On 1^st January 2006, the Istituto Elettrotecnico Nazionale "Galileo Ferraris" (IEN) and the Istituto di Metrologia "Gustavo Colonnetti" (IMGC) merged to establish the Istituto Nazionale di Ricerca Metrologica (I.N.RI.M). INRIM is the national public body with the task of carrying out and promoting scientific research in metrology.