National Institute of Standards and Technology 2015 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Smart Grid Advisory Committee (SGAC or Committee), will meet in open session on Tuesday, January 26, 2016 from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Eastern time and Wednesday, January 27, 2016 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Eastern time. The primary purposes of this meeting are to provide updates on NIST Smart Grid and Cyber-Physical Systems Program activities and to discuss resiliency and reliability topics. The agenda may change to accommodate Committee business. The final agenda will be posted on the Smart Grid Web site at https://www.nist.gov/smartgrid.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is seeking information on the ``Framework for Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity'' (the ``Framework''). As directed by Executive Order 13636, ``Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity'' (the ``Executive Order''), the Framework consists of standards, methodologies, procedures, and processes that align policy, business, and technological approaches to address cyber risks. The Framework was released on February 12, 2014, after a year- long open process involving private and public sector organizations, including extensive industry input and public comments. In order to fulfill its responsibilities under the Cyber Security Enhancement Act of 2014, NIST is committed to maintaining an inclusive approach, informed by the views of a wide array of individuals, organizations, and sectors. In this RFI, NIST requests information about the variety of ways in which the Framework is being used to improve cybersecurity risk management, how best practices for using the Framework are being shared, the relative value of different parts of the Framework, the possible need for an update of the Framework, and options for the long- term governance of the Framework. This information is needed in order to carry out NIST's responsibilities under the Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2014 and the Executive Order. Responses to this RFIwhich will be posted at https://www.nist.gov/ cyberframework/cybersecurity-framework-rfi.cfmwill inform NIST's planning and decision-making about how to further advance the Framework so that the Nation's critical infrastructure is more secure by enhancing its cybersecurity and risk management. All information provided will also assist in developing the agenda for a workshop on the Framework being planned by NIST for April 6 and 7, 2016, in Gaithersburg, Maryland. Specifics about the workshop will be announced at a later date.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) requests comments on Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 186-4, Digital Signature Standard, which has been in effect since July 2013. FIPS 186-4 specifies three techniques for the generation and verification of digital signatures that can be used for the protection of data: the Rivest-Shamir-Adleman Algorithm (RSA), the Digital Signature Algorithm (DSA), and the Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA), along with a set of elliptic curves recommended for government use. NIST is primarily seeking comments on the recommended elliptic curves specified in Appendix D of the FIPS, but comments on other areas of the FIPS will also be considered. FIPS 186-4 is available at https:// dx.doi.org/10.6028/NIST.FIPS.186-4.

This notice announces the withdrawal of six Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS): FIPS 181, FIPS 185, FIPS 188, FIPS 190, FIPS 191 and FIPS 196. These FIPS are obsolete and are being withdrawn because they have not been updated to reference current or revised voluntary industry standards, federal specifications, or federal data standards. Federal agencies are responsible for using current voluntary industry standards and current federal specifications and data standards in their acquisition and management activities.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) invites organizations to provide products and technical expertise to support and demonstrate security platforms for the Domain Name System- Based (DNS) Security for Electronic Mail Building Block. This notice is the initial step for the National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence (NCCoE) in collaborating with technology companies to address cybersecurity challenges identified under the Domain Name System-Based Security for Electronic Mail Building Block. Participation in this building block is open to all interested organizations.

The Judges Panel of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (Judges Panel) will meet in closed session Monday through Friday, November 2-6, 2015, from 8:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. Eastern Time each day. The purpose of this meeting is to review recommendations from site visits, and recommend 2015 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award recipients. The meeting is closed to the public in order to protect the proprietary data to be examined and discussed at the meeting.

The Department of Commerce, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

This notice lists approved candidates who will comprise a standing roster for service on the Agency's 2015 and 2016 SES Performance Review Boards. The Agency will use this roster to select SES board members, and an outside member for the convening SES Performance Review Board each year. The standing roster is as follows:

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Smart Grid Advisory Committee (SGAC or Committee), will meet in open session on Thursday, July 30, 2015 from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Eastern time and Friday, July 31, 2015 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Eastern time. This meeting was originally scheduled for March 10-11, 2015 and was rescheduled for administrative reasons. The primary purposes of this meeting are to discuss the Grid 3.0 Strategic Planning Effort and NIST Transactive Energy, Distributed Energy Resources, Microgrid, and Smart City activities. The agenda may change to accommodate Committee business. The final agenda will be posted on the Smart Grid Web site at https://www.nist.gov/smartgrid.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) 8th NIST Cloud Computing Forum and Workshop will be held in Gaithersburg, Maryland on Tuesday, July 7, Wednesday, July 8, Thursday, July 9, and Friday July 10, 2015. The format is a four-day forum that emphasizes the participation and progress made by standard development organizations, researchers and the community of cloud computing experts. The Forum and Workshop will bring together leaders and innovators from industry, academia and government in an interactive format that combines keynote presentations, panel discussions, and breakout sessions. The forum and workshop are open to the general public. NIST invites presentations from interested speakers at this event as described in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below. In addition, NIST invites organizations to participate as exhibitors as described in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and other member laboratories of the Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer (FLC) offer a variety of specialized scientific and technical facilities, products, and services to the public, including access to instrumentation, reference materials, software, and calibrations. Access to such services is provided in a variety of ways, and may require the payment of fees or other costs and/or an application or agreement. NIST and other members of the FLC request information from the public regarding recommendations for online platforms that can broaden awareness and make it easier for the public to search for, locate, learn about, and obtain access to these facilities, products, and services. The information received in response to this RFI will be provided by NIST to various interagency groups for consideration and used to publicize various federal facilities and resources.

The Board of Overseers of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (Board of Overseers) and the Judges Panel of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (Judges Panel) will meet together in open session on Thursday, June 11, 2015, from 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Eastern time. The Board of Overseers, appointed by the Secretary of Commerce, reports the results of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (Award) activities to the Director of The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) each year, along with its recommendations for the improvement of the Award process. The Judges Panel, also appointed by the Secretary of Commerce, ensures the integrity of the Award selection process and recommends Award recipients to the Secretary of Commerce. The purpose of this meeting is to discuss and review information received from the National Institute of Standards and Technology and from the Chair of the Judges Panel. The agenda will include: Baldrige Program Update, Baldrige Fundraising Update, Baldrige Judges Panel Update, Ethics Review, Applicants and Eligibility, and New Business/Public Comment.

The Information Security and Privacy Advisory Board (ISPAB) will meet Wednesday, June 10, 2015, from 8:30 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time, Thursday, June 11 2015, from 8:30 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time, and Friday, June 12, 2015, from 8:30 a.m. until 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time. All sessions will be open to the public.

The Department of Commerce, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

This is a notice in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 209(e) and 37 CFR 404.7(a)(1)(i) that the National Institute of Standards and Technology (``NIST''), U.S. Department of Commerce, is contemplating the grant of an exclusive license in the United States of America, its territories, possessions and commonwealths, to NIST's interest in the invention embodied in U.S. Patent No. 8,918,884, entitled ``K-zero day safety,'' (NIST Docket No. 12-017) to the George Mason Research Foundation, Inc. The grant of the license would be for all fields of use.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) announces that the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) Advisory Board will hold an open meeting on Tuesday, May 19, 2015, from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Mountain Time.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) requests information about the broader needs of the industrial community in the area of quantum information science (QIS). NIST requests this information through its role in the Interagency Working Group on Quantum Information Science of the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) Committee on Science (CoS) Subcommittee on Physical Sciences (PSSC). NIST seeks input from stakeholders regarding opportunities for research and development, emerging market areas, barriers to near-term and future applications, and workforce needs. The information received in response to this RFI will inform and be considered by the Interagency Working Group making recommendations for the development and coordination of U.S. Government policies, programs, and budgets to advance U.S. competitiveness in QIS.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology announces a workshop on Quantum Information Science and the Needs of U.S. Industry, to be held on Friday, April 10, 2015. NIST is holding this workshop on behalf of the Interagency Working Group on Quantum Information Science of the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) Committee on Science (CoS) Subcommittee on Physical Sciences (PSSC). The purpose of the workshop is to solicit input from stakeholders about the broader needs of the industrial community in the area of quantum information science (QIS). Topics to be discussed include opportunities for research and development, emerging market areas, barriers to near-term and future applications, and workforce needs. Information gathered at this workshop will be used in the development and coordination of U. S. Government policies, programs, and budgets to advance U.S. competitiveness in QIS.

The Department of Commerce, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Smart Grid Advisory Committee (SGAC or Committee), will meet in open session on Tuesday, March 10, 2015 from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Eastern time and Wednesday, March 11, 2015 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Eastern time. The primary purposes of this meeting are to discuss the Grid 3.0 Strategic Planning Effort and NIST Transactive Energy, Distributed Energy Resources, Microgrid, and Smart City activities. The agenda may change to accommodate Committee business. The final agenda will be posted on the Smart Grid Web site at https://www.nist.gov/smartgrid.

The Department of Commerce, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), a non-regulatory agency of the United States Department of Commerce, in a cooperative partnership with the National Football League (NFL), the General Electric Company (GE) and Under Armour, Inc. (UA), is conducting a prize competition funding initiative to support the discovery, design and deployment of materials that improve the protection of athletes, members of the military, and society overall. The Head Health Advanced Materials Prize Competition (Head Health Challenge III, Challenge III, or Competition) is being conducted to broadly advance the science of materials for impact protection, as well as measurements and standards for assessing the performance of such materials. These advances are essential for the health of athletes of every age, and they will have a broad positive impact on the range of activities and occupations in our society that require protective gear. It is hoped that Head Health Challenge III will stimulate engagement with diverse science and technology communities across industry, academia and government (e.g. automotive, aerospace, light-weighting, and physical security) that can realize innovative approaches to this problem. Efforts to speed diagnosis and improve prevention, protection and treatment for mild traumatic brain injury hold promise for improved safety of athletes, members of the military and the American public. The NFL, GE and UA share a commitment to the importance of research and technology development to better understand, diagnose, prevent and protect against brain injury, as reflected in collaborations, including the Head Health Initiative. In this context, the development of energy- absorbing materials is highly aligned with the broader efforts of NIST under the President's Materials Genome Initiative, aimed at accelerating innovation in advanced materials to address critical national needs, and in keeping with NIST's mission. Previous Head Health Challenge collaborations by the NFL, GE and UA have addressed the detection and management of mild traumatic brain injuries, focused on discovering imaging and algorithms to better detect and analyze subtle changes in the brain (Head Health Challenge I: Methods for Diagnosis and Prognosis of Mild Traumatic Brain Injuries), and on novel technologies, system designs, or materials that can quantify head impact in real time, detect, track or monitor biologic or physiological indicators of traumatic brain injury, protect the brain from traumatic injury, mitigate or prevent short or long-term consequences of brain trauma, and assist in training to prevent traumatic brain injury (Head Health Challenge II: Innovative Approaches For Preventing And Identifying Brain Injuries). Information on Head Health Challenges I and II may be found at www.HeadHealthChallenge.com. The National Football League, Under Armour, GE and the National Institute of Standards and Technology have established a joint effort to advance the state-of-the-art in advanced materials for impact mitigation. The objective of Challenge III is to stimulate the development of a range of materials that provide excellent energy absorbing and energy dissipating properties. The NFL, Under Armour, GE and NIST look forward to receiving submissions consistent with the listed specifications that will aid in advancing safety and protection for athletes, the warfighter, and civilians.

The Visiting Committee on Advanced Technology (VCAT or Committee), National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), will meet in open session on Wednesday, February 4, 2015 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. Eastern Time and Thursday, February 5, 2015 from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Eastern Time. The VCAT is composed of fifteen members appointed by the NIST Director who are eminent in such fields as business, research, new product development, engineering, labor, education, management consulting, environment, and international relations.

The 100th Interim Meeting of the National Conference on Weights and Measures (NCWM) will be held in Daytona Beach, Florida, from Sunday, January 18, 2015 through Wednesday, January 21, 2015. This notice contains information about significant items on the NCWM Committee agendas, but does not include all agenda items. As a result, the items are not consecutively numbered.

The Information Security and Privacy Advisory Board (ISPAB) will meet Wednesday, February 11, 2015, from 8:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. Eastern Time, Thursday, February 12, 2015, from 8:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. Eastern Time, and Friday, February 13, 2015, from 8:30 a.m. until 12 p.m. Eastern Time. All sessions will be open to the public.