# eRA Project Team Meeting

**Date:** June 11, 2002

**Time:** 9:00 am

**Location:** 6700 B Rockledge, Room 1205

**Chair:** John McGowan

[**Next Meeting:** June 25, 2002, 6700 B Rockledge, Room 1205]{.mark}

## Action Items

1.  (OCO) Provide minutes support for Steering Committee meetings.

2.  (OCO) Explain in *Inside eRA* how ICs can purchase services to scan
    progress reports.

## Agenda Items

1.  **Meetings with Drs. Zerhouni and Sieving**

John. McGowan (JJ) met recently for 1½ hours with Dr. Elias Zerhouni,
the newly appointed director of the NIH. Dr. Zerhouni is very
knowledgeable about information technology and has had experience
building integrated systems at Johns Hopkins. He already was familiar
with the eRA SBIR announcement, possibly because of his involvement with
the Community of Science.

JJ also spent an hour with Dr. Paul Sieving, who recently replaced Dr.
Marvin Cassman as chair of the eRA Steering Committee. The new Briefing
Book was especially helpful in orienting Dr. Sieving to eRA and the
extramural business process. JJ thanked Carla Flora and OCO for
assembling the comprehensive project document. Dr. Sieving requested
that OCO provide minutes support for future Steering Committee meetings.

JJ said that both Zerhouni and Sieving appeared impressed with what we
have accomplished and where we're headed. The slide depicting eRA's
evolution from mainframe to J2EE architecture was very instructive. They
expressed concern, however, about how much remains to be done and about
building a business system without sufficient attention to knowledge
management. JJ noted the constraints of cost and schedule.

2.  **Briefing Book Discussion**

Carla Flora and her team have prepared a comprehensive eRA "Briefing
Book," which will serve as a resource to new members of the eRA Project
and the Steering Committee. The base document, created in Microsoft
PowerPoint, describes the eRA mission, vision, goals and objectives,
components, management and organization, architecture, budget,
challenges and next steps. Lyn Albrecht will send the slides to the
entire team by the end of the day. Background documentation, including
the eRA budget, requirements, cost, technical and business plans and
relevant Federal legislation, fill a five-inch binder and will be
provided on CD. The Briefing Book will be a living document evolves with
the project.

Carla expressed special appreciation to Lyn Albrecht and LTS for their
assistance.

3.  **Update on Committee Management and Peer Review**

Krishna Collie refuted the assertion that Peer Review has not had
representation in the Committee Management (CM) redesign. Mary Kelly
(NICHD) and Rebecca Johnson (NIGMS), members of the Review community,
now serve on the CM JAD. The Review Users Group (RUG) meeting on June 25
will be devoted to previewing and discussing the new CM screens, which
are slated for release in the fall. Krishna will collaborate with Tracy
Soto, the Review analyst, to ensure that all requirements are satisfied.
Use cases will be circulated for comment.

Carol Martin said that she heard that the backend software for hitlist
functionality (currently in ICSTORe, CM, REV and planned for portals)
was being standardized across applications. Andy Greenleaf confirmed
this initiative. Jim Cain added that standardization was entirely
consistent with knocking down stovepipes.

4.  **Recap of Commons Working Group Meeting**

Jerry Stuck gave a
[presentation](http://era.nih.gov/Docs/CWG_Overview_06-11-02.ppt) on the
Commons Working Group (CWG) meeting held on May 19 in Washington, D.C.
The CWG has played an important role in defining requirements for
Commons Version 2. The design of the new Commons Web screens strongly
reflects responses to a recent Graphical User Interface (GUI) survey,
and the business process reengineering (BPR) for e-SNAP is based, in
large part, on CWG recommendations. The CWG currently is assisting NIH
with the BPR of the competitive application (CGAP) and requirements for
the Financial Status Report (FSR) module.

The major item on the agenda was preparation for the first release of
Commons Version 2 scheduled for deployment this summer. After initial
testing by internal staff, there will be a brief pilot (beginning on
July 22), when CWG institutions will confirm the functionality of the
first three Commons components to be developed using J2EE technology:
Administration; Profile/Registration; and Status. Next, the Commons will
be reopened to FDP institutions, then to institutions registered in
Commons Version 1, and finally to all grantees. Open registration is
scheduled for mid--late August. See the [deployment
timeline](http://era.nih.gov/Docs/Commons_V2_Timeline_06-11-02.doc) for
details.

Steve Hausman inquired if electronic submission would be compulsory when
enabled in the summer of 2003. JJ replied that it would not be
compulsory until about 2005. Jerry added that NSF supported both paper
and e-applications for a period of two years. Jim Cain reminded the team
that NIH is preparing to accept datastream submissions next summer and
is looking to the SBIR applicants to develop products and services to
assist institutions. Later, the Federal e-grant initiative will provide
a Web interface for grantees to build applications online.

In response to Tim's question, JJ said that the NIH director would
decide when to make electronic submission mandatory. It may be some time
before Third World institutions can comply. Marcia Hahn would like to
establish compulsory dates for the electronic submission of SNAPs. In
the interim, Carlos Caban suggested scanning all incoming paper SNAPs.
This is not feasible because, unlike competitive applications, there is
no central receiving point. JJ said that ICs could purchase scanning
services for progress reports using the established eRA contract. With
all SNAPs available electronically through the Grant Folder, an IC would
be able to develop consistent new procedures for processing them.

Jerry also distributed a [list of NIH action items relating to the CGAP
BPR.](http://era.nih.gov/Docs/NIH_Action_Items_CGAP_BPR_06-11-02.doc)
Belinda Seto asked for clarification of #5 and #6. Jerry replied that
the CWG was not suggesting the elimination of key personnel data (on
form page 2) or % effort (on form page 4), but rather a more efficient
way to gather input. Regarding #8 (...research how Program, GM, REV and
Congress use itemized budget information...), Belinda requested that
those who do reporting be added to the list.

5.  **Single Data Source for IC Extension Systems**

Thor Fjellstedt began by thanking Pete Morton for creating the slides
for his
[presentation](http://era.nih.gov/Docs/IC_Specific_Data_6-11-02.ppt).
Although IMPAC II addresses most NIH-wide grant processing needs, ICs
have their own unique grant workflow, coding schemes and data
requirements. Therefore, ICs each download IMPAC II data, combine it
with internal data for processing by their extension system.

In an effort to move gradually toward uniformity, Thor is leading an
initiative to identify common data needs and to develop a way for ICs to
acquire and use this data from a single, central source. First, he
proposes to obtain a composite view of IMPAC II and other external data
that is being downloaded by each IC. In addition, he needs to determine
the required local (IC-specific) data and coding/indexing techniques
employed by each IC. Once these requirements are gathered, Thor plans to
work with each IC to begin using a central source for common data, to
develop database structures to accommodate IC-specific data, and to
build applications to supplement existing IC applications.

Carol Martin inquired why it was necessary to create another database;
she recommended creating separate tables for each IC in the IRDB. Carol
added that she would like to participate in future planning. Jim Cain
noted that it is more expensive to build outside the enterprise
environment and cited ECB as an example. Pete Morton replied that we
must first seek IC buy-in. The best way to achieve this is to avoid
disrupting IC business processes. Thor agreed and said that ICs want to
retain control over their data and reporting as well as their coding and
extension systems. Stephen Hughes remarked that ICs are distrustful of
making their data centrally available. Furthermore, they perceive an
enterprise system to be less flexible; ICs would like the ability to
implement changes without going through the enterprise.

Belinda Seto reported that the issue of uniform coding for clinical
research was about to be considered by Dr. Zerhouni. There soon will be
a meeting to discuss standardization. Belinda added that foundations are
now looking at CRISP because grantees often submit the same abstract to
all potential funders. Also, foundations with Knowledge Management
software seem to know more about NIH grants than we do. It is important
that NIH catch up with new technology.

6.  **Status Reports/Announcements**

> *eRA Budget*---JJ met with Al Graeff; however there still is no clear
> path. Funding for 2002/2003 will run out in July 2003, leaving eRA
> with a 6-month budget shortfall. One alternative is to inform the
> Steering Committee of project initiatives that will have to be cut or
> postponed. Another strategy is to request additional funding for new
> requirements, including integrating contract and loan repayment
> systems into the enterprise system.
>
> *Staff Changes in OCO*---JJ announced that Madeline Monheit would be
> leaving in July. He thanked her for her contribution to the project.
> Carla Flora introduced two new technical writers---Vonetta Christian
> and. Maeve Miller. Maeve will be the editor of *Inside eRA*.
>
> *Scanning of Progress Reports*---An e-SNAP pilot is scheduled to begin
> in the fall. JJ requested an article in *Inside eRA* to inform ICs
> that they can use the eRA contract to purchase scanning services for
> incoming paper SNAP progress reports. The scanned SNAPs as well as
> those received electronically would be uploaded to the Grant Folder.
> This would enable ICs to develop consistent new procedures for
> processing all progress reports; after scanning, paper copies could be
> archived at the National Records Center.
>
> *SBIR Update*--- Jerry Stuck provided status on the review of
> applications to develop tools and services that facilitate electronic
> interaction between grantee institutions and the NIH. According to
> Jerry, there were six very competitive submissions, with proposals
> ranging from existing software systems to portal development. Six ICs
> are sponsoring the SBIR, which is being administered by NCRR. NIH
> plans to fund one to three Phase I awards in FY 2002 and one or two
> Phase II awards in FY 2003. The most promising of the Phase I awardees
> will be funded for Phase II. An NIH panel will work closely with Phase
> I awardees on datastream requirements.
>
> *Resolution of CPU Vibration Problem*---Ali Ghassemzadeh reported that
> CPU vibration, caused by faulty mounting, has been eliminated. Last
> Wednesday, retrofit kits were installed to secure the CPUs. So far,
> the fix appears effective.
>
> *Upgrade to Oracle 8.1.7.3*---Ali said that testing by Adam Levy's
> group verifies that the Oracle upgrade will resolve the PDF indexing
> problem. Tim Twomey has been able to run text queries from QuickView;
> however there still are some minor anomalies with results. Ali will
> issue an announcement soon.
>
> *Additional Disk Storage*---Operations plans to install additional
> disks this weekend. This storage will expand the development
> environment.
>
> *Meeting with Charles Havekost*---JJ will meet with Charles Havekost,
> e-Grants Program Manager for HHS.
>
> *IMPAC II Utilization*---JJ reported increasing penetration with a
> peak of 700 concurrent users. Approximately 2400 persons log on per
> day.

## Attendees

Albrecht, Lyn

Bradley, Eileen

Caban, Carlos

Cain, Jim

Carter, Dave

Collie, Krishna

Cox, Michael

Christian, Vonetta

Erickson, Bud

Fjellstedt, Thor

Flora, Carla

Frahm, Donna

Geaney, Stefanie

Ghassemzadeh, Ali

Gibb, Scarlett

Gibbs, Cassandra

Greenleaf, Andy

Hahn, Marcia

Hall, Dan

Hann, Della

Hausman, Steve

Hodgkins, Earl

Hughes, Stephen

Markovitz, Paul

Martin, Carol

McGowan, John

Miller, Maeve

Monheit, Madeline

Moore, Bob

Morton, Pete

Panniers, Richard

Patel, Kalpesh

Pearson, Johnnie

Ratnanather, Chanath

Schaffer, Wally

Seppala, Sandy

Seto, Belinda

Siegert, Mark

Silver, Sara

Silverman, Jay

Sinnett, Everett

Soto, Tracy

Spitzberg, Bobbi

Stuck, Jerry

Tucker, Jim

Twomey, Tim

Van Brunt, Virginia

Wallace, Pat

Zucker, Sherry