National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

NIST is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce. Its mission is to promote American innovation and industrial competitiveness. Being founded in 1901 makes it more than 120 years old today.

NIST has a number of standing committees, each focused on a different aspect of technology and security.

One way how NIST is relevant for the Health Care industry, is because of its “Cybersecurity Framework”. Though it is intended to serve as voluntary guidance to organizations, for the Health Care industry it has been made mandatory, see HIPAA Security Rule - Technical Safeguards and FIPS.