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NIH electronic Research NIH electronic Research Administration:Administration:

NIH Commons Interface to the NIH Commons Interface to the Extramural Grantee CommunityExtramural Grantee Community

George Stone, Ph.D.George Stone, Ph.D.Extramural Inventions and Technology Resources Extramural Inventions and Technology Resources BranchBranchOPERA/NIHOPERA/NIHgeorge.stone@nih.govgeorge.stone@nih.gov(301) 435-0679(301) 435-0679

Common File

Assurances

ScientificProposals

Certifications

Other SupportProject Specific Assurances

Periodic Reports - progress - financial - inventions - women/minorities

Final Reports - progress - financial - inventions

Applicant/Grantee Interface – NIH Commons

NIH Grants Database Interface – IMPAC II

Grants PolicyStatement

ApplicationSpecification

Assignment

Priority Score

SummaryStatement

Notice of Grant Award

Post-AwardCorrespondence

NIH Institutes and Centers

Objective = Full Electronic Grants Objective = Full Electronic Grants AdministrationAdministration

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NIH Electronic Grants NIH Electronic Grants Administration ComponentsAdministration Components NIH and OER Web Sites – Information dissemination to public Awards Database – Public site Commons Registration – Secure access for grantee institutions Accounts Administration – Secure access for grantees Application/Award Status – Monitor pending grant applications Institutional & Professional Profiles – Maintain repetitive

information about institutions and investigators Competitive Application – Competing Grant Application Submission of non-competing progress reports (e-SNAP) Trainee Appointments (X-Train) – Appointment and

administration of grantee trainees Fellowship applications Financial Status Report (FSR) Interagency Edison – Invention Reporting

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System Design to Complement Diverse User Community High Level User Requirements

Human-to-computer interfaces required for some business processes

Human-to-computer or computer-to-computer option for some business processes

Security is critical System design must accommodate low-end

institutions/users Minimize redundant data entry Minimize duplication of data entry Exact representation of complex documents, I.e. rich

text Users want customizable Information push; proactive notifications

Software to support and allow for control of complex organizational hierarchies and workflow

Open systems, open code, avoid proprietary software solutions

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NIH IC Staff

eRA Concept of OperationseRA Concept of Operations

IMPAC II

Private Data

Access Limited

to NIH Staff

IMPAC

Existing Infrastructure• IMPAC = Mainframe• IMPAC II = Client/server

Oracle DBMS C/S Oracle Forms

• Fully Secure Trans-NIH Network

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ExtramuralResearch

Community

• Institutional Offices• Applicants• Researchers• Reviewers• Public

NIH IC Staff

eRA Concept of OperationseRA Concept of Operations

IMPAC II

Private Data

Access Limited

to NIH Staff

IMPAC

• Security• Coordination with IMPAC/IMPAC II• Difference in User Requirements

NIHCommons

Info.Staging

Area

Public Data

Private Data

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Information Information Dissemination:Dissemination:

Unlimited Access Through any Web Browser

http://www-commons.cit.nih.govhttp://www-commons.cit.nih.gov

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Exchange ofExchange ofConfidential Information:Confidential Information:

Requires Institutional Registration and Account Creation for Logon

http://www-commons.cit.nih.govhttp://www-commons.cit.nih.gov

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NIH eRA Systems Design NIH eRA Systems Design PrinciplesPrinciples- Accommodating Extramural “Business - Accommodating Extramural “Business Partners” - Partners” -

NIH eRA Systems Design NIH eRA Systems Design PrinciplesPrinciples- Accommodating Extramural “Business - Accommodating Extramural “Business Partners” - Partners” -

All eRA systems will adhere to a public data standard Common Data Dictionary (194 Data Set) for grant application http://grants.nih.gov/grants/era/era.htm Build all database systems to this standard

All eRA systems will offer security for grantee data Data Access & Data Transmission Build all networks with security

All eRA systems will avoid proprietary software solutions You don’t need to buy proprietary software to do eRA with NIH

All eRA systems will adhere to standard interface options

Interactive Web Forms: human-to-computer Datastreams: XML/EDI: computer-to-computer These formats will provide options for institutions of all sizes

and levels of IT sophistication

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Grantee Institution Efforts Assess level of institutional commitment to

eRA Leadership is critical: top-down is crucial Level of Support for change/reengineering Level of financial and human resource allocation

Analysis of existing IT infrastructure Hardware/software Staffing

Status of grants administration hierarchy and business process

Well-defined vs. diverse Simple vs. complex

Ways to Proceed with eRA Ways to Proceed with eRA

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Cost and Implementation Issues

How much will it cost? How easy/difficult will it be to implement? What about maintenance and operations?

Answers determined according to selection of interface format Interactive Web: human-to-computer Datastream: computer-to-computer Electronic Forms

Substitute format for paper submission Interim solution until full eRA

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Interface Option: Interactive WebInterface Option: Interactive WebInterface Option: Interactive WebInterface Option: Interactive Web

Minimal IT Infrastructure Requirements and Cost Internet Access Internet Browser No database or LAN required

Limited Business Process Requirements Well-defined application handling/routing

Interactive Web workflow is generic NIH is NOT Microsoft

Human-to-ComputerHuman-to-Computer

NIHNIHCommonsCommons

Info.Staging

Area

Public Data

Private Data

Interface Option: Interactive WebInterface Option: Interactive Web

By

NIH Commons

Workflow defined (read

limited)

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Interface Option: DatastreamsInterface Option: DatastreamsInterface Option: DatastreamsInterface Option: Datastreams

Sophisticated IT Infrastructure Typically expensive software and

hardware System development, operations and

maintenance by dedicated staff or vendor

Greatest Business Process Control Content, display, and workflow

completely determined and customized by grantee organization

Computer-to-ComputerComputer-to-Computer

NIHNIHCommonsCommons

Info.Staging

Area

Public Data

Private Data

Interface Option: Datastream Interface Option: Datastream

Workflow defined

And controlled

Grantee Org.

By

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NIH Role as eRA Consultant

No Charge Respond to any technology and/or business

process questions Share any code we have written for NIH Commons

Any/all documentation: Requirements or Design documents

Database schema and table structure Software application code

Work closely with vendors Publish Application Programming Interface (API)

specifications Assist in implementation testing of vendor-derived

software

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Unrestricted Access Interfaces in Production OER Site

Grants policy, R&D Contracts, NIH Guide, Funding Opps.

~500,000 hits per month http://www.nih.gov/grants

CRISP Interface Records include 1972 thru Current Awards ~30,000 CRISP queries per week http://crisp.cit.nih.gov

Current NIH Current NIH Development/Deployment EffortsDevelopment/Deployment Efforts

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Current eRA Current eRA Development/Deployment…cont.Development/Deployment…cont.

Restricted Access Interfaces Interagency Edison = Production Deployment

390 Grantee Organizations Registered Reporting for 16 Federal Agencies through single IEdison

gateway Currently in redesign – planned deployment Sept. 2002

Commons Registration/Accounts & Application/Award Status Interfaces

185 Grantee Organizations Registered 4,810 User Accounts created Maintain current operations for existing institutions No new registrations pending deployment of new

Commons Version – June 2002

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Restricted Access Interfaces…cont. X-Train Pilot Deployment: October 1, 2001

12 Grantee Organizations Participating 36 trainee appointments processed Proceed to Production Deployment by May 2002.

Development of new Commons architecture Migration to J2EE implementation of N-Tiered

architecture Deployment scheduled for June 2002

Current eRA Current eRA Development/Deployment…cont.Development/Deployment…cont.

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Deployment of new NIH Commons user interface – June 2002 New GUI standards Production deployment to all grantee

institutions Interfaces

Commons registration Accounts admin Application/award status

All institutions to register whether submitting electronically or in paper

Improve data quality for electronic and paper submissions

NIH Commons V 2.0 User NIH Commons V 2.0 User InterfaceInterface

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Deployment of e-SNAP – October 2002 Non-competing progress report Introduction of further streamlining of this

business process Development and deployment of Financial Status Report (FSR) – October 2002 Design/develop Electronic Competing Grant

Application Pilot deployment possible near end of FY03 First deployment limited to datastream Interactive web version – FY04

Planned eRA Implementation:FY 2003

Commons Version 2.0 Implementation Schedule

Jan Jul Dec Jan Jul Dec Jan Jul DecJan Jul Dec Jan Jul Dec Jan Jul Dec

Commons Version 2Phase 1 Infrastructure

Phase 2

Phase 3

SNAP Progress Report

* * Includes business process reengineering and design

Legend: Analysis* Development DeploymentStart Continuing

BPR only

20012001 20022002 20032003

Competing Application (R01)

CGAP (XML Datastream)

E-SNAP

Profiles

X-Train V 1.5Status V 2.0

Admin Module

BPR only

Commons V 2.0: New User InterfaceCommons V 2.0: New User Interface

New e-SNAP InterfaceNew e-SNAP Interface

Electronic submission of Electronic submission of Competitive Grant Appl.Competitive Grant Appl.

Internal Deployment – J2EE/’N’-TierInternal Deployment – J2EE/’N’-Tier