The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST*) is a nonregulatory federal agency of the Department of Commerce and is the national metrology institute of the United States. NIST’s role in the development of voluntary consensus standards (VCS) is rooted in many policy decisions and government directives that happened during the 1980s and 1990s. NIST has been a leader in the development of many standards, including documentary standards,† ever since its founding in 1901.

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