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Budget

Administration Seeks $496 Million for TA in FY 2002

President Bush has submitted to Congress a fiscal year 2002 budget request for the Commerce Department’s Technology Administration of $496 million. The NIST portion of the proposed budget is $487.5 million.

Included in the FY 2002 request are four separate appropriations: $8.2 million for the Office of the Under Secretary and the Office of Technology Policy at TA; $347.3 million for Scientific and Technical Research and Services (including $336.9 million for the NIST Laboratories, $5.4 million for the Baldrige National Quality Program and $5 million for the Critical Infrastructure Protection Grants Program); $119.3 million for Industrial Technology Services (including $13 million for the Advanced Technology Program and $106.3 million for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership); and $20.9 million for Construction of Research Facilities to maintain and improve existing facilities at NIST’s Gaithersburg, Md., and Boulder, Colo., laboratories.

The CIPGP ($5 million) would fund research—not currently being done by the private sector or other government agencies—to protect critical information infrastructures for civilian and commercial use (see next item for details). The ATP request ($13 million), combined with estimated carryover from the previous year and recoveries, would provide an operating budget of $79.9 million, which would cover continued funding requirements for previous awards. The administration proposes that no new awards be made in FY 2002 while the ATP is evaluated by the Commerce Department.

More data on the proposed FY 2002 budget for TA and NIST, as well as budget histories from previous fiscal years, can be obtained via the World Wide Web at www.nist.gov/public_affairs/budget.htm

Media Contact:
Michael E. Newman, (301) 975-3025

 

 

Grants

Funds for Innovative IT Infrastructure Protection Technologies Available

In the Apr. 13, 2001, Federal Register, NIST announced the availability of funds for the new Critical Infrastructure Protection Grants Program. The objective of the CIPGP is improvement of the robustness, resilience and security of information in all the critical infrastructures. This will be accomplished by funding research leading to commercial solutions to those IT security problems central to critical infrastructure protection that are not being adequately addressed. A secondary objective of the CIPGP is to cultivate a security-capable and security-conscious community. The issuance of all awards under this program is subject to the availability of funds.

Research proposed for the CIPGP should result in proof-of-concept hardware and/or software demonstrating integrated concepts and approaches that apply to large-scale real or virtual networks. Integrated solution sets embodying significant technological advances are strongly encouraged over narrowly defined research endeavors. Proposals should clearly explain what commercial or government entities are likely to utilize the solution and how this proposal contributes to that utilization. Applicants must have a proactive “technology transition” plan to facilitate the necessary technology transfer to the appropriate organizations. Proposals involving cooperation among multiple parties, including academic and commercial groups, are encouraged.

For more details, see the Federal Register, Apr. 13, 2001, pages 19139-19142, which can be reached via www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/aces/aces140.html. Proposals (one signed original and two copies) must be sent by 4 p.m. EDT, June 15, 2001, to Kim Morgan, NIST, 100 Bureau Drive, Stop 8901, Gaithersburg, Md. 20899-8901; electronic submissions are not acceptable. Questions may be directed to kimberly.morgan@nist.gov.

Media Contact:
Michael E. Newman, (301) 975-3025

 

 

 

Quality

'Baldrige Index' Once Again Outperforms S&P 500

Since 1995, NIST has compared a group of winners of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award to the Standard & Poor’s 500. Known as the “Baldrige Index,” this group consistently has outperformed the S&P 500. In the most recent study, the Baldrige Index beat the S&P 500 by 4.4 to 1.

The Baldrige Index is a fictitious stock fund made up of publicly-traded U.S. companies that received the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award between 1990 and 1999. In the 2000 study, NIST “invested” a hypothetical $1,000 in each of the whole company winners—ADAC Laboratories (1996 winner), Eastman Chemical Company (1993 winner), Federal Express Corp. (1990 winner), and Solectron Corp. (a winner in 19391 and 1997). Another hypothetical $1,000 was invested in the S&P 500 for the same time period.

The investments were tracked from the first business day of the month following the announcement of award recipients through Dec. 1, 2000. Adjustments were made for stock splits.

Receiving a Baldrige Award, or any award, is not a guarantee of success. But, organizations that receive the Baldrige show continuous and major improvements across the board. Other studies also have found that organizations receiving quality awards show long-lasting improvements.

The 2001 Baldrige Index study is available on the World Wide Web at www.nist.gov/public_affairs/releases/stockstudy.htm or by faxing a request to (301) 926-1630.

Media Contact:
Jan Kosko, (301) 975-2767

 

 

 

Standards

NIST Takes Over as MPEG Web Site Host

NIST is now hosting the World Wide Web site for the Moving Picture Experts Group (known as MPEG), which develops the most widely used international standards for multimedia, video, music and audio.

The MPEG site had been hosted by IBM Corp. for five years. It includes working group documents, contributions from industry, experimental information and software. This allows people involved in the standards development process to upload and share information.

Plans for the NIST MPEG Web site include a search and retrieve capability for the online document archive, an automated document upload and registry process, virus checking on incoming files and the ability to track membership and ad-hoc groups.

MPEG is the working group of the International Organization for Standardization (known as ISO) and International Electrotechnical Commission that develops standards for coded representation of digital audio and video. Established in 1988, the group has produced MPEG-1, the basis for MP3; MPEG-2, the basis for DVD; and MPEG-4, a multimedia standard. The MPEG Committee received an Emmy Award from the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in 1998 for its work on MPEG-1 and MPEG-2.

The current focus is on MPEG-7, the “Multimedia Content Description Interface,” which will be completed this year. This version of MPEG will allow the full search and retrieval of multimedia objects using its standardized description language based on XML.

The MPEG site, which is only open to technical experts and requires a password for entry, is at http://mpeg.nist.gov. Information on how to obtain a user name and password is available by sending an e-mail to mpeg@nist.gov. A public Web site with background information about MPEG is at www.cselt.it/mpeg.

Media Contact:
Philp Bulman, (301) 975-5661

 

 

 

Materials

June Workshop Examines Draft Language for Materials Data Exchange

At a workshop scheduled for June 26-27, 2001, an international working group of materials scientists and engineers will present the draft of new software—Materials Markup Language, or MatML—designed to facilitate the exchange of data on materials and their properties over the Internet. Representing industry, national laboratories, universities and standards and professional organizations, the working group will seek input from participants on the technical aspects and strategic direction of MatML.

Addressing the problems of data interpretation and interoperability among different computer systems, MatML will provide a standard format for exchanging materials property data on the World Wide Web, enabling researchers to understand and use data from various sources. Based on the eXtensible Markup Language (known as XML), MatML provides a scheme for describing data with consistent tags, which will lead to the transfer of materials data directly into other computer applications, such as modeling, simulation or databases, without the need for human intervention.

The workshop will be held at NIST’s Gaithersburg, Md., headquarters. NIST has been coordinating the MatML development effort for the past 18 months.

To register for the workshop, go to www.nist.gov/public_affairs/confpage/010626b.htm. For more information about the MatML software development effort, contact Ed Begley, (301) 975-6118.

Media Contact:
Pamela Houghtaling, (301) 975-5745

 

 

 

Information Technology

Group Wants to Make 'E-B' as Easy as 'ABC'

Computer scientists at NIST have been participating with the information technology/electronic commerce industry in the development of a set of emerging, global e-commerce standards. These standards comprise electronic business XML (known as ebXML), a joint effort sponsored by the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards and the United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business.

The goal of ebXML is to specify an e-commerce infrastructure where enterprises of any size and in any geographical location conduct business with each other. ebXML enables businesses to find partners, develop business agreements and find and process the necessary documents for business transactions—dramatically lowering the cost of exchanging business information electronically. ebXML makes use of the extensible Markup Language (known as XML) for the representation and exchange of documents and messages. XML, a leading industry specification for e-commerce, is a language that describes data in a way that allows computers to exchange information and automatically act on it.

NIST’s Information Technology Laboratory contributes to the development of the technical specifications for ebXML, especially in the areas of registries/repositories and conformance. The ebXML effort will come to a successful conclusion at the group’s May 2001 meeting in Vienna, Austria.

NIST’s ITL has been at the forefront of a variety of XML efforts, including the development of software conformance tests that allow people to make sure their XML systems conform to voluntary industry standards. For more information, contact Lynne Rosenthal, (301) 975-3353.

Media Contact:
Philip Bulman, (301) 975-5661

 

 

 

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Editor: Michael E. Newman

Date created: 4/16/2001
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