Cybersecurity, Research, Development and Implementation Industry Day/Pre-Solicitation Conference

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) will host a Cybersecurity, Research, Development and Implementation Industry Day/Pre-solicitation Conference to discuss with industry stakeholders, in an open forum, the specific intentions of NIST regarding an upcoming opportunity supporting the Information Technology Laboratory (ITL). This one-day event consists of short presentations followed by extensive discussions with audience participation. For more details about this event and related upcoming acquisitions, refer to the official notice posted to the Federal Business Opportunities (FBO) website (www.fbo.gov) under notice number AMDTC-17-0003.

Background:

NIST is responsible for developing standards and Special Publications, including minimum requirements, that provide adequate information security for all Federal agencies’ operations and assets, but such standards and Special Publications shall not apply to national security systems. With a new and re-energized national emphasis on information security, the NIST Information Technology Laboratory’s (ITL) Computer Security Division (CSD) is uniquely positioned to ensure that new technology initiatives are selected, deployed, and operated in a manner that does not increase the risk to organizational missions, individuals, and the Nation. The responsibilities assigned to NIST, and by extension CSD, in the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) to assist the federal agencies in securing their information systems and develop cybersecurity standard, guidelines, and associated methods and techniques are major parts of the CSD portfolio of tasking and responsibility.

Event Purpose & Goals:

This effort’s purpose is to gain technical expertise and consultation in multiple specified areas of cyber and information security to ensure that the NIST mission can be met to “provide standards, technology, tools, and practices to protect our nation’s information and information systems.”

NIST expects the requirements of its mission to expand and anticipates the need for support in meeting these requirements. The support needed to ensure a successful mission ranges from internal programmatic support to technical expertise and research consulting in a wide range of cyber and information security areas. It is also anticipated that CSD will need support with outreach efforts of various kinds.

The intended outcome is for NIST to have the ability to ensure that support is available when needed for specific tasks, as they are identified through internal requirement and resource evaluation, so NIST can accomplish its mission, meet higher organizational expectations, and provide cyber and information security mechanisms to reduce the risks to organizations, individuals, and the Nation.