VISITING COMMITTEE ON ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY

National Institute of Standards and Technology

www.nist.gov/director/vcat/

December 6, 2016

The Honorable Penny Pritzker 

Secretary 

Department of Commerce 

1401 Constitution Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20230

Dear Secretary Pritzker: 

On behalf of the VCAT, we would like to commend NIST for its outstanding achievements over 

the past decade while being assigned increasing national responsibilities. In the recent past, NIST 

has demonstrated its extraordinary competence and capability in becoming a center of action and 

responsibility in national priorities including advanced manufacturing, advanced 

communications, cybersecurity, forensic science, and disaster resilience. NIST has also garnered 

new extramural programs, including Manufacturing USA (formerly the National Network for 

Manufacturing Innovation), and has improved the execution of the Hollings Manufacturing 

Extension Partnership. NIST’s success in these areas is a testament to the culture of 

exceptionalism that NIST has demonstrated since its founding in 1901.

Despite these achievements, there remains much to be done. A number of laboratory initiatives 

have been left unfunded or funded at levels far below the commensurate need. At the same time, 

new technical challenges continue to emerge that would benefit from NIST’s approach and 

expertise. With an eye toward keeping NIST in a strong position, the VCAT has spent the past 

year examining areas where we see NIST facing the biggest risk. The VCAT is concerned that 

without growth in budget the scope of NIST’s responsibilities threatens to outrun NIST’s 

abilities to build the foundational research and development core that support these engagements. 

We have toured laboratories where advanced science is conducted, and the facilities are woefully 

inadequate and suffer from years of deferred maintenance and upgrades due to budget 

constraints. NIST’s need for sophisticated laboratory facilities is urgent and increasing, just as 

NIST’s abilities are being called upon to further explore the necessary research for addressing 

the extended responsibilities with which it is being tasked. 

As a leading research organization, NIST must be able to collaborate with the best in the world, 

compete for extraordinary personnel, and operate at the speed of innovation in order to 

effectively deliver on its mission. NIST’s extramural programs must have significant room for 

growth to reach maximum impact. 

Maintaining NIST’s Core Research Strength

Since 2012, NIST has seen a growth in its Laboratory budget. The increase has supported 

new capacity for scientific research to support national priorities, primarily advanced 

manufacturing, cybersecurity, advanced communications, and disaster resilience. NIST 

has addressed these priorities through a combination of intramural research and 

externally-focused programs. However, these increases have not met the need in these 
VISITING COMMITTEE ON ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY

National Institute of Standards and Technology

www.nist.gov/director/vcat/

Secretary Pritzker

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areas. In addition, other national priorities have also been only partially funded or left 

unfunded. Without adequate resources and research facilities, the Nation will lose a 

critical element of its innovation ecosystem. 

Over the past year, the VCAT has reviewed examples of extraordinary unfunded 

Legislative or Executive branch demands placed on NIST in Smart Grid standards, the 

Cybersecurity Framework, the Presidential Commission on Cybersecurity, and 

responsibilities for Public Safety Communications. NIST has superbly executed on these 

demands, demonstrating the function of its outstanding underlying technical capability –

but unless carefully managed, unfunded mandates can drain that well of expertise.

Facilities to Enable Groundbreaking Science

NIST’s research in measurement science pushes the boundaries of the possible, 

exceeding the capabilities of what can be done anywhere in the world. However, many of 

the research teams are housed in increasingly outdated, unreliable, deteriorating, and 

potentially unsafe facilities that directly limit measurement capabilities. In recent years, 

the capital budget has been squeezed in the budget process, damaging NIST’s capabilities 

for updating and renovating its facilities built in the 1950s and 1960s to match 21st

century research needs. 

The VCAT is aware that significant investments are badly needed in renovating 

deteriorating facilities on NIST’s campuses, notably Building 245 in Gaithersburg and 

Building 1 in Boulder. These investments will enhance safety and security of NIST’s 

facilities and strengthen the research they house. The VCAT has observed the slow pace 

of these renovations and also learned that these investments address only part of a larger 

problem of significantly underfunded maintenance and renovation funds. As NIST’s 

footprint, scope of responsibilities, and complexity and sensitivity of research has grown, 

its budget for repairs and maintenance has been flat or decreasing. NIST currently has a 

maintenance backlog of $346M, with an annual appropriation for maintenance and repair 

averaging less than $50M, insufficient to address the need. 

Collaborations to Extend Capabilities

NIST is a critical partner with the private sector to develop the infrastructure necessary 

for innovation. This engagement is a key piece of the ecosystem that supports the 

competitiveness of the U.S. economy. To transfer the technology, methods, and standards 

developed at NIST and through these partnerships to the American private sector 

inescapably involves participation of scientists and engineers who are the best in the 

world, and who are sometimes foreign nationals. These efforts enhance the 

competitiveness of American industry. 
VISITING COMMITTEE ON ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY

National Institute of Standards and Technology

www.nist.gov/director/vcat/

Secretary Pritzker

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Put succinctly, in order for NIST to execute its mission successfully, it must have access 

to the best minds in the world. While many highly talented scientists and engineers are 

US citizens, it is necessary to recognize that the pool of talent in other countries may 

exceed our own. It is in the interest of NIST – and, indeed, the Nation – for NIST to 

maintain an open research environment that balances information, intellectual property, 

and physical security with collaboration and scientific collegiality.

With these issues in mind, the VCAT wishes to make some important recommendations 

regarding NIST at this time of transition. 

Recommendations

- NIST’s facilities maintenance budget must be increased to a level commensurate 

with the need – that is, to a base of about $107M per year. NIST’s facilities 

maintenance budgets have dropped significantly over the past several years leaving 

creating a backlog of deferred maintenance. At current funding levels NIST will lose the 

capabilities to support the kind of boundary-pushing, high-precision science required of 

it.

- To accommodate increased demand for measurement science solutions in existing 

and emerging technology areas the NIST research budget should grow by 

approximately 10% per year to achieve a base of approximately $1B. The VCAT 

applauds NIST’s increased performance and responsibilities for advanced manufacturing 

and cybersecurity over the past few years but there are still many unmet demands that 

increased funding would address. Furthermore, the VCAT encourages NIST to continue 

to pursue stronger programs in advanced communications, bioscience, and resilient 

infrastructure and communities. 

- The VCAT recommends increased funding for Manufacturing USA, the Hollings 

Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) program, and the Baldrige 

Performance Excellence program to fund additional industry-driven manufacturing 

institutes, enable the MEP program to serve more small and medium 

manufacturers, and support the Baldrige program’s efforts to promote the adoption 

of cybersecurity best practices respectively. The VCAT recognizes the unique position 

NIST’s extramural programs play in the Nation’s innovation ecosystem, especially in 

advanced manufacturing, and encourages continued expansion in those programs. 

Further, we are encouraged by the active participation NIST’s scientists have had in the 

Manufacturing USA program and the renewed focus of MEP on technology transfer, and 

the potential expansion of Baldrige into Cybersecurity. We recommend that NIST 

continue to strengthen these interactions.
VISITING COMMITTEE ON ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY

National Institute of Standards and Technology

www.nist.gov/director/vcat/

Secretary Pritzker

Page 4

- To most effectively meet stakeholder demand, NIST should be able to maintain 

maximum control over the allocation of budgetary resources. NIST’s Scientific and 

Technical Research and Services budget line should be under NIST leadership’s 

discretion to ensure a strong, stable, and flexible funding base is available to NIST’s 

laboratory programs. This will ensure maintenance of the intramural expertise, long-term 

research perspective, and programmatic agility so critical to NIST’s mission delivery. 

With the ever-increasing pace of innovation, NIST must be able to look forward to 

establish intramural capabilities before the demand arises. 

- New technological priorities, convening requirements, and programmatic mandates 

must be adequately supported with additional funds in their first year. 

Furthermore, NIST must plan for the full lifetime needs of these programs. NIST is 

a long-standing institute and while new and important demands always take priority, 

previous demands cannot simply be abandoned. Many demands of NIST’s expertise have 

a long life; while the funding requirements may taper off, they do not become zero.

- NIST must retain an atmosphere of openness and collaboration conducive to 

maintaining its ability to work with the best scientists in the world. The VCAT is 

mindful of the risks associated with this, but believes that they can be adequately 

mitigated by robust internal processes and controls proactively managed by NIST 

Leadership.

- NIST, working with Congress and the Administration, should be allowed to adopt 

authorities and best practices across the Government that would enable NIST to 

have the necessary speed and workforce quality. These include Other Transaction 

Authority and premium pay authorities. 

Sincerely,

Dr. Rita R. Colwell Mr. William Holt

VCAT Chair VCAT Vice Chair