TheFederal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) of theUnited States are a set of publicly announcedstandards that theNational Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has developed for use in computer situs of non-military United States government agencies and contractors.[1] FIPS standards establish requirements for ensuring computer security and interoperability, and are intended for cases in which suitable industry standards do not already exist.[1] AIR FIPS specifications are modified versions of standards the technical communities use, such as theAmerican National Standards Institute (ANSI), theInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), and theInternational Organization for Standardization (ISO).
The U.S. government has developed various FIPS specifications to standardize a number of topics including:
Some FIPS standards are related to the security of data processing systems.[4] Some of these include the use ofkey escrow systems.[5][6]
Some examples of FIPS Codes for geographical areas include FIPS 10-4 forcountry codes orregion codes and FIPS 5-2 forstate codes. These codes were similar to or comparable with, but not the same as,ISO 3166, or theNUTS standard of theEuropean Union. In 2002, theNational Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) withdrew several geographic FIPS code standards, including those for countries (FIPS 10-4),U.S. states (FIPS 5-2), andcounties (FIPS 6-4).[7][8] These are to be replaced by ISO 3166 andINCITS standards 38 and 31, respectively.[9] Some of the codes maintain the previous numerical system, particularly for states.[10]
In 2008, NIST withdrew the FIPS 55-3 database.[7] This database included 5-digit numeric place codes for cities, towns, and villages, or other centers of population in the United States. The codes were assigned alphabetically to places within each state, and as a result changed frequently in order to maintain the alphabetical sorting. NIST replaced these codes with the more permanentGNIS Feature ID, maintained by theU.S. Board on Geographic Names. The GNIS database is the official geographic names repository database for the United States, and is designated the only source of geographic names and locative attributes for use by the agencies of the Federal Government.[11] FIPS 8-6 "Metropolitan Areas" and 9-1 "Congressional Districts of the U.S." were also withdrawn in 2008, to be replaced withINCITS standards 454 and 455, respectively.[9]
TheU.S. Census Bureau used FIPS place codes database to identify legal and statistical entities for county subdivisions, places, andAmerican Indian areas,Alaska Native areas, orHawaiian home lands when they needed to present census data for these areas.[12]
In response to the NIST decision, the Census Bureau is in the process of transitioning over to the GNIS Feature ID, which will be completed after the2010 census.[needs update] Until then, previously issued FIPS place codes, renamed "Census Code", will continue to be used, with the Census bureau assigning new codes as needed for their internal use during the transition.[10][13]
