areas As of 2009 the institute's technical activities are organized into four program areas. These are: Spectrum and Propagation Measurements • Telecommunications and Information Technology Planning • Telecommunications Engineering, Analysis, and Modeling • and finally Telecommunications theory. Facilities The institute's facilities and capabilities include the following: • Audio-Visual Laboratories • Public Safety RF Laboratory • Public Safety Audio and Video Laboratories • Radio Spectrum Measurement Science (RSMS) Program • Secure Internet (SIPRNET) • Table Mountain Field Site/Radio Quiet Zone • Telecommunications Analysis Services Staff ITS’ staff of Federal employees have strong engineering and scientific skills and experience. The majority of employees are electronics engineers; the rest are mathematicians, physicists, computer scientists, and administrative staff. Sponsors ITS also describes itself as a valuable resource, which supports many Federal agencies and industry organization. Government The DOC and other Federal agencies sponsor the activities and programs of the institute. Agency sponsors that provide significant support include the National Institute of Standards and Technology's Office of Law Enforcement Standards, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Transportation, the Department of Defense, the National Archives, and the National Weather Service. Industry ITS supports private sector telecommunications research through cooperative research and development agreements (CRADAs) based on the Federal Technology Transfer Act of 1986. The Act encourages sharing of Government facilities and expertise as an aid in the commercialization of new products and services. ITS is a member of the Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer (FLC), formally chartered by the Federal Technology Transfer Act in 1986. CRADAs with other research organizations, telecommunications service providers, and equipment manufacturers support technology transfer and commercialization of telecommunications products and services, which are major goals of the DOC. ITS has had CRADAs with large companies as well as with small start-ups. Partnerships such as these enhance synergies between entrepreneurial ventures and broad national goals. History The Institute began in the 1940s as the Interservice Radio Propagation Laboratory, which later became the Central Radio Propagation Laboratory (CRPL) of the National Bureau of Standards in the U.S. Department of Commerce. A new facility was built for CRPL in Boulder, Colorado, and dedicated by President Eisenhower in September 1954. In 1965, CRPL became part of the Environmental Science Services Administration (ESSA). At that time, CRPL was renamed the Institute for Telecommunication Sciences and Aeronomy (ITSA). In 1967, ITSA split into four labs within ESSA: the Aeronomy Laboratory, the Space Disturbances Laboratory,