Smart metrology: the importance of metrology of decisions in the big data era

The beginning of the 21st century has seen the birth of a new industrial revolution, the digital revolution: the ability to store data from various sources (in particular through related items) in unprecedented big quantities and to exploit them through more and more high computing capabilities using artificial intelligence techniques (IA). In this new scenario called “Big Data,” data reliability becomes an indispensable property: the large amount of data collected and their analysis are completely useless if untrusted information is stored that cannot help understanding a complex reality. Here is the role of metrology: to ensure the reliability of measured data. Smart Metrology is the implementation of a revised metrological function, oriented to reliability, rather than simply on complying with standards: ensuring reliability of measurements, knowing and mastering measurement uncertainty to make relevant decisions. This paper is a summary of issues for business metrology.