National Institute of Standards and Technology Releases Green Paper Aimed at Information Federal Policy Decisions

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) recently released a Final Green Paper on its Return on Investment (ROI) Initiative for Unleashing American Innovation. The green paper is designed to help inform federal government policy decisions.
The paper lays out 15 key findings that are aligned with the President’s Management Agenda’s five strategies in the Lab-to-Market Cross Agency Priority (CAP) goal. The CAP goal seeks to increase the returns on investment that the federal government spends on research and development each year. The findings detailed in the paper are:

• Identifying regulatory impediments and administrative improvements;
• Increasing engagement with private sector experts and investors;
• Building a more entrepreneurial R&D workforce;
• Supporting innovative tools and services for technology transfer; and
• Improving understanding of global science and technology.

The paper is a result of NIST’s ROI Initiative that the agency co-leads with the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). It was created through the help of extensive input and collaboration with the public and private sector, as well as close coordination with OSTP and engagement with federal interagency working groups.

ASME was among the organizations that provided assistance in the drafting of the document and feedback. To view ASME’s comments, click here: https://www.asme.org/wwwasmeorg/media/ResourceFiles/AboutASME/Get Involved/Advocacy/Policy-Publications/PS18-16-ASME-NIST-RFI-Response.pdf

In a recent statement regarding the Green Paper, Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and NIST Director Dr. Walter Copan, Ph.D. explained that the “The Green Paper serves as a discussion document that informs, but does not prescribe policy decisions by the Federal Government. It provides a summary of key stakeholder inputs and identifies findings by NIST that will help inform future deliberations, decision-making, and implementing actions by the relevant departments and agencies that could further enhance the U.S. innovation engine at the public-private interface.”

To view the report in full, click here: https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/SpecialPublications/NIST.SP.1234.pdf