March 2020 NIST Constituent Newsletter

NIST Congressional and Legislative Affairs

Monthly Constituent Newsletter - March 2020

RECENT NEWS

FY2021 Budget Request

On February 10, 2020, the President released the Administration's FY2021 Budget Request, which includes $738M in funding for NIST.  The President’s 2021 Budget Request will support U.S. leadership in Industries of the Future including quantum, AI, 5G and advanced communications. The requested funding will strengthen NIST’s efforts to advance the industries of the future, including efforts to accelerate the development and adoption of interoperable, secure, and reliable AI technologies and resilient position, navigation and timing systems, and support a prominent U.S. role in standards development efforts for 5G.


Input on Future Manufacturing USA Alliance Institutes

The Advanced Manufacturing National Program Office, which coordinates with other federal agencies on Manufacturing USA, has issued a Request for Information (RFI).  We are seeking comments from the public on an "alliance pathway" where manufacturing centers outside of Manufacturing USA could be recognized by the Secretary of Commerce as centers for manufacturing innovation. The office requests feedback on risks, the proposed application process for alliance members, and responses to questions including: eligibility and evaluation criteria, funding opportunities for alliance members, and requirements for the alliance members. 

Please see the RFI for additional details and submit your input here.  In addition, please consider attending an upcoming webinar.  Stakeholder roundtable sessions will also be held across the country through June, starting in March with: AeroDef Manufacturing Conference, UIDP30, and Utah Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Conference and Expo.

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Quest for Excellence® Conference

The 32nd Annual Quest for Excellence® Conference will be held March 24 – 27, 2020 at the Gaylord National Harbor near Washington, DC. This is the leading conference to learn best performance management practices from current and former Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award recipients. Be inspired by the best practices of the recipients in each of the Baldrige Criteria Categories and engage in Q&A to gain knowledge to take back to your organization. Register for Quest and learn how your organization can gain a competitive edge over the competition by using Baldrige.

HEARINGS

Cybersecurity Workforce Hearing

On February 11, 2020, Rodney Petersen, Director of the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE) testified before the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, Subcommittee on Research and Technology.  The hearing was entitled "More Hires, Fewer Hacks: Developing the U.S. Cybersecurity Workforce" and focused on exploring the challenges faced by organizations in both the public and private sectors in recruiting skilled cybersecurity professionals and discussed the strategies to expand and diversify the cybersecurity workforce pipeline to meet the demand.

Additional Witnesses Included:

  • Ambareen Siraj, Professor, Computer Science; Director, Cybersecurity Education Research and Outreach Center, Tennessee Tech University
  • Joseph Sawasky, President and Chief Executive Officer, Merit Network, Inc.
  • Sonya Miller, HR Director, IBM Security and Enterprise & Technology Security

View a copy of his testimony or video of the hearing

 

NIST Reauthorization Hearing

On March 11th at 10:00am, Dr. Walter Copan, Under Secretary for Standards and Technology and NIST Director will testify before the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, Research & Technology Subcommittee. The purpose of the hearing is to explore the major areas of research in the NIST laboratory programs, the agency’s role in working with industry to advance U.S. competitiveness, and key facilities construction and maintenance issues on the NIST campuses.  The Subcommittee will also review the President’s FY2021 budget proposal for NIST.   

There will be a live video stream of the hearing.