10 Standards Recommendations for the Obama Administration

“1. Create a Standards Advisory Council (SAC): Due to the
breadth of standards related issues underlying the administration’s
goals and the relative lack of existing government engagement in
the standards arena, the new administration should recruit a
council of neutral standards experts versed not only in technical
and scientific matters, but also in the legal, trade policy and
social impacts and opportunities that a sophisticated standards
strategy can provide. Such a council should comprise existing
experts drawn both from within government where available (e.g.,
from Defense, NIST, and Homeland Security), as well as from
academia, law and other relevant disciplines. The SAC would advise
and be chaired by the newly appointed administration CTO. It would
also serve as an available resource for the Federal CIO Council
(made up of the CTOs of the Federal agencies) and for Congressional
committees.

“2. Make maximum use of NIST: At present the government has
islands of standards expertise in various agencies. Only one
agency, however, includes standards as an area of primary focus and
responsibility. That agency is the National Institute of Standards
and Technology (NIST), operating under the authority of the
Department of Commerce. Like many agencies, NIST has seen its
influence (and budgets) rise and fall with the change of
administrations. Now is the time to capitalize on its expertise and
existing infrastructure to educate administration members, to
provide a coordinating function both among agencies and with
industry, and to act as the mechanism to jumpstart new standards
activities.”

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