Washington, D.C. – The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and six other federal agencies have launched a new effort to exchange information about manufacturing research and development (R&D) technical programs.

They aim to enhance payoffs from federal R&D investments, collaborate when it makes sense to leverage resources, and advance issues on an inter-agency level, NIST said.

NIST said the Government Agencies Technology Exchange in Manufacturing (GATE-M) effort "will comprehensively address manufacturing R&D across the federal government to benefit the agencies, U.S. manufacturers and the economy as a whole."

Strategies include detailed interagency reviews of programs in specific areas and issuing joint white papers or position papers. Agencies also may jointly sponsor workshops, promote and sponsor development of "roadmaps" in specific technical areas, and jointly encourage or support industrial research.

"The intent is to involve the manufacturing community of industry, government and trade associations in an integrated effort," NIST said in a statement.

Two topics were identified as initial priority areas: intelligence in manufacturing, a cross-cutting technology area that could transform how manufacturing is carried out in the future; and nano- and micro-scale systems and technologies, an emerging area of science and technology that promises to have a significant and broad impact on U.S. manufacturing as well as the nation’s economy.

Other technical areas, including homeland and national security, are of interest as well.

Other U.S. agencies involved in GATE-M include the Department of Defense; the Department of Energy, represented by two separate entities: the National Nuclear Security Administration and the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy; the National Aeronautics and Space Administration; and the National Science Foundation.

A copy of the GATE-M report is available online at a NIST web site.