{"id":30135,"date":"2026-06-30T15:36:45","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T13:36:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vsl.nl\/?p=30135"},"modified":"2026-06-30T15:36:45","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T13:36:45","slug":"vsl-recognised-as-a-foundation-for-a-national-time-network","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vsl.nl\/en\/news\/vsl-recognised-as-a-foundation-for-a-national-time-network\/","title":{"rendered":"VSL Recognised as a Foundation for a National Time Network"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wpb-content-wrapper\"><p>[vc_section full_width=&#8221;stretch_row&#8221; content_placement=&#8221;middle&#8221; css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1782826253920{background-image: url(https:\/\/www.vsl.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/VSL_labs-55-tijd-scaled.jpg?id=20617) !important;background-position: center !important;background-repeat: no-repeat !important;background-size: cover !important;}&#8221; el_class=&#8221;main_header gradient_header dg-position-realtive&#8221;][vc_row equal_height=&#8221;yes&#8221; content_placement=&#8221;middle&#8221; el_class=&#8221;dg-header&#8211;small&#8221;][vc_column width=&#8221;5\/6&#8243; el_class=&#8221;dg-padding-none full_width_responsive&#8221;][vc_column_text css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1782825863827{margin-bottom: 0px !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;}&#8221; el_class=&#8221;text-white&#8221;]<\/p>\n<h1>VSL Recognised as a Foundation for a National Time Network<\/h1>\n<h1><\/h1>\n<h2><\/h2>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h4><\/h4>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=&#8221;1\/6&#8243;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][\/vc_section][vc_section el_class=&#8221;dg-padding-mid&#8221;][vc_row equal_height=&#8221;yes&#8221; content_placement=&#8221;top&#8221;][vc_column el_class=&#8221;full_width_responsive dg-padding-none&#8221;][vc_column_text css=&#8221;&#8221;]<\/p>\n<p class=\"header_subtext\">News<\/p>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=&#8221;2\/3&#8243; el_class=&#8221;full_width_responsive dg-padding-none&#8221;][vc_column_text css=&#8221;&#8221;]<\/p>\n<h2>VSL Recognised as a Foundation for a National Time Network<\/h2>\n<h2><\/h2>\n<h2><\/h2>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div>\n<p style=\"line-height: 15.0pt; margin: 12.0pt 0cm 12.0pt 0cm;\">The Netherlands must accelerate efforts to strengthen its resilience against disruptions to satellite-based signals. This is one of the key conclusions of a recent recommendation by the Accelerating Network for Resilience in the Physical Environment (Versnellingsnetwerk Weerbaarheid Fysieke Leefomgeving), representing more than fifty organisations from sectors including energy, telecommunications, water, transport, finance and defence. The recommendation highlights that reliable Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) services are essential to the functioning of Dutch society and the economy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=&#8221;&#8221;]One of the report\u2019s key recommendations is the development of a national, GNSS-independent time network. VSL, the National Metrology Institute of the Netherlands, is explicitly identified as an organisation that can provide the foundation for such an infrastructure. The Accelerating Network calls on the Dutch government to invest in a robust time network that is geographically distributed, resilient against the failure of individual components, and available to critical users.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=&#8221;1\/3&#8243;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=&#8221;2\/3&#8243; el_class=&#8221;full_width_responsive dg-padding-none&#8221;][vc_column_text css=&#8221;&#8221;]<\/p>\n<h3>Reliable Time is Essential for Critical Infrastructure<\/h3>\n<h2><\/h2>\n<p>Many critical systems in the Netherlands depend on highly accurate time synchronisation. Telecommunications networks, power distribution systems, financial transactions, data centres and digital communication services all rely on precise timing. In many cases, this timing is derived from Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), such as GPS.<\/p>\n<p>However, these systems are becoming increasingly vulnerable due to a growing number of incidents involving the disruption or manipulation of satellite signals. As a result, the demand for alternative and independent sources of accurate time synchronisation is increasing.[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=&#8221;&#8221;]<\/p>\n<h3>VSL Maintains the Dutch National Time Reference<\/h3>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"line-height: 15.0pt; margin: 12.0pt 0cm 12.0pt 0cm;\"><span style=\"font-size: 10.5pt; font-family: 'Segoe UI',sans-serif;\">As the National Metrology Institute of the Netherlands, VSL maintains the Dutch national time standard, UTC(VSL). This time scale is realised using multiple atomic clocks and is connected to the international network that maintains Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). VSL already provides access to this reference through a range of time dissemination services and continues to develop methods for reliable time distribution via fibre-optic networks. <\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"line-height: 15.0pt; margin: 12.0pt 0cm 12.0pt 0cm;\"><span style=\"font-size: 10.5pt; font-family: 'Segoe UI',sans-serif;\">In addition, VSL invests in strengthening the Dutch time infrastructure through the development of redundancy measures, backup facilities and alternative distribution methods. These efforts contribute to a secure, reliable and resilient digital society. <\/span><\/p>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=&#8221;&#8221;]<\/p>\n<h3>A Practical Step Towards Greater Digital Resilience<\/h3>\n<p>The Accelerating Network describes the development of a national time network as a practical and achievable measure that can be implemented in the near term. As the custodian of the Dutch national time standard UTC(VSL), and with its extensive expertise, infrastructure and capabilities in time and frequency metrology, VSL is well positioned to play an important role in enhancing the resilience of the Netherlands against the loss or disruption of satellite-based systems.<\/p>\n<p>More information about the recommendation is available in the news release published by the Physical Environment Consultative Body (OFL).<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.overlegorgaanfysiekeleefomgeving.nl\/nieuws\/3291113.aspx\">Read the full recommendation.<\/a>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=&#8221;1\/3&#8243;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][\/vc_section]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Dutch resilience advisory group recommends the development of a national GNSS-independent time network. VSL is recognised as a key foundation for strengthening the resilience of critical infrastructure and digital services. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":20617,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[44,122],"tags":[114],"class_list":["post-30135","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-security-and-resilience","tag-featured-en","category-44","category-122","description-off"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>VSL | Recognised as a Foundation for a National Time Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A Dutch resilience advisory group recommends the development of a national GNSS-independent time network. VSL is recognised as a key foundation for strengthening the resilience of critical infrastructure and digital services.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.vsl.nl\/en\/news\/vsl-recognised-as-a-foundation-for-a-national-time-network\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"VSL | Recognised as a Foundation for a National Time Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A Dutch resilience advisory group recommends the development of a national GNSS-independent time network. VSL is recognised as a key foundation for strengthening the resilience of critical infrastructure and digital services.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.vsl.nl\/en\/news\/vsl-recognised-as-a-foundation-for-a-national-time-network\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"VSL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-30T13:36:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.vsl.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/VSL_labs-55-tijd-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Birgit De Cort\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Birgit De Cort\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.vsl.nl\/en\/news\/vsl-recognised-as-a-foundation-for-a-national-time-network\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.vsl.nl\/en\/news\/vsl-recognised-as-a-foundation-for-a-national-time-network\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Birgit De Cort\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.vsl.nl\/#\/schema\/person\/9ad05df07de1d4decd1563f7a3728a85\"},\"headline\":\"VSL Recognised as a Foundation for a National Time Network\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-30T13:36:45+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.vsl.nl\/en\/news\/vsl-recognised-as-a-foundation-for-a-national-time-network\/\"},\"wordCount\":679,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.vsl.nl\/en\/news\/vsl-recognised-as-a-foundation-for-a-national-time-network\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.vsl.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/VSL_labs-55-tijd-scaled.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"featured\"],\"articleSection\":[\"News\",\"Security and Resilience\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.vsl.nl\/en\/news\/vsl-recognised-as-a-foundation-for-a-national-time-network\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.vsl.nl\/en\/news\/vsl-recognised-as-a-foundation-for-a-national-time-network\/\",\"name\":\"VSL | Recognised as a Foundation for a National Time Network\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.vsl.nl\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.vsl.nl\/en\/news\/vsl-recognised-as-a-foundation-for-a-national-time-network\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.vsl.nl\/en\/news\/vsl-recognised-as-a-foundation-for-a-national-time-network\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.vsl.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/VSL_labs-55-tijd-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-30T13:36:45+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.vsl.nl\/#\/schema\/person\/9ad05df07de1d4decd1563f7a3728a85\"},\"description\":\"A Dutch resilience advisory group recommends the development of a national GNSS-independent time network. VSL is recognised as a key foundation for strengthening the resilience of critical infrastructure and digital services.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.vsl.nl\/en\/news\/vsl-recognised-as-a-foundation-for-a-national-time-network\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.vsl.nl\/en\/news\/vsl-recognised-as-a-foundation-for-a-national-time-network\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.vsl.nl\/en\/news\/vsl-recognised-as-a-foundation-for-a-national-time-network\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.vsl.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/VSL_labs-55-tijd-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.vsl.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/VSL_labs-55-tijd-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.vsl.nl\/en\/news\/vsl-recognised-as-a-foundation-for-a-national-time-network\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.vsl.nl\/en\/home-v2\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"VSL Recognised as a Foundation for a National Time Network\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.vsl.nl\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.vsl.nl\/\",\"name\":\"VSL\",\"description\":\"Nationaal Metrologisch Instituut\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.vsl.nl\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.vsl.nl\/#\/schema\/person\/9ad05df07de1d4decd1563f7a3728a85\",\"name\":\"Birgit De Cort\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"VSL | Recognised as a Foundation for a National Time Network","description":"A Dutch resilience advisory group recommends the development of a national GNSS-independent time network. VSL is recognised as a key foundation for strengthening the resilience of critical infrastructure and digital services.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.vsl.nl\/en\/news\/vsl-recognised-as-a-foundation-for-a-national-time-network\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"VSL | Recognised as a Foundation for a National Time Network","og_description":"A Dutch resilience advisory group recommends the development of a national GNSS-independent time network. VSL is recognised as a key foundation for strengthening the resilience of critical infrastructure and digital services.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.vsl.nl\/en\/news\/vsl-recognised-as-a-foundation-for-a-national-time-network\/","og_site_name":"VSL","article_published_time":"2026-06-30T13:36:45+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1707,"url":"https:\/\/www.vsl.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/VSL_labs-55-tijd-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Birgit De Cort","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Birgit De Cort","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.vsl.nl\/en\/news\/vsl-recognised-as-a-foundation-for-a-national-time-network\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vsl.nl\/en\/news\/vsl-recognised-as-a-foundation-for-a-national-time-network\/"},"author":{"name":"Birgit De Cort","@id":"https:\/\/www.vsl.nl\/#\/schema\/person\/9ad05df07de1d4decd1563f7a3728a85"},"headline":"VSL Recognised as a Foundation for a National Time Network","datePublished":"2026-06-30T13:36:45+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vsl.nl\/en\/news\/vsl-recognised-as-a-foundation-for-a-national-time-network\/"},"wordCount":679,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vsl.nl\/en\/news\/vsl-recognised-as-a-foundation-for-a-national-time-network\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.vsl.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/VSL_labs-55-tijd-scaled.jpg","keywords":["featured"],"articleSection":["News","Security and Resilience"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.vsl.nl\/en\/news\/vsl-recognised-as-a-foundation-for-a-national-time-network\/","url":"https:\/\/www.vsl.nl\/en\/news\/vsl-recognised-as-a-foundation-for-a-national-time-network\/","name":"VSL | Recognised as a Foundation for a National Time Network","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vsl.nl\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vsl.nl\/en\/news\/vsl-recognised-as-a-foundation-for-a-national-time-network\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vsl.nl\/en\/news\/vsl-recognised-as-a-foundation-for-a-national-time-network\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.vsl.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/VSL_labs-55-tijd-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2026-06-30T13:36:45+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vsl.nl\/#\/schema\/person\/9ad05df07de1d4decd1563f7a3728a85"},"description":"A Dutch resilience advisory group recommends the development of a national GNSS-independent time network. VSL is recognised as a key foundation for strengthening the resilience of critical infrastructure and digital services.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vsl.nl\/en\/news\/vsl-recognised-as-a-foundation-for-a-national-time-network\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.vsl.nl\/en\/news\/vsl-recognised-as-a-foundation-for-a-national-time-network\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.vsl.nl\/en\/news\/vsl-recognised-as-a-foundation-for-a-national-time-network\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.vsl.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/VSL_labs-55-tijd-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.vsl.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/VSL_labs-55-tijd-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1707},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.vsl.nl\/en\/news\/vsl-recognised-as-a-foundation-for-a-national-time-network\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.vsl.nl\/en\/home-v2\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"VSL Recognised as a Foundation for a National Time Network"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.vsl.nl\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.vsl.nl\/","name":"VSL","description":"Nationaal Metrologisch Instituut","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.vsl.nl\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.vsl.nl\/#\/schema\/person\/9ad05df07de1d4decd1563f7a3728a85","name":"Birgit De Cort"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vsl.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30135","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vsl.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vsl.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vsl.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vsl.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30135"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.vsl.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30135\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vsl.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20617"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vsl.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30135"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vsl.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30135"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vsl.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30135"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}