This has been a historic year for UL Research Institutes (ULRI). We have transformed our organization — dramatically increasing the scale and scope of our efforts — as we focus our expertise on the three grand challenges discussed throughout this report.
We will continue to expand as we work to extend and deepen the impact of safety science in pursuit of a safer, more sustainable world. Still, we recognize that today’s complex issues require collaborative, multidisciplinary solutions. As we grow to address today’s complex global issues, we welcome collaboration with like-minded partners.
It’s an approach embedded in our history. Since our founding in 1894, we have partnered across disciplines and sectors to help identify and mitigate public safety risks. Our collaborative research approach has always been an essential component of our effort to build a future with safety science at its core.
Today that approach is indispensable. Because the challenges we confront are global and must be met with a global response, collaborative research is vital. We must join technological progress to a far-reaching, inclusive commitment to safety and sustainability — not in the abstract, but as a modern global practice that moves in tandem with discovery.
We have ample experience to lead in this effort. Not only do our researchers already work with leaders around the world to make numerous technologies safer, but our efforts to drive progress toward global goals benefit from the very nature of our organization.
First, we are an independent organization. ULRI is one of the oldest nonprofit, nongovernmental organizations dedicated to rigorous, objective research that advances public safety.
Second, our history and our reputation give us a unique platform. We have developed a deep reservoir of trust and credibility over the years, enabling us to partner with leaders across the safety community to address shared challenges.
And finally, the UL enterprise’s new structure — which includes UL Standards & Engagement, UL Solutions, as well as ULRI — multiplies our impact. Each organization independently pursues our shared mission of working for a safer world using its own lens and applying its own expertise to existing and emerging issues. We coordinate our efforts as appropriate, exponentially increasing our impact.
As the contents of this report demonstrate, our approach has yielded results unlikely to be achieved by any one group in isolation.
We will continue to accelerate discovery by cultivating networks of scientific expertise, holding forums for discussion and debate, sharing knowledge, and enabling holistic solutions to pressing issues. Even as we scale up our approach, I’d like to extend our appreciation to the community of partners — in academia, government, industry, and other sectors — who have already gone to great lengths to collaborate with us to drive research forward and help ensure it finds expression in our everyday lives.
Fueled by dedication and broad-based collaboration, a safer future is not only possible but closer with each passing day.
