NIST Advisory Committee Issues 2009 Annual Report

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/.