one of the top 6 globally.
This is why today I am very pleased to be able to announce (and you can find the release in the press pack) the bringing together of LINX's new timekeeping infrastructure to allow Greenwich electronic Time to "GeT Networked".
We are fortunate that much of the underlying work has already been done for us - the UTC standard upon which GeT is based is recognised worldwide, and established Internet timekeeping standards such as NTP have been around even longer than Web. GeT is committed to building upon existing open standards and not re-inventing them.
The challenges are not simply to implement these standards, but to do so in a well-resourced and high quality way. More work is needed to bridge the gap between established technical standards and the emerging needs of e-commerce users. Ensuring wide adoption will require careful co-ordination effort.
To get the most accurate time you need to be close to the clock, with a high bandwidth low delay connection. Locating three Cesium atomic clocks at the heart of the European Internet where over 100 providers focus their networks is the optimal way to achieve this. Placing these clocks upon the meridian line sends a strong message about the UK's position and history in global trade and standard setting.
The value of trade conducted electronically has grown exponentially over the past few years. As in the off-line world, many transactions are time-critical, whether these affect the value of share deals or the deadlines for urgent shipments.
The faster pace of e-commerce means it is even more vital both parties can agree on the time transactions take place. The move away from paper as the basis of trade places even more reliance upon digital signatures, and accurate time-stamping is as essential an underlying technology to these as encryption. All parties need to be able to refer to a time source they can both trust and rely upon.
GeT will realise this by establishing recognised codes of practice, procedures, and trust marks to build e-commerce consumer and provider confidence in a globally accepted time standard.
The LINX looks forward to working with our sponsors, our Internet Provider members, our colleagues at IMRG and elsewhere in industry, and with the National Physical Laboratory and Government to put the "Networked" into GeT.