NIST is well positioned to help industry to resolve critical technical issues so that diverse electronic commerce applications can be based on a system of widely adopted open standards and measurement methods. The Institute has a unique statutory role in computer security and authentication standards, and it holds leadership roles in key electronic commerce standardization efforts. Measurements and Standards for Electronic Commerce Electronic commerce is much more than simply the buying and selling of goods and services over the Internet. Market competition is driving the demand for intensive sharing of complex technical information across business enterprises and with their suppliers, and industry has begun to use the Internet to satisfy this need. In areas critical to industry's advancement in electronic commerce, such as manufacturing research, NIST plays a unique role in measurements and standards.
Some key examples follow.
By using these standards, manufacturing has begun to progress beyond the age of the blueprint. In today's environment the entire supply chain is being challenged to respond quickly to fluctuating demand for products with shrinking shelf lives. Web Research NIST is engaged in a variety of research efforts focused on Web usability and Webmetrics. The results of this research are expected to provide information and products important to the expansion of e-commerce. They should reduce the challenges associated with performing web-based transactions and increase the ease with which the general public adapts to this new technology.