WASHINGTON — The National Retail Federation here yesterday announced the Basics of Retailing credential program, aimed at fostering a deeper familiarity with the retailing industry among IT professionals and those with expertise in other domains. The program will offer employees of IT service providers, or employees of retail companies who lack prior experience in retail, an industry standard to benchmark and gauge their retail domain expertise. Infosys Technologies was the first organization to engage NRF and has exclusive access to the program for one year. The program will be available to all professionals in early 2008. “NRF is committed to advancing education in all retail sectors,” said Tracy Mullin, NRF president and chief executive officer, in a statement. “This new credential program is a significant step forward in creating a benchmark to align information technology with the business goals of retailers.”