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| Agency overview | |
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| Formed |
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| Headquarters | 100 Bureau Drive Gaithersburg, Maryland, U.S. 39°07′59″N77°13′25″W / 39.13306°N 77.22361°W /39.13306; -77.22361 |
| Employees | Approx. 3,400[1] |
| Annual budget | $1.03 billion (FY 2021)[2] |
| Agency executive |
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| Parent department | Department of Commerce |
| Website | nist.gov |
TheNational Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is an agency of theUnited States Department of Commerce whose mission is to promote American innovation and industrial competitiveness. NIST's activities are organized intophysical science laboratory programs that includenanoscale science and technology,engineering,information technology,neutron research, material measurement, and physical measurement. From 1901 to 1988, the agency was named theNational Bureau of Standards.[4]
TheArticles of Confederation, ratified by the colonies in 1781, provided:
The United States in Congress assembled shall also have the sole and exclusive right and power of regulating the alloy and value of coin struck by their own authority, or by that of the respective states—fixing the standards of weights and measures throughout the United States.[5]
Article 1, section 8, of theConstitution of the United States, ratified in 1789, granted these powers to the new Congress: "The Congress shall have power ... To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures".[6]
In January 1790,PresidentGeorge Washington, in his firstannual message to Congress, said, "Uniformity in the currency, weights, and measures of the United States is an object of great importance, and will, I am persuaded, be duly attended to."[7]
On October 25, 1791, Washington again appealed Congress:
A uniformity of the weights and measures of the country is among the important objects submitted to you by the Constitution and if it can be derived from a standard at once invariable and universal, must be no less honorable to the public council than conducive to the public convenience.[8]
In 1821,PresidentJohn Quincy Adams declared, "Weights and measures may be ranked among the necessities of life to every individual of human society.".[9] Nevertheless, it was not until 1838 that the United States government adopted a uniform set of standards.[6]
From 1830 until 1901, the role of overseeing weights and measures was carried out by the Office of Standard Weights and Measures, which was part of the Survey of the Coast—renamed the United States Coast Survey in 1836 and theUnited States Coast and Geodetic Survey in 1878—in theUnited States Department of the Treasury.[10][11][12]
In 1901, in response to a bill proposed by CongressmanJames H. Southard (R, Ohio), the Bureau of Standards was founded with the mandate to provide standard weights and measures, and to serve as the national physical laboratory for the United States. Southard had previously sponsored a bill for metric conversion of the United States.[13]
PresidentTheodore Roosevelt appointedSamuel W. Stratton as the first director. The budget for the first year of operation was $40,000. The Bureau took custody of the copies of thekilogram andmeter bars that were the standards for US measures, and set up a program to providemetrology services for United States scientific and commercial users. A laboratory site was constructed inWashington, DC, and instruments were acquired from the national physical laboratories of Europe. In addition to weights and measures, the Bureau developed instruments for electrical units and for measurement of light. In 1905 a meeting was called that would be the first "National Conference on Weights and Measures".
Initially conceived as purely ametrology agency, the Bureau of Standards was directed byHerbert Hoover to set up divisions to develop commercial standards for materials and products.[13] Some of these standards were for products intended for government use, but product standards also affected private-sector consumption. Quality standards were developed for products including some types of clothing, automobile brake systems and headlamps,antifreeze, and electrical safety. DuringWorld War I, the Bureau worked on multiple problems related to war production, even operating its own facility to produceoptical glass when European supplies were cut off. Between the wars,Harry Diamond of the Bureau developed ablind approach radio aircraft landing system. DuringWorld War II, military research and development was carried out, including development ofradio propagation forecast methods, theproximity fuze and the standardized airframe used originally forProject Pigeon, and shortly afterwards the autonomously radar-guidedBat anti-ship guided bomb and theKingfisher family of torpedo-carrying missiles.
In 1948, financed by the United States Air Force, the Bureau began design and construction ofSEAC, the Standards Eastern Automatic Computer. The computer went into operation in May 1950 using a combination ofvacuum tubes and solid-statediode logic. About the same time theStandards Western Automatic Computer, was built at the Los Angeles office of the NBS byHarry Huskey and used for research there. A mobile version,DYSEAC, was built for the Signal Corps in 1954.
Due to a changing mission, the "National Bureau of Standards" became the "National Institute of Standards and Technology" in 1988.[10] Following theSeptember 11, 2001 attacks, under the National Construction Safety Team Act (NCST), NIST conducted the official investigation into thecollapse of the World Trade Center buildings. Following the 2021Surfside condominium building collapse, NIST sent engineers to the site to investigate the cause of the collapse.[14]
In 2019, NIST launched a program named NIST on a Chip to decrease the size of instruments from lab machines to chip size. Applications include aircraft testing, communication with satellites for navigation purposes, and temperature and pressure.[15]
In 2023, theBiden administration began plans to create a U.S. AI Safety Institute within NIST to coordinateAI safety matters. According toThe Washington Post, NIST is considered "notoriously underfunded and understaffed", which could present an obstacle to these efforts.[16]
NIST, known between 1901 and 1988 as the National Bureau of Standards (NBS), is ameasurement standards laboratory, also known as the National Metrological Institute (NMI), which is a non-regulatory agency of theUnited States Department of Commerce. The institute's official mission is to:[17]
Promote U.S. innovation and industrial competitiveness by advancingmeasurement science,standards, andtechnology in ways that enhance economic security and improve ourquality of life.
— NIST
NIST had an operatingbudget forfiscal year 2007 (October 1, 2006 – September 30, 2007) of about $843.3 million. NIST's 2009 budget was $992 million, and it also received $610 million as part of theAmerican Recovery and Reinvestment Act.[18] NIST employs about 2,900 scientists, engineers, technicians, and support and administrative personnel. About 1,800 NIST associates (guest researchers and engineers from American companies and foreign countries) complement the staff. In addition, NIST partners with 1,400 manufacturing specialists and staff at nearly 350 affiliated centers around the country. NIST publishes theHandbook 44 that provides the "Specifications, tolerances, and other technical requirements for weighing and measuring devices".
TheCongress of 1866 made use of the metric system in commerce a legally protected activity through the passage ofMetric Act of 1866.[19] On May 20, 1875, 17 out of 20 countries signed a document known as theMetric Convention or theTreaty of the Meter, which established theInternational Bureau of Weights and Measures under the control of an international committee elected by theGeneral Conference on Weights and Measures.[20]
NIST is headquartered inGaithersburg, Maryland, and operates a facility inBoulder, Colorado, which was dedicated byPresidentEisenhower in 1954.[21][22][23] NIST's activities are organized into laboratory programs and extramural programs. Effective October 1, 2010, NIST was realigned by reducing the number of NIST laboratory units from ten to six.[24] NIST Laboratories include:[25]
Extramural programs include:
NIST's Boulder laboratories are best known forNIST‑F1, which houses anatomic clock. NIST‑F1 serves as the source of the nation's official time. From its measurement of the natural resonance frequency ofcesium—which defines thesecond—NIST broadcaststime signals vialongwave radio stationWWVB nearFort Collins, Colorado, andshortwaveradio stationsWWV andWWVH, located near Fort Collins andKekaha, Hawaii, respectively.[33]
NIST also operates aneutron science user facility: theNIST Center for Neutron Research (NCNR). The NCNR provides scientists access to a variety ofneutron scattering instruments, which they use in many research fields (materials science, fuel cells, biotechnology, etc.).
The SURF III Synchrotron Ultraviolet Radiation Facility is a source ofsynchrotron radiation, in continuous operation since 1961. SURF III now serves as the US national standard for source-based radiometry throughout the generalized optical spectrum. AllNASA-borne, extreme-ultraviolet observation instruments have been calibrated at SURF since the 1970s, and SURF is used for the measurement and characterization of systems forextreme ultraviolet lithography.
The Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology (CNST) performs research innanotechnology, both through internal research efforts and by running a user-accessiblecleanroomnanomanufacturing facility. This "NanoFab" is equipped with tools forlithographic patterning and imaging (e.g.,electron microscopes andatomic force microscopes).
NIST has seven standing committees:
As part of its mission, NIST supplies industry, academia, government, and other users with over 1,300Standard Reference Materials (SRMs). These artifacts are certified as having specific characteristics or component content, used as calibration standards for measuring equipment and procedures, quality control benchmarks for industrial processes, and experimental control samples.
NIST publishes theHandbook 44 each year after the annual meeting of theNational Conference on Weights and Measures (NCWM). Each edition is developed through cooperation of theCommittee on Specifications and Tolerances of the NCWM and theWeights and Measures Division (WMD) of NIST. The purpose of the book is a partial fulfillment of the statutory responsibility for "cooperation with the states in securing uniformity of weights and measures laws and methods of inspection".
NIST has been publishing various forms of what is now theHandbook 44 since 1918 and began publication under the current name in 1949. The 2010 edition conforms to the concept of the primary use of the SI (metric) measurements recommended by theOmnibus Foreign Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988.[34][35]
NIST is developing government-wideidentity document standards for federal employees and contractors to prevent unauthorized persons from gaining access to government buildings and computer systems.[36]
In 2002, theNational Construction Safety Team Act mandated NIST to conduct an investigation into thecollapse of the World Trade Center buildings 1 and 2 and the 47-story 7 World Trade Center. The "World Trade Center Collapse Investigation", directed by lead investigator Shyam Sunder,[37] covered three aspects, including a technical building andfire safety investigation to study the factors contributing to the probable cause of the collapses of the WTC Towers (WTC 1 and 2) and WTC 7. NIST also established a research and development program to provide the technical basis for improved building and fire codes, standards, and practices, and a dissemination and technical assistance program to engage leaders of the construction and building community in implementing proposed changes to practices, standards, and codes. NIST also is providing practical guidance and tools to better prepare facility owners, contractors, architects, engineers, emergency responders, and regulatory authorities to respond to future disasters. The investigation portion of the response plan was completed with the release of the final report on 7 World Trade Center on November 20, 2008. The final report on the WTC Towers—including 30 recommendations for improving building and occupant safety—was released on October 26, 2005.[38]
NIST works in conjunction with theTechnical Guidelines Development Committee of theElection Assistance Commission to develop theVoluntary Voting System Guidelines forvoting machines and other election technology.
In February 2014 NIST published theNIST Cybersecurity Framework that serves as voluntary guidance for organizations to manage and reduce cybersecurity risk.[39] It was later amended and Version 1.1 was published in April 2018.[40]Executive Order 13800, Strengthening the Cybersecurity of Federal Networks andCritical Infrastructure, made the Framework mandatory for U.S. federal government agencies.[39] An extension to the NIST Cybersecurity Framework is theCybersecurity Maturity Model (CMMC) which was introduced in 2019 (though the origin of CMMC began with Executive Order 13556).[41]
It emphasizes the importance of implementingZero-trust architecture (ZTA) which focuses on protecting resources over the network perimeter. ZTA utilizes zero trust principles which include "never trust, always verify", "assume breach" and "least privileged access" tosafeguard users, assets, and resources. Since ZTA holds no implicit trust to users within the network perimeter, authentication and authorization are performed at every stage of a digital transaction. This reduces the risk of unauthorized access to resources.[42]
NIST released a draft of the CSF 2.0 for public comment through November 4, 2023. NIST decided to update the framework to make it more applicable to small and medium size enterprises that use the framework, as well as to accommodate the constantly changing nature of cybersecurity.[43]
In August 2024, NIST released a final set of encryption tools designed to withstand the attack of aquantum computer. Thesepost-quantum encryption standards secure a wide range of electronic information, from confidential email messages to e-commerce transactions that propel the modern economy.[44]
Four scientific researchers at NIST have been awardedNobel Prizes for work inphysics:William Daniel Phillips in 1997,Eric Allin Cornell in 2001,John Lewis Hall in 2005 andDavid Jeffrey Wineland in 2012, which is the largest number for any US government laboratory. All four were recognized for their work related tolaser cooling of atoms, which is directly related to the development and advancement of the atomic clock. In 2011,Dan Shechtman was awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry for his work onquasicrystals in theMetallurgy Division from 1982 to 1984. In addition,John Werner Cahn was awarded the 2011 Kyoto Prize for Materials Science, and theNational Medal of Science has been awarded to NIST researchers Cahn (1998) and Wineland (2007). Other notable people who have worked at NBS or NIST include:
Since 1989, the director of NIST has been a Presidential appointee and is confirmed by theUnited States Senate,[45] and since that year the average tenure of NIST directors has fallen from 11 years to 2 years in duration. Since the 2011 reorganization of NIST, the director also holds the title of Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology. Seventeen individuals have officially held the position (in addition to seven acting directors who have served on a temporary basis).
NIST holdspatents on behalf of theFederal government of the United States,[46] with at least one of them being custodial to protect public domain use, such as one for aChip-scale atomic clock, developed by a NIST team as part of aDARPA competition.[47]
In September 2013, bothThe Guardian andThe New York Times reported that NIST allowed theNational Security Agency (NSA) to insert acryptographically secure pseudorandom number generator calledDual EC DRBG into NIST standardSP 800-90 that had akleptographicbackdoor that the NSA can use to covertly predict the future outputs of thispseudorandom number generator thereby allowing the surreptitious decryption of data.[48] Both papers report[49][50] that the NSA worked covertly to get its own version of SP 800-90 approved for worldwide use in 2006. The whistle-blowing document states that "eventually, NSA became the sole editor". The reports confirm suspicions and technical grounds publicly raised by cryptographers in 2007 that the EC-DRBG could contain akleptographic backdoor (perhaps placed in the standard by NSA).[51]
NIST responded to the allegations, stating that "NIST works to publish the strongest cryptographic standards possible" and that it uses "a transparent, public process to rigorously vet our recommended standards".[52] The agency stated that "there has been some confusion about the standards development process and the role of different organizations in it...The National Security Agency (NSA) participates in the NIST cryptography process because of its recognized expertise. NIST is also required by statute to consult with the NSA."[53] Recognizing the concerns expressed, the agency reopened the public comment period for the SP800-90 publications, promising that "if vulnerabilities are found in these or any other NIST standards, we will work with the cryptographic community to address them as quickly as possible".[54] Due to public concern of thiscryptovirology attack, NIST rescinded the EC-DRBG algorithm from the NIST SP 800-90 standard.[55]
In addition to these journals, NIST (and the National Bureau of Standards before it) has a robust technical reports publishing arm. NIST technical reports are published in several dozen series, which cover a wide range of topics, from computer technology to construction to aspects of standardization including weights, measures and reference data.[56] In addition to technical reports, NIST scientists publish many journal and conference papers each year; an database of these, along with more recent technical reports, can be found on the NIST website.[57]
Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988
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