The Government Accountability Office has called on the National Institute of Standards and Technology to ensure its measurement and documentary standards services line up with and address the needs of industry.
Specifically, the NIST should make it a policy to conduct a “periodic comprehensive management review of the agency’s measurement services to assess gaps and ensure alignment with stakeholders’ needs,†the GAO said in a Congressional report published Thursday.
The report details the findings of a performance audit that the GAO had conducted on the NIST beginning July 2016.
The audit revealed that the NIST determines industry needs for measurement and documentary standards using several methods including individual outreach by NIST’s technicians, collaboration mechanisms such as consortia and the use of feedback tools like surveys.
The GAO pointed out, however, that “these assessments do not comprehensively identify and assess gaps in NIST’s services†or how well they match the requirements of the agency’s clients and partners.
A management review would augment the NIST’s efforts and would provide the agency “with greater confidence that its activities align with stakeholders’ needs,†the GAO reported.