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Bureau of International Commerce

Harold B. Scott, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Director

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veloping foreign countries.

7. It works through the Foreign Serv.
ice of the U.S. to keep informed on
overseas developments having a bear-
ing on U.S. trade. Country and re-
gional specialists study closely eco-
nomic trends, patterns of trade, regu-
lations, policies,
policies, and commercial
practices in all parts of the world.

8. It issues a wide variety of publications for businessmen. These include Overseas Business Reports, providing information needed by exporters, investors, manufacturers, and researchers; Market Share Reports, pinpointing the worldwide movement of each of more than 1,100 groups of manufactured products; International Marketing Information Service, providing, in three series of publications, a broad range of marketing informa. tion organized along both product and geographic lines; and Foreign Economic Trends, reporting the latest information on, and outlook for, broad economic developments in foreign countries.

9. It helps exporters find overseas agents and distributors both through intensive market development work in connection with overseas trade exhibitions and through its World Trade Directory Reports and Trade Lists.

10. BIC's International Business Assistance Service assists U.S. firms with government-related problems in connection with specific export trans. actions, and helps firms compete for major foreign projects.

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National Bureau of Standards

Lewis M. Branscomb, Director

More and more, industry depends for its advancement on the fruits of scientific discovery and technological development. From the science of measurement we derive the process of mass production, with its dependence on precisely measured interchangeable parts; from investigations of the properties of materials come the new products and manufacturing processes which invigorate our industry and economy.

The National Bureau of Standards is the Nation's central measurement standards laboratory. Its research program covers the entire range of the physical and engineering sciences. NBS is organized into six technical subunits.

The Institute for Basic Standards provides the central basis within the United States for a complete and consistent system of physical measurement, coordinates that system with the measurement systems of other nations, and furnishes essential services leading to accurate and uniform physical measurements throughout the Nation's scientific, industrial, and commercial communities. In addition to the basic standards of length and mass, the Bureau maintains the standards for many other physical quantities. Some of these standards, radio standards for example, are developed at NBS laboratories in Boulder, Colo.

The Institute for Materials Research assists and stimulates industry in the development of new and improved products by supplying materials data through direct experimentation and measurement and through collection and dissemination of data

from other sources. NBS prepares and distributes samples of standard materials whose chemical composition or physical and chemical properties have been precisely determined. By using these standard materials, a laboratory can make a check of the accuracy of its measuring instruments and methods of analysis.

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The Institute for Applied Technology stimulates the application of scientific and technological developments to the production line in industry. The program speeds technological change by assisting in the dissemination of technical information and by developing criteria to permit better evaluation of products and services. This Institute carries out research related to consumer products under the responsibilities assigned to the Department of Commerce by such legislation as the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act, the Flammable Fabrics Act, and the Fire Research and Safety Act.

The Center for Radiation Research does measurement and standards work and basic research in radiation, and serves as a technical resource to the rest of the Bureau.

The Center for Computer Sciences and Technology develops standards for computer hardware and software, and advises other Government agencies on ADP problems.

The Office of Information Programs consolidates all the data and information activities in the National Bureau of Standards, and seeks to increase the efficiency of information and technology transfer.

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