UTC stands for Coordinated Universal Time. It is a standard time scale used worldwide as a reference for time synchronization. UTC is based on the International System of Units (SI) and is equivalent to the Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), which was the previous standard before the introduction of UTC. UTC is calculated by taking the average time of atomic clocks located in various countries and is adjusted occasionally to account for changes in the Earth's rotation. UTC is widely used in telecommunications, computer networks, and other applications that require accurate time synchronization. It is also used as the basis for the civil time used in many countries around the world. UTC is represented in a 24-hour format and is commonly used in conjunction with time zones to determine local times in different regions.