Nstc Report: Improving Federal Laboratories

The National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) released a report today entitled Improving Federal Laboratories to Meet the Challenges of the 21st Century. The report comes in response to a 1995 directive from the President to selected agencies to streamline management and oversight of their laboratories, to clarify and focus laboratory missions, and to explore opportunities to coordinate and integrate laboratories resources and facilities on an interagency and intra-agency basis. This report is not intended to address security concerns at the Department of Energy, or any other Federal agency. Nineteen Federal agencies collaborated in the production of this report.

After an extensive review process, NSTC has proposed six actions to improve the scientific and technical quality, the cost-effectiveness, responsiveness, and utilization of the laboratory system. They include:

· Make personnel policies more flexible and conducive to a high-caliber S&T workforce;

· Create incentives to reward agencies and laboratories for divesting unneeded infrastructure;

· Increase productivity by adopting responsible, risk-based, outcome-oriented business practices and environmental, health, safety, and security regulations and procedures;

· Address issues related to stewardship of user facilities when several agencies are involved;

· Increases awareness of laboratory core competencies, facilities, and capabilities and how to obtain access;

· Improve the management and conduct of certain types of long-term R&D projects and tasks by providing multi-year funding;

Privacy Statement