What time zone are date/time values in to avoid ambiguity?

What time zone are date/time values in to avoid ambiguity?

• A. Local time
• B. GMT
• C. CET
• D. UTC

Answer: (D)

Using a universal reference time helps prevent confusion when timestamps move between systems and regions. UTC, Coordinated Universal Time, serves as that global standard. It isn’t tied to any location and doesn’t shift with daylight saving, so every timestamp refers to the same instant everywhere. GMT is often spoken of as the same offset, but UTC is the precise standard used in computing and data exchange, and it accounts for occasional leap seconds to stay in sync with Earth's rotation. Local time and CET, which changes with DST, introduce ambiguity because the offset isn’t constant. So the best choice to avoid ambiguity is UTC.

Using a universal reference time helps prevent confusion when timestamps move between systems and regions. UTC, Coordinated Universal Time, serves as that global standard. It isn’t tied to any location and doesn’t shift with daylight saving, so every timestamp refers to the same instant everywhere. GMT is often spoken of as the same offset, but UTC is the precise standard used in computing and data exchange, and it accounts for occasional leap seconds to stay in sync with Earth's rotation. Local time and CET, which changes with DST, introduce ambiguity because the offset isn’t constant. So the best choice to avoid ambiguity is UTC.