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Strategic Roadmap for Fire Risk Reduction in Buildings and Communities
Strategic Roadmap for Fire Risk Reduction in Buildings and Communities
Source: National Institute of Standards and Technology
From press release:
The United States already has one of the highest direct fire loss rates among developed nations, and progress in reducing this tremendous burden is slowing.
Fires claim more than 3,000 lives a year, injure more than 90,000 firefighters and civilians, and impose costs and losses totaling more than $300 billion—equivalent to about 2 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product.
Fire researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) believe that the devastating annual toll can be significantly reduced over the next two decades. Even better, they have a plan that prioritizes and details the research and other work needed to enable that goal.
Crafted with input from fire service organizations, standards and building-code developers, equipment manufacturers, insurers and others, NIST’s newly issued "strategic roadmap"* lays out a clear technological course for reducing the risk of fire in buildings and communities. It calls for tackling the nation’s fire problem on three fronts:
- Reducing fire hazards in buildings,
- Advancing firefighter technologies, and
- Reducing the risk of fire in communities bordering forests and "wildlands."
The new roadmap is NIST’s most comprehensive effort to establish fire-risk reduction goals for its programs since the influential America Burning report was published in the mid-1970s.
NIST Releases Technical Guidance for Evaluating Electronic Health Records
NIST Releases Technical Guidance for Evaluating Electronic Health Records
Source: National Institute of Standards and Technology
An important aspect of any product is how easily someone can use it for its intended purpose, also known as usability. Electronic health records (EHR) that are usable have the potential to improve patient care, which is why the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has outlined formal procedures for evaluating the usability of EHR systems.
The proposed usability protocol encourages a user-centered approach to the development of EHR systems. It provides methods to measure and address critical errors in user performance before those systems are deployed in a medical setting.
“This guidance can be a useful tool for EHR developers to demonstrate that their systems don’t lead to use errors or user errors,” said NIST researcher Matt Quinn. “It will provide a way for developers and evaluators to objectively assess how easy their EHR systems are to learn and operate, while maximizing efficiency.”
The protocol is a three-step process consisting of an analysis of how the application functions, expert review, and validation testing of the user interface to make sure it works as intended.The protocol includes general steps and guidance for evaluating an EHR user interface from a clinical perspective—does it contain, collect and display the information it needs to—and human factors perspectives—can the user understand it and easily find needed information. The interface is then tested by representative user groups performing realistic tasks.
+ Full Document (PDF)
NIST Releases Final Smart Grid ‘Framework 2.0′ Document
NIST Releases Final Smart Grid ‘Framework 2.0′ Document
Source: National Institute of Standards and Technology
An updated roadmap for the Smart Grid is now available from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), which recently finished reviewing and incorporating public comments into the NIST Framework and Roadmap for Smart Grid Interoperability Standards, Release 2.0.
The 2.0 Framework lays out a plan for transforming the nation’s aging electric power system into an interoperable Smart Grid—a network that will integrate information and communication technologies with the power-delivery infrastructure, enabling two-way flows of energy and communications.
The final version reflects input from a wide range of stakeholder groups, including representatives from trade associations, standards organizations, utilities and industries associated with the power grid.
+ Full Document (PDF)
Revision of SP 800-53 Addresses Current Cybersecurity Threats, Adds Privacy Controls
Revision of SP 800-53 Addresses Current Cybersecurity Threats, Adds Privacy Controls
Source: National Institute of Standards and Technology
A major revision of a Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) publication released today by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) adds guidance for combating new information security threats and incorporates new privacy controls to the framework that federal agencies use to protect their information and information systems.
To handle insider threats, supply chain risk, mobile and cloud computing technologies, and other cybersecurity issues and challenges, NIST has released Security and Privacy Controls for Federal Information Systems and Organizations, Special Publication (SP) 800-53, Revision 4 (Initial Public Draft). The document is considered a principal catalog of security standards and guidelines used by federal government agencies that NIST is required to publish by law.
“The changes we propose in Revision 4 are directly linked to the current state of the threat space—the capabilities, intentions and targeting activities of adversaries—and analysis of attack data over time,” explained Ron Ross, FISMA Implementation Project Leader and NIST fellow.
The revision also adds a new privacy appendix to the publication that provides privacy controls and associated implementation guidance. “Privacy and security are complementary, so we decided to combine them in SP 800-53,” said Ross.
Updated Guidelines to Help Ensure Electrical Devices are Smart Grid Ready
Taking a step closer to ensuring that new electrical devices will be ready to plug into the nation’s next-generation power grid, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)’s Smart Grid Interoperability Panel (SGIP) recently outlined the process by which test laboratories and certifying organizations are accredited for evaluation of Smart Grid products.This update to the Interoperability Process Reference Manual is a major step forward from the manual’s 1.0 version of last year, according to Rik Drummond, chair of the SGIP’s Testing and Certification Committee.…Smart Grid technologies aim to transform the nation’s aging electric power system into a network that integrates modern communication technologies with the power-delivery infrastructure. These changes will enable two-way flows of energy, communication and control capabilities.To render the countless devices that connect to the grid fully “interoperable”—able to work together seamlessly—hundreds of new standards are under development by the SGIP membership. Electrical devices—from the largest power generator to the smallest household appliance—will need to adhere to these standards if they are to function as desired. Drummond says accredited testing labs and certification bodies are vital for ensuring broad interoperability and speeding the implementation of the Smart Grid.
+ Full Document (PDF)
NIST Issues Cloud Computing Guidelines for Managing Security and Privacy
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has finalized its first set of guidelines for managing security and privacy issues in cloud computing.Guidelines on Security and Privacy in Public Cloud Computing (NIST Special Publication 800-144) provides an overview of the security and privacy challenges facing public cloud computing and presents recommendations that organizations should consider when outsourcing data, applications and infrastructure to a public cloud environment. The document provides insights on threats, technology risks and safeguards related to public cloud environments to help organizations make informed decisions about this use of this technology.…The key guidelines include:
- Carefully plan the security and privacy aspects of cloud computing solutions before implementing them.
- Understand the public cloud computing environment offered by the cloud provider.
- Ensure that a cloud computing solution—both cloud resources and cloud-based applications—satisfy organizational security and privacy requirements.
- Maintain accountability over the privacy and security of data and applications implemented and deployed in public cloud computing environments.
NIST Releases Two New SRMs for Monitoring Human Exposure to Environmental Toxins
NIST Releases Two New SRMs for Monitoring Human Exposure to Environmental Toxins
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), has developed two new Standard Reference Materials (SRMs) for measurements of human exposure to environmental toxins. Used as a sort of chemical ruler to check the accuracy of tests and analytic procedures, the new reference materials replace and improve older versions, adding measures for emerging environmental contaminants such as perchlorate, a chemical that the Environmental Protection Agency has targeted for regulation as a contaminant under the Safe Drinking Water Act.
The CDC will use the new SRMs—3668, “Mercury, Perchlorate, and Iodide in Frozen Human Urine” and 2668, “Toxic Elements in Frozen Human Urine”—as quality controls for urine tests during their biennial National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (see www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhanes.htm.)
Because sample collection is non-invasive and the test results reflect exposures as recent as two days, urine is preferred for clinical diagnostics and monitoring of toxic environmental chemicals. Once collected, samples are frozen while they await testing.
Greenhouse Gases: The Measurement Challenge
Greenhouse Gases: The Measurement Challenge
Source: National Institute of Standards and Technology
The continuing increase in the level of carbon dioxide and other “greenhouse gases” in the Earth’s atmosphere has been identified as a cause for serious concern because it may radically accelerate changes in the Earth’s climate. Developing an effective strategy for managing the planet’s greenhouse gases is complicated by the many and varied sources of such gases, some natural, some man-made, as well as the mechanisms that capture and “sequester” the gases. A new report sponsored by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) focuses on one of the key challenges: defining and developing the technology needed to better quantify greenhouse gas emissions.
The new report, “Advancing Technologies and Strategies for Greenhouse Gas Emissions Quantification,” is the result of a special workshop in the NIST Foundations for Innovation series, convened in June 2010, to bring together greenhouse gas experts from government, industry, academia and the scientific community to address the technology and measurement science challenges in monitoring greenhouse gases.
A wide variety of techniques are used for measuring greenhouse gas emissions and, to a lesser extent, the effectiveness of “sinks”—things like the ocean and forests that absorb greenhouse gases and sequester the carbon. The problem is that developing an effective global strategy for managing greenhouse gases requires a breadth of measurement technologies and standards covering not only complex chemical and physical phenomena, but also huge differences in scale. These range from point sources at electric power plants to distributed sources, such as large agricultural and ranching concerns, to large-scale sinks such as forests and seas. Satellite-based systems, useful for atmospheric monitoring, must be reconciled with ground-based measurements. Reliable, accepted international standards are necessary so governments can compare data with confidence, requiring a lot of individual links to forge an open and verifiable chain of measurement results accepted by all.
The report identifies and discusses, in detail, four broad areas of opportunity for technology development and improvement:
- Advanced science and technology for reliably quantifying greenhouse gas emissions, regardless of geography, sector or source;
- Accurate and reliable quantification of distributed carbon sources and sinks;
- Consistent, standardized methods for measurable, reportable and verifiable greenhouse gas emissions data; and
- Integration of ground-based (bottom-up) and remote atmospheric observation (top-down) methods.
Smart Grid Panel Agrees on Standards and Guidelines for Wireless Communication, Meter Upgrades
Smart Grid Panel Agrees on Standards and Guidelines for Wireless Communication, Meter Upgrades
Source: National Institute of Standards and Technology
The governing board of the public-private Smart Grid Interoperability Panel (SGIP) has voted in favor of a new standard and a set of guidelines important for making the long-planned “smart” electricity grid a reality. The documents address the need for wireless communications among grid-connected devices as well as the ability to upgrade household electricity meters as the Smart Grid evolves.
The SGIP identified “Guidelines for Assessing Wireless Communications for Smart Grid Applications” and “Meter Upgradeability Standard” as critical needs for realizing an energy-efficient, modern power grid with seamlessly interoperable parts. They are now among 17 other standards development projects called “Priority Action Plans,” or PAPs.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) created the SGIP, a group of public and private organizations, to coordinate the development of consensus-based Smart Grid standards. According to SGIP Administrator Erich Gunther, the two new PAPs are important for ensuring real-time communication, which will be a hallmark of the new grid.
“The standards and guidelines resulting from PAP 0 and PAP 2 are crucial to ensuring that metering devices can be upgraded remotely and reliably, and that the sort of fast, efficient wireless communications typical today with cell phones becomes a part of the future electricity grid,” Gunther said.Almost every house has an electricity meter, and the PAP 0 standard is designed to ensure that the new generation of smart electricity meters does not quickly become obsolete. According to Paul Molitor, Industry Director for Smart Grid at the National Electrical Manufacturers Association, PAP 0 aims to “future-proof” these meters.
“More than 50 million houses across the country will need new meters for the Smart Grid to function, and PAP 0 will ensure that this substantial upfront investment of time and money is protected,” Molitor said. “Some state utilities have considered halting the deployment of the new meters because of uncertainty about upgrading the meters. PAP 0 addresses their concerns by making it possible to upgrade any meter as the standards evolve, and to do so remotely to boot.”
PAP 2 is a guideline that recommends the standards that will be necessary for wireless communications between all devices connected to the Smart Grid – not just the meters on your house, but the wide range of components in power plants, substations and transmission systems necessary to keep energy flowing among the many points on the grid.
+ PAP00: Meter Upgradability Standard
+ PAP02: Wireless Communications for the Smart Grid (6.1.5)
