VCAT Update on Programmatic 

Priorities: Internet of Things (IOT)

NIST Gaithersburg

February 12, 2020
IOT: NIST Role

Assuring the trustworthiness of IoT 

systems by developing quantitative 

metrics, standards, and guidelines.

Figures of merit for trustworthy IoT systems 

include: reliability, resilience, security, 

privacy, and safety.

NIST will initially focus on Industrial IoT (IIoT) 

applications where confidence in trustworthy 

IoT solutions would prove most beneficial. 

Measurements, research, and 

standards to support reliability, 

resilience, and safety

Research, standards and guidelines 

for improving security, privacy

Strategic partnerships to realize the 

full potential of IIOT and prioritize 

areas of greatest need.
IOT at NIST

What is IOT?

Engineered, physical systems integrated with 

networking, data, and computational systems linked 

via transducers

IOT Quick Facts

• By 2015 there were about 15.4B connected IoT devices

• By 2020 the number is expected to grow to 20.4B [1]

• By 2025, 75.4 billion.

• The global IoT market was worth over $150 billion in 2018.

• By 2025 it is expected to exceed $1.5 trillion.

• IoT saves money too. The city of Barcelona saves $37 million 

a year due to smart lighting.

NIST has many programs that can support IOT. Most of these 

programs reside in Communications Technology Laboratory, 

Engineering Laboratory, and Information Technology 

Laboratory.

ENGINEERING 

LABORATORY

[1] Gartner (January 2017).
IOT: Charting a Cohesive Program

NIST’s IoT portfolio includes projects 

addressing:

• Measurement capabilities, including sensor 

technologies, uncertainty methods, formal 

methods for assurance, interoperability, 

virtual and composite methods and more

• Standards, including connectivity, data, 

interoperability, composability, performance 

measurement guidelines, architectures, etc.

• Applications, including advanced 

manufacturing, automated vehicles, 

intelligent buildings, smart grid, and smart 

cities.
IOT: Communications Technology Laboratory

• SI traceability for communications

 Scattering parameters

 RF power & noise

 Antenna parameters

 Dielectric constant

 Cross-frequency phase

• New challenges:

• Over-the-Air testing

• Dynamic measurements

• System-level metrology

• Component-level testing

• Traceable standards for 5G 

and beyond
IOT Highlight: Over-the-Air (OTA) Testing

Defining new certifications for connectorless devices with OTA

• Handset and base-station performance 

verified under radiated conditions

• Total Radiated Power, Receiver Sensitivity

• Isotropic quantities

• NIST has led development of efficient, 

rigorous OTA tests for large-form-factor 

IoT devices

• CTIA Certification Test Plan released June 

2019

• Every new IOT device is tested OTA!
IOT: Engineering Laboratory

Trustworthy Systems, 

Components, and Data for Smart 

Manufacturing Program

Cyber Physical Systems 

Framework and Testbed

NIST Industrial 

Wireless Technical 

Working Group

Industrial Wireless Testbed
IOT Highlight: Blockchain for Smart Manufacturing

Building trustworthiness into digital 

manufacturing networks

Tamper-proof transmission of 

manufacturing data 

 Data traceability for all participants in 

production process
IOT: Information Technology Laboratory

Wide range of ITL IOT research - eg:

- Cybersecurity for IoT

- Standards, guidelines, and related tools

- Networking Protocols

- E.g., Intra-vehicle networking protocols

- Usability

- Research to improve human IoT 

interactions

- Cloud for IoT

- Edge computing (e.g., fog computing)

- Architecture for IoT

- Standards (ISO/IEC, IEEE, IIC)

- Information modeling

- Category theory for IoT
IOT Highlight: Baseline for Securable IOT Devices

NIST 8228: Considerations for Managing IOT 

Cybersecurity and Privacy Risk (July 2019)

Approaches risk management from 

organization use of IOT

NIST 8259: Recommendations for IOT Device 

Manufacturers (2nd draft)

Guidance for manufacturers to address 

cybersecurity features that make IOT devices at 

least minimally securable by end users.

Public comments closed Feb. 7, 2020.

Coordinates activities across NIST related to cybersecurity 

and privacy concerns for IOT
IOT: Supporting Industries of the Future

ENGINEERING 

LABORATORY

[1] Gartner (January 2017).

1. Measurements, research, and 

standards to support reliability, 

resilience, and safety

2. Research, standards and guidelines 

for improving security, privacy

3. Strategic partnerships to realize the 

full potential of IIOT and prioritize 

areas of greatest need.

NIST will undertake multifaceted 

approach to addressing critical factors 

comprising trustworthiness
Strategic Leverage Through Partnerships
2/11/2020 13

IOT: Charting a Cohesive Program

Communications 

Technology Laboratory

Engineering 

Laboratory

Information 

Technology Laboratory

Identifying synergistic opportunities across NIST to support Industries of the Future

• Cybersecurity for Smart 

Manufacturing

• Smart Manufacturing 

Testbed

• Wireless Systems for 

Factory Automation

• Trustworthy Systems for 

Smart Manufacturing

• Cybersecurity Standards 

for IOT

• National Cybersecurity 

Center of Excellence

• Securing Industrial Control 

Systems

• Healthcare IOT

• NIST 5G mmWave

Channel Model Alliance

• Over-the-Air Testing

• Component  Systems 

Characterization

• Chip-scale standards and 

probes for RF and 

mmWave measurements 
IOT: NIST Grand Challenge

Industrial IOT 

Testbed

National Cybersecurity Center of 

Excellence, NIST 5G Alliance, NIST 

Industrial Wireless Technical Working 

Group, NSF Platforms for Advanced 

Wireless Research, & Manufacturing 

USA Institutes.

Standards-based security controls for 

manufacturers in NIST Cybersecurity 

Practice Guide

NIST will create a metric-based IIOT 

testbed uniting NIST expertise in 

wireless comms, manufacturing, and 

artificial intelligence. 
DISCUSSION
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IOT: Information Technology Laboratory

Cybersecurity for IOT 

Program

Fostering cybersecurity for devices 

and data in the IoT ecosystem, 

across industry sectors and at scale

Ecosystem approach to IOT 

cybersecurity to address 

functionality that happens outside 

of individual IOT device

 No One Size Fits All

 Outcome-Based Approach

 Risk-Based Understanding

 Stakeholder Engagement Amazon, Boeing, Chamber of Commerce, CTA, 

CTIA, ITI, Microsoft, Raytheon, Symantec, and 

many more.

Roadmap Toward IOT Security

DOC & DHS (2018)