§ 7506. Department of Commerce programs

• (a) The Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology shall—
  • (1) as part of the Program activities under section 7501(b)(7) of this title , establish a program to conduct basic research on issues related to the development and manufacture of nanotechnology, including metrology; reliability and quality assurance; processes control; and manufacturing best practices; and
  • (2) utilize the Manufacturing Extension Partnership program 1 1 See Change of Name note below. to the extent possible to ensure that the research conducted under paragraph (1) reaches small- and medium-sized manufacturing companies.
• (b) The Secretary of Commerce or his designee, in consultation with the National Nanotechnology Coordination Office and, to the extent possible, utilizing resources at the National Technical Information Service, shall establish a clearinghouse of information related to commercialization of nanotechnology research, including information relating to activities by regional, State, and local commercial nanotechnology initiatives; transition of research, technologies, and concepts from Federal nanotechnology research and development programs into commercial and military products; best practices by government, universities and private sector laboratories transitioning technology to commercial use; examples of ways to overcome barriers and challenges to technology deployment; and use of manufacturing infrastructure and workforce.