The Visiting
Committee on Advanced Technology (VCAT) of the National Institute of
Standards and Technology (NIST), the agency’s primary private-sector
advisory group, has sent its 2009 annual report to Congress.
The report highlights NIST’s unique and
significant role in the coordination of federal development and use of
documentary standards in three areas of critical national
importance—Smart Grid interoperability, healthcare information
technology, and cybersecurity—and expresses the Committee’s strong
support for NIST to strengthen its leadership role in documentary
standards affecting the nation’s priorities. It also calls for NIST to
incorporate its present multi-year strategic planning process into its
institutional culture, and to complete its evaluation of NIST
organizational structures that could most effectively support NIST’s
strategic goals and priorities.The VCAT was established by Congress in
1988 to review and make recommendations on NIST’s policies,
organization, budget and programs. The 2009 report includes specific
recommendations on NIST’s efforts to promote and support U.S.
technological innovation and industrial competitiveness in areas such as
documentary standards, planning, and research directions.
For the full text of the VCAT report, see www.nist.gov/director/vcat/report09.pdf
(requires Acrobat Reader).
The next NIST VCAT meeting will be held on June
8-9 in Gaithersburg, Md. VCAT meetings are open to the public. For more
information, see www.nist.gov/director/vcat/.
