How do initiatives such as "One Nation, One Time" and machine-readable standards strengthen India's digital public infrastructure?

Digital public infrastructure (DPI) includes payments, telecom and online services, and all of it depends on two things that are easy to overlook: accurate time and trustworthy measurement. India is hosting the 61st Meeting of the International Committee of Legal Metrology (CIML) in New Delhi from 26 to 28 October 2026, the first time it has done so [1]. The event highlights how these foundations are being modernised.

One Nation, One Time: a shared time layer

• The National Time Dissemination Project gives traceable Indian Standard Time across the country, so every system runs on the same clock [1].
• Banking and payments: every transaction carries a timestamp. When those timestamps match, it is easier to settle transactions, audit them and resolve disputes.
• Telecom and 5G: networks need precise synchronisation to work. Traceable IST means India relies less on foreign time sources [1].
• Navigation and power grids: accurate timing supports positioning, grid frequency control and fault tracing [1].
• Legal evidence: timestamps that can be traced to a national standard make digital records easier to defend in disputes.

Machine-readable standards: rules that software can read

• OIML Smart Recommendations turn technical standards from documents written for people into code that software can read, as part of the shift towards AI and digital tools [1].
• Automated checks: meters and instruments can test themselves against standards. This reduces manual inspection and gives inspectors less room to use discretion.
• New sectors: metrological requirements for EV charging equipment help ensure that metered electricity is billed accurately [1].
• Trade: under OIML-CS, test results are accepted across countries, and India is an Issuing Authority. Indian makers can therefore sell abroad without repeated testing, which reduces technical barriers to trade [1].

Supporting platforms

• e-Maap brings legal metrology services onto one national portal of the Department of Consumer Affairs [1].
• The Select Committee on the Jan Vishwas Bill recommended a unified digital compliance platform across ministries, so that regulators can see an entity's compliance record [2].
• Capacity: the Indian Institute of Legal Metrology, Ranchi, the Regional Reference Standard Laboratories and Government Approved Test Centres add skills and testing capacity [1].

Challenges

• State legal metrology departments vary in digital capacity.
• A single time source can become a target for cyberattacks.
• Instruments that read standards automatically depend on manufacturers adopting them.

These initiatives make time and measurement a public good that can be trusted, in the same way that payments and identity systems are already shared foundations. India should build resilient backup time sources, connect e-Maap with a unified compliance platform and help shape OIML's digital standards. This would advance SDG 9 (industry, innovation and infrastructure) and support consumer trust and a digital economy that is open to global trade.