New Head of NIST Nomination
President Joe Biden has made cybersecurity an area of importance in the first year of his presidency. That is expected to continue as we move through 2022. The Biden Administration started the year off strong by resending its nomination for a new head of the NIST to the Senate.
Who Was Nominated?
Laurie Locascio was nominated to be the next head of the NIST. She is currently the Vice President for research at the University of Maryland. She oversees research, technology commercialization, and strategic partnerships on College Park and Baltimore campuses.
Locascio was also the acting principal deputy director of NIST’s Laboratory programs before working for the University of Maryland.
A Slow Process
The process of approving a new head of the NIST has been prolonged. The Biden Administration first sent their nomination to the Senate in July of 2021. Unfortunately, a vote was not held before the end of the year’s session. As a result, the Biden Administration needed to resubmit the nomination in the new session of congress.
What Are Locascio’s Plans for the Future?
During her original nomination hearing in October, Locascio outlined some of the things she wanted to focus on as the new head of the NIST. She said she would prioritize cybersecurity of the Internet of Things (IoT) devices, bridging the cybersecurity workforce gap, and building trust in artificial intelligence technologies.
She was quoted as saying, “IoT is such an important technology right now, all the Internet of Things and linking everything that we do together. There are so many important parts of that, including the security and safety and the reliability of those devices. I understand that [NIST] has work already ongoing in the cybersecurity of the Internet of Things, And, if I’m confirmed, I would continue to prioritize that because the connectedness really also could be a vulnerability, and so we need to make sure we have security built-in.”
When Will the Senate Vote to Confirm the Nomination?
Unfortunately, there is not a set a date for a confirmation vote. As with all things government-related, this is expected to be a slow process. However, with the resubmission of Locascio’s nomination, there is hope that they will vote before congress is out of session
By: Alex O’Reilly
Sources: https://www.meritalk.com/articles/senate-commerce-clears-nist-director-nomination/
https://www.fedscoop.com/white-house-sends-nist-leader-nomination-to-senate/