New Office Champions NIST Support for Industry in NII Applications

The Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology announced today the creation of a new office to coordinate the agency's technical support for large and small companies developing applications to use on the National Information Infrastructure.

The Office of Enterprise Integration serves as a focal point for efforts throughout the NIST laboratories that provide the technical underpinnings for applications of information technology in areas such as manufacturing, construction, health care and government services.

"We want to help NIST's customers in industry to make better use of information technology, in order to increase their capability for efficient production of high-quality, lower cost, adaptive products," NIST Director Arati Prabhakar said.

Researchers in NIST's laboratories work with companies from many sectors of the U.S. economy. To streamline service, the Office of Enterprise Integration provides an initial point of contact for policy makers and researchers in industry, academia and government interested in learning more about NIST activities related to information infrastructure development, enterprise integration and electronic commerce.

Working with other federal agencies, the new office also supports NIST's participation in the Clinton Administration's effort to advance the National Information Infrastructure. The Information Infrastructure Task Force, led by Commerce Secretary Ronald H. Brown, charged the Committee on Applications and Technology, chaired by Prabhakar, with coordinating efforts to develop and demonstrate applications of information technology in areas such as manufacturing, education and health care.

Cita M. Furlani has been named to head the Office of Enterprise Integration, which is part of NIST's Computer Systems Laboratory. In her previous role as senior program analyst, Furlani coordinated NIST's participation in the Committee on Applications and Technology. Furlani also managed research and development programs within the NIST Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory for applying information technology to manufacturing. She holds a master of science degree in electronics and computer engineering from George Mason University and a bachelor of arts degree in physics and mathematics from Texas Christian University.

As part of a larger NIST effort to support the information technology industry, the OEI is expected to become part of the planned Information Technology Laboratory, a combination and enhancement of the functions of two existing NIST labs, the Computer Systems Laboratory and the Computing and Applied Mathematics Laboratory. Details of the proposed lab have not been finalized.

To reach the new office, contact the Office of Enterprise Integration, Computer Systems Laboratory, Room 102 Building 415, NIST, Gaithersburg, Md. 20899-0001, (301) 975-4529, fax: (301) 948-7242, e-mail: jbrooks [at] nist.gov (jbrooks[at]nist[dot]gov) (via Internet).