President's FY 2001 Budget Seeks $722 Million for Technology Administration to Strengthen America's Technology-Driven Economy

President Clinton’s fiscal year 2001 budget request for the Commerce Department’s Technology Administration is $722 million, Commerce Secretary William Daley announced today.

Daley said, "The economy of the 21st century is driven by technology and innovation. The magnificent technological achievements of American industry since the Second World War have accounted for over 50 percent of the nation’s economic growth—and made us the leader in the global marketplace."

"The President, with his budget for our Technology Administration, is committed to maintaining—and bettering—that success. By firmly investing in the nation’s technology base, the budget submitted today will energize and strengthen TA’s programs in partnership with U.S. industry, and in turn, maximize technology’s contribution to economic growth, job creation, competitiveness and quality of life."

Led by the Under Secretary for Technology, the Technology Administration includes the Office of the Under Secretary for Technology (including the Office of Space Commercialization), the Office of Technology Policy, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the National Technical Information Service.

Highlighting the FY 2001 budget request are four initiatives:

$60 million to protect the nation’s critical information infrastructure by:

• establishing the Institute for Information Infrastructure Protection (known as IIIP) to support research and technology development to protect critical information and telecommunications infrastructures from attack or other failures ($50 million);
• developing new measurements, standards, test methods and guidelines to better protect information technology elements ($5 million); and
• creating and fielding a team of computer security experts (known as the Critical Infrastructure Protection Expert Review Team) to help federal agencies identify and fix existing vulnerabilities in information systems and prepare for future IT security threats ($5 million).

$14 million to expedite the transition to electronic commerce by:

• enabling NIST’s Manufacturing Extension Partnership national network of assistance centers for small manufacturers to work with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Small Business Administration on an e-commerce outreach program ($9 million);
• providing the leadership and technical expertise to harmonize standards for e-commerce and increase software interoperability so that electronic data exchange among businesses, especially manufacturers, is smooth ($4 million); and
• providing measurement techniques for characterizing antennas andmicrocircuits, interoperability standards and test methods to assure the quality of new wireless products and services ($1 million).

$46.4 million to expand the technology horizon by:

• developing the measurements and standards needed to exploit nanotechnology—the science and technology of devices and materials created by manipulating atoms and molecules ($10 million);
• increasing funding for the NIST Advanced Technology Program to speed the development of innovative technologies offering broad national benefits through cost-shared partnerships with the private sector ($31.8 million);
• developing an economic roadmap for accelerating commercialization ofPartnership for a New Generation of Vehicles technologies expected to lead to clean and efficient transportation ($125,000); and
• advancing the application of combinatorial methods—research techniques which combine advances in information technology and automation to enable scientists to conduct many experiments simultaneously ($4.5 million).   

$15.9 million to strengthen the science and technology infrastructure by:

• partnering with minority-serving institutions (Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic serving institutions, and tribal Colleges and universities) to broaden the nation’s pool of science and technology talent and to foster full participation of all Americans in the technology-driven economy ($8 million);
• expanding the number of NIST postdoctoral fellows sponsored from 90 to 112 while increasing efforts to encourage and mentor minority applicants ($3 million);
• keeping existing NIST laboratory facilities (in Gaithersburg, Md., and Boulder, Colo.) in reliable working order by funding critical safety, capacity, maintenance and repair efforts, as well as designing a new primary electrical service for the Boulder campus ($4.5 million);
• responding to Congressional mandates to increase market analysis of the commercialization of outer space ($125,000);
• increasing visibility and impact of the National Medal of Technology($125,000); and
• improving the monitoring and measurement of government partnerships with U.S. industry ($125,000).

The President’s FY 2001 request for TA breaks down as follows:

• $8.7 million for the Office of the Under Secretary for Technology and the Office of Technology Policy to support (1) the initiatives described previously; (2) TA’s Office of Space Commercialization; (3) TA’s leadership in several interagency civilian technology efforts (such as PNGV); (4) administering grants previously made by the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Technology (known as EPSCoT) to foster technology-based growth in areas traditionally under-represented by federal R&D funding; (5) the National Medal of Technology; and (6) the OTP’s role as the Executive Branch’s principal civilian technology policy analyst and advocate.
• $713 million for the National Institute of Standards and Technology to operate—in close partnership with the private sector—civilian technology support programs that focus on a key element for the nation’s continued economic growth and global competitiveness: the best science and innovation in the world.

NIST’s challenge is to anticipate, develop and provide American industry with the technology, measurements and standards support it needs now and in the future.

The FY 2001 budget request for NIST is divided into three appropriations:

• $337.5 million for efforts under the Scientific and Technical Research Services (STRS) appropriation that includes funding for (1) the NIST Measurement and Standards Laboratories and (2) the Baldrige National Quality Program.Included in the STRS are the initiatives described previously for information infrastructure protection R&D, the Critical Infrastructure Protection Expert Review Team, nanotechnology, combinatorial methods, minority-serving institutions, expanded postdoctoral sponsorships, manufacturing interoperability and wireless/IT measurement techniques.

This request includes:

• $332.3 million for the Measurement and Standards Laboratories to provide U.S. industry and the science/technology community with the measurement capabilities, standards, evaluated reference data and test methods needed to support innovation, improve quality and lower transaction costs in virtually all technology-intensive sectors.
• $5.2 million for the Baldrige National Quality Program to manage theannual award competition, conduct the annual Quest for Excellenceconference where Baldrige award winners share their performanceexcellence strategies, maintain a comprehensive database on state and local quality awards, continually improve the performance excellence criteria, and facilitate information sharing among all sectors of the U.S.economy.
• $339.6 million for technology development and industrial outreach under the Industrial Technology Services (ITS) appropriation that includes (1) cost-shared funding to industry for high-risk research and development through the Advanced Technology Program; and (2) more widely distributed services and expanded hands-on technical assistance to smaller manufacturers through a nationwide network of centers under the Manufacturing Extension Partnership.

This request provides:

• $175.5 million for the Advanced Technology Program. Included is the$31.8 million increase described previously as part of the initiative to expand the technology horizon. This new funding, when combined with anticipated carryover and prior year recoveries, will fund $65 million in new awards in FY 2001. 
• $114.1 million for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership. The request will permit NIST to continue providing the federal contributions to support the network of centers serving smaller manufacturers in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. This includes the $9 million initiative for a new emphasis on e-commerce.
• $50 million for the IIIP initiative described previously.
• $35.9 million for improving NIST’s 30- to 45-year-old research facilities under the Construction of Research Facilities (CRF) appropriations described previously as part of the initiative to strengthen the science and technology infrastructure.

The FY 2001 budget proposal also requests elimination of the $1.4 million disaster research program on the effects of windstorms and a $6 million decrease in MEP base funding due to a redirection of funds to support the e-commerce outreach initiative.  

National Technical Information Service

The Commerce Department has proposed legislation to cease operations of NTIS by the end of FY 2000. The legislation would maintain the NTIS collection of scientific and technical information by transferring the collection to the Library of Congress effective Oct. 1, 2000. A supplemental transfer from NIST of $4.5 million is being requested in FY 2000 for NTIS closure costs.

NOTE TO EDITORS: Reporters needing more detail may obtain a more comprehensive document, "FY 2001 Technology Administration Budget Highlights,"by calling (301) 975-2762, faxing a request to (301) 926-1630, or sending an electronic mail request to media [at] nist.gov (media[at]nist[dot]gov).

This detailed budget summary, supplemental fact sheets, a budget process flowchart, last year’s budget process history and other relevant materials are available on the World Wide Web at www.ta.doc.gov or www.nist.gov/budget2001.

Additionally at the same web site, reporters and others may sign up online for comprehensive TA FY 2001 budget updates from NIST throughout the appropriations legislative process.