# Presentation: 536920

## Information Managers’ Group:  Brief Introduction

*CENDI** *

## What is CENDI?

**An interagency group of senior STI managers who have agreed to cooperate by**
**Exchanging information and ideas**
**Sharing resources**
**Undertaking joint initiatives**
**From policy to standards to operations**
**Agencies manage over 90% of the $  80B federal   R&D budget**

## Agency Constraints

-  Budget
-  Personnel slots
-  Specialized expertise
-  Access to contractors
-  Technical barriers
-  Policy directions
-  Administrative requirements

## CENDI’s Vision

**Federal STI agencies will have a cooperative e*****nterprise***** where capabilities are shared and challenges are faced together so that the sum of accomplishments is greater than each individual agency can achieve on its own.**

## CENDI’s  Mission

**CENDI’s mission is to help improve the productivity of federal science- and technology-based programs through effective scientific, technical, and related information support systems.**

## CENDI Membership

**CENDI is an interagency executive group composed of Senior STI Managers**** **
**  ****10  major programs**
**    ****9 U.S. federal agencies**
**    ****7 Cabinet departments**
**    ****2  Independent agencies**
**C****OMMERCE - National Technical Information Service (NTIS)**
**E****NERGY - Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI)**
**E****PA - Science Information Management Coordination Board** (**SIMCorB)**
**N****ASA - Scientific and Technical Information Program ( STI)**
**N****ATIONAL Libraries of Agriculture, Education and Medicine**** ****(NAL, **
**        ****NLE, and NLM)**
**D****EFENSE - Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC) **
**                       ****National Air Intelligence Center (NAIC)**
**I****NTERIOR - USGS Biological Resources Division (BRD)**
**	**

## CENDI is Formally Established Under an Interagency MOU

**1973 -- Phase-out of COSATI**
**Mid-1970’s to Mid-1980’s -- Cooperation on ad hoc basis**
**1982 -- Regular but informal meetings**
**1985 -- Formal interagency MOU among four agencies (NTIS,**
**             ****DOE, DoD, and NASA)**
**1987 -- National Library of Medicine (NLM) joined **
**1988 -- Secretariat created**
**1993 -- National Air Intelligence Center (NAIC) joined **
**1995 -- DoI/USGS, Biological Resources Division (BRD) joined**
**1998 -- National Libraries of Education & Agriculture **
**             ****(NLE, NAL) joined**
**1999 -- Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) joined****	**

## CENDI Goals

**Goal 1.  *****Coordination and leadership:*****  Provide coordination and leadership for information exchange on important STI issues.**
**Goal 2.  *****Joint projects:*****  Undertake joint projects by two or more CENDI agencies to increase effectiveness and use of STI systems.**
**Goal 3.  *****Education:*****  Promote an understanding of STI and STI management**

## CENDI ORGANIZATION STRUCTURE

## CENDI Planning Themes Set the Stage

**1990 -- The Value of Cooperation:  Positioning for the 1990’s**
**1991 -- Building Strategic Alliance**
**1992 -- Critical Connections:  Cooperation to Enhance **
**	****	****   ****Information Value and Use**
**1993 -- Navigating in a Networked World**
**1994 -- Building a Digital Information Network**
**1995 -- Changing Missions -- Changing Technologies**
**1996 -- Opportunity in Change**
**1997 -- Changing STI Management in a Networked Environment**
**1998 -- Enterprise Networking and STI Futures**
**1999 -- The Virtual STI Enterprise:  Completing the Connections**

## CENDI-Sponsored/Planned Workshops

** ****Systems architecture and modernization**
** ****SGML Workshop**
** ****Helpdesk**
** ****Indexing **
** ****Machine translation**
** ****COSPO/CENDI Industry**
** ****Gateway developers **
** ****Bibliographic standards **
** ****Customer services**

## CENDI cooperates with over 65 other organizations

**  ****4 legal and policy agencies**
** ****15 mission agencies**
**  ****3 legislative branch agencies**
**  ****3 state and local government entities**
**  ****3 interagency groups**
** ****11 academic organizations**
** ****24 private sector entities**
**  ****2 international organizations**
** ****over 125 staff of member agencies were involved**

## “The Changing R&D Information  Economy in the  Digital Age”-  Robert Ubell, September 1997

## Key Judgements

**Fully electronic information management is in its infancy and the full life cycle cost is not yet understood**
**The real payoff of the digital world may not be simply economic, but, instead, the ability to use better information for better decision-making**
**There is often a shift in where costs are incurred and savings are gained.  The information management function may increase costs but offsets to users provide an overall life cycle return on investment for the agency or nation.**

## CENDI FY99 Planning SessionThe Virtual STI Enterprise:  Completing the Connections

**NSF - DL-2:  Lesk (Information and Intelligence Systems) interest in science crosscut**
**CENDI DL Study**
**National Library for Science & Technology (NLST) White Paper**
**To explore concepts**

## The Electronic World cannot be dealt with as a linear extension of the Print World

## Changing User Expectations

***1/3 of the population know what the Internet is***
***2/3 think it is a good idea***