BECAUSE WE HAVE SOUGHT THE VIEWS OF THE NBS STAFF, THE PRESS HAS

REPORTED DETAILS OF WHAT HAS BEEN REFERRED TO AS A COMING REORGANIZATION.
THAT IS INCORRECT. WHAT WE HAVE NOW IS ONLY A PROPOSAL WHICH MAY VERY
WELL BE CHANGED. HOWEVER, I WOULD LIKE TO SHARE WITH YOU MY THOUGHTS.
THE TECHNICAL PROGRAM STAFF COULD BE DIVIDED INTO TWO MAJOR
GROUPS-A NATIONAL MEASUREMENT LABORATORY AND A NATIONAL
ENGINEERING LABORATORY. A NATIONAL MEASUREMENT LABORATORY,

AS ITS NAME IMPLIES, WOULD BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE NATIONAL
SYSTEM OF PHYSICAL, CHEMICAL, AND MATERIALS MEASUREMENT. A
NATIONAL ENGINEERING LABORATORY WOULD BE RESPONSIBLE FOR RESEARCH,
DEVELOPMENT, AND SERVICES ALLIED TO SOLVING NATIONAL PROBLEMS
IN ENGINEERING AND APPLIED SCIENCE. ITS PROGRAMS COULD INCLUDE
FIRE RESEARCH, BUILDING TECHNOLOGY, AND CONSUMER PRODUCT
TECHNOLOGY. IN ADDITION TO SUPPORTING AND CARRYING OUT THE
CURRENT PROGRAMS OF NBS, EACH OF THE TWO MAJOR LABORATORIES

COULD BE CHARGED WITH BUILDING IN DEPTH COMPETENCES FOR THE FUTURE.

A THIRD GROUP COMPOSED OF NATIONAL CENTERS FOR COOPERATIVE TECHNOLOGY, COULD
BE ESTABLISHED TO INCREASE THE BUREAU'S COUPLING WITH INDUSTRY,
GOVERNMENT, AND THE UNIVERSITIES. WE ARE EXPLORING THE ROLE
SUCH CENTERS COULD PLAY IN THE DEVELOPMENT, IMPROVEMENT AND
TRANSFER OF TECHNOLOGY IN INSTANCES WHERE THE PRIVATE SECTOR,
ACTING ALONE, CANNOT OR WILL NOT DO THE JOB. THE WORD "COOPERATIVE"
IS THE KEY. PROBLEMS COULD BE IDENTIFIED, PROGRAMS INITIATED,
MONITORED, AND PHASED OUT, ALL IN CLOSE "COOPERATION" WITH THE
USERS. THE CENTER COULD WORK WITH INDUSTRY, STATE AND LOCAL
GOVERNMENTS, AND IN SOME CASES FOREIGN GROUPS, PARTICULARLY IN
LESS DEVELOPED COUNTRIES. THE CENTERS COULD USE, WHEN APPROPRIATE,
RELEVANT EXPERTS IN THE TWO MAJOR NBS LABORATORIES, AS WELL AS IN
PRIVATE ORGANIZATIONS.

As DR. BARUCH TESTIFIED, THE IMPETUS FOR THE PROPOSED CREATION OF THE

COOPERATIVE TECHNOLOGY PROGRAM, WHICH IS DISTINCT AND SEPARATE FROM

ANY REORGANIZATION WHICH MAY OR MAY NOT INVOLVE THE CREATION OF

NATIONAL CENTERS FOR COOPERATIVE TECHNOLOGY, IS THE REALIZATION
THAT THE APPLICATION OF TECHNOLOGY PLAYS A CRITICAL ROLE IN
ECONOMIC GROWTH. INNOVATION AND THE PROCESS OF TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER
IS NOT SUFFICIENTLY WELL UNDERSTOOD, AND WE VIEW THIS ENDEAVOR AS
BOTH AN OPPORTUNITY TO CONTRIBUTE AND TO LEARN. CERTAINLY WE SHOULD
BE CONCERNED WITH THE ADVERSE SIDE-EFFECTS OF THE INTRODUCTION OF
NEW TECHNOLOGY, BUT WE SHOULD ALSO BECOME MORE CONCERNED, THAN WE
HAVE BEEN IN THE IMMEDIATE PAST, WITH THE BENEFICIAL EFFECTS OF
TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION ON THE ECONOMY.

I AM EXCITED BY THE PROSPECTS FOR THE FUTURE AND LOOK FORWARD TO A

CONTINUING DIALOG WITH THIS COMMITTEE.

STATEMENT OF DR. ERNEST AMBLER, ACTING DIRECTOR,
NATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS

Dr. AMBLER. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

The Bureau of Standards was created by Congress in 1901, and we operate under the Organic Act of that date, as amended. That Act assigns us five major functions:

-Developing, maintaining and disseminating standards of physical measurement;

"

-Determining materials properties and physical constants; -Developing test methods for materials, mechanisms, and structures;

-Establishing standard practices in cooperation with Government agencies and the private sector; and

-Providing advisory services to Government agencies.

As we look at the Bureau of Standards, we see that the activities are really twofold. First, NBS assures the accuracy and uniformity of measurements made in science, industry, and commerce through traceability to national measurement standards; and second, we apply our technical competence to assist in the solution of national problems. I would like to say a word about our facilities and people. We have an extremely fine site in Gaithersburg, Md., and another one in Boulder, Colo. We operate two radio stations, transmitting time and frequency signals, one in Colorado and one in Hawaii.

There are over 3,000 people who work at the Bureau of Standards626 have Ph. D. degrees, 298 have masters' degrees, and 434 have bachelor's degrees. So that we are a highly trained organization, not only in the area that you would expect, in physics, chemistry, and engineering, but we also have architects, psychologists, lawyers, and many other types of disciplines that are necessary for us to conduct our programs in the social, economic, and legal context that technological problems always find themselves.

We are organized into four Institutes. These Institutes have served us well in the past, but we are contemplating some reorganization, and I will refer to this later.

Our funding comes from three main sources: Direct appropriations from Congress, about $70 million this fiscal year; contracts from other Federal agencies from which this year we'll receive $48 million. We also receive about $5.6 million in fees for the provision of specific services such as calibrations, the sale of standard reference materials, and the use of our computer facilities.

In recent years Congress has recognized our capabilities by giving us a variety of new assignments. The list of these assignments is comprehensive, and includes assignments under the Brooks Act of 1965, an act that gave NBS major responsibilities in the automatic data. processing area; and under various energy bills. In particular, under the Federal Nonnuclear Energy Research and Development Act of 1974, NBS is evaluating for the Department of Energy, energy-related inventions submitted by individuals and small businesses. As of September 30, we had received 6,260 evaluation requests and completed