Hong Kong Observatory and National Time Service Center Sign Co-operation Agreement
Hong Kong Observatory and National Time Service Center Sign Co-operation Agreement
Hui Tai-wai, David
In September 2025, the Hong Kong Observatory (HKO) and the National Time Service Center (NTSC) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences signed their first co-operation agreement, to strengthen collaboration in time measurement, time-keeping, and time services, as well as sharing related experience and technologies. The Observatory will deploy reliable equipment and methods to acquire multiple time sources from the NTSC, thus further enhancing the reliability and resilience of local time services provision.
In addition to participating in the determination of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) by providing atomic clock time data to the International Bureau of Weights and Measures in France, the Observatory also plans to join the Joint Atomic Time System of China, to jointly promote the development of integrated atomic time.
On 27 September 2025, Dr Chan Pak-wai, the Director of the Hong Kong Observatory (first from right), and Dr Zhang Shougang, the Director of the National Time Service Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (second from left), signed a co-operation agreement on time services, witnessed by Mr Tse Chin-wan, the Secretary for Environment and Ecology (second from right).
