NIST Strategic Plan Implementation

Program Coordination 

Office

VCAT Update

October 20, 2020
6

WRITTEN 

DOCUMENTS

10+

OUTREACH 

ACTIVITIES

80+

STAFF INVOLVED

14 

STRATEGIC 

OBJECTIVES

4

STRATEGIC GOALS

1

Program Coordination 

Office

1

National Institute 

of Standards and 

Technology

43

STRATEGIES

Strategic Plan at a Glance

8 

ACTIONS for 

implementation

https://inet.nist.gov/strategic-plan
Where are we in the Implementation Cycle

Review progress on plan 

implementation and 

selection of activities for 

action.

Quarterly progress review 

and assessment of 

selected actions.

Six-month progress review 

and selection of next 

actions for second round 

of implementation.

Quarterly progress review 

and assessment of 

selected actions.

We are here
4

NIST Strategic Plan: Goals
5

Structure of the Plan

43 Strategies

14 Objectives

4 Goals Goal

Objective 

1

Strategy 

1.1

Strategy 

1.2

Objective 

2

Strategy 

2.1

8 Actions selected for implementation

7

NIST 

Strategic 

Plan: 

Immediate 

Actions
8

Actions are Interlinked

Infrastructure

Agility

Leadership

Diversity

Collaboration

Tech Transfer

Branding
9

6-month review of 

ongoing actions – ADs, 

Director.

Decisions for 

implementation. 

NLB Meeting.

Formal review of 

progress.

Input on actions NLB 

would like to focus on for 

Round 2.

NIST Open Houses.

Provide NIST Staff with 

awareness of ongoing 

efforts and outputs.

Collect input on actions 

staff would like to focus 

on for Round 2.

Launch Round 2 Actions.

Mid October

Late November

Mid-November

Jan 2021

Upcoming Steps
NSP Dashboard
Noteworthy Accomplishments

Diversity and 

Inclusion Leader PD

Performance Plans 

modifications to 

foster One NIST 

culture

Innovation 

Ambassador detail 

opportunity

Branding Study 

contract awarded
Additional Slides
Progress Update

• Prioritized Implementation Plan

• Predictive Maintenance Tool

• Technology Transfer

• Branding
Infrastructure

Action

Develop a prioritized 

implementation plan of the NIST 

Campus Master Plan.

Action

Optimize ongoing repair activities through 

the utilization of a predictive facilities 

maintenance tool to guide future SCMMR

investments.

Problem

NIST’s lacks strategies and resources to deal 

with aging infrastructure.

Motivation:

• Deferred maintenance backlog is over $750M

• Congress signaled its willingness to support 

funding increases for a facility improvements 
Branding: What is the Problem to be Solved?

Problem

NIST does not have a consistent, recognizable 

brand that clearly communicates NIST’s priorities, 

capabilities, and value.

Action 

Improve stakeholder awareness of NIST by 

clarifying and sharpening NIST's strategic 

communications and initiating an effort to 

rebrand NIST.

How do we know that this is a problem?

• External public affairs experts’ reports

• Strategic Plan Objectives

• NIST community feedback
16

Technology Transfer

Problem

NIST lacks a cohesive approach to 

technology transfer.

Action – new direction!

Define and establish the technology liaison 

function to facilitate the transfer of NISTdeveloped technologies through enhanced 

customer [internal] and stakeholder [external] 

service and process improvements. 

How do we know that this is a problem?

• Strategic Plan Objectives

• NIST community feedback

• Lessons learned from NOAC Pilot
•Diversity

•Leadership 

•Collaboration and 

Agility
Diversity: What is the Problem to be Solved?

Problem

NIST lacks a systematic and lasting approach 

to improving workplace diversity, inclusion, 

and belonging.

Action 

Appoint a NIST Diversity Coordinator to lead 

efforts to improve the diversity of NIST’s 

workforce. ~ 1 in 5 minorities

and ~ 1 in 8 minorities

and minorities

and minorities

Motivation

• Common theme in Goal I and IV

• Calls to allocate real resources and drive 

real changes

• Data from studies and analyses 
Leadership: What is the Problem to be Solved?

Problem

NIST lacks a comprehensive and complete toolkit to 

grow, nurture, and support leaders and managers.

Action 

Strengthen NIST's leadership corps by developing and 

implementing a NIST leadership competencies model 

and increase support for development and growth of 

existing leaders at NIST.

From Strategic Plan:

• Prepare individuals for leadership positions

• Enhance the capability to develop and/or hire the 

‘right’ leaders/managers 

• Training leaders for success
Agility: What is the Problem to be Solved?

Action

Restructuring performance plans to 

provide flexibility for collaborative 

work.

Action

Establishing a new ADLP funding 

mechanism to foster cross-OU

collaboration.

• Create the least-restrictive environment for NIST staff and associates to achieve 

technical excellence.

• Foster a culture that promotes collaboration across laboratory programs. 

• Incentivize cross-collaboration between different OUs and improve the engagement 

and empowerment of the NIST workforce.

From Strategic Plan: 

Problem

NIST needs to realize agility and technical excellence both at the institutional and 

individual level.
21

How were Actions Formulated?

• Short list of objectives that originated from ranking 

exercise with NLB and Goal Teams. Ranking in 

terms of financial cost the barrier to culture 

change.

• Open House feedback in Gaithersburg and Boulder. 

Community input sessions on tech transfer (G2) 

and next-gen infrastructure (G3). 

• Analysis of overlap in objectives and strategies 

between Goal Teams. 

• Strategic priorities of Associate Directors. 

• Final selection takes into consideration urgency, 

constraints of cost, and the level of difficulty.