§ 7506. Department of Commerce programs
(a)
NIST programs
The Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology shall—
(1)
as part of the Program activities under section
7501
(b)(7) of this title, establish a program to conduct basic research on issues related to the development and manufacture of nanotechnology, including metrology; reliability and quality assurance; processes control; and manufacturing best practices; and
(2)
utilize the Manufacturing Extension Partnership program [1] to the extent possible to ensure that the research conducted under paragraph (1) reaches small- and medium-sized manufacturing companies.
(b)
Clearinghouse
The Secretary of Commerce or his designee, in consultation with the National Nanotechnology Coordination Office and, to the extent possible, utilizing resources at the National Technical Information Service, shall establish a clearinghouse of information related to commercialization of nanotechnology research, including information relating to activities by regional, State, and local commercial nanotechnology initiatives; transition of research, technologies, and concepts from Federal nanotechnology research and development programs into commercial and military products; best practices by government, universities and private sector laboratories transitioning technology to commercial use; examples of ways to overcome barriers and challenges to technology deployment; and use of manufacturing infrastructure and workforce.
[1] See Change of Name note below.