# Presentation: 724494

## NIH Electronic Research Administration:NIH Commons Interface to the Extramural Grantee Community

- George Stone, Ph.D.
- Extramural Inventions and Technology Resources Branch
- OPERA/NIH
- george.stone@nih.gov
- (301) 435-0679

## Objective = Full Electronic Grants Administration

**Common File**

**Applicant/Grantee Interface – NIH Commons**

**NIH Grants Database Interface – IMPAC II**

**NIH Institutes and Centers**

## NIH Electronic Grants Administration 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

## 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

## ERA Concept of Operations  

**NIH**
** ****IC Staff**

- ERA Concept of Operations**  **

-  _Existing Infrastructure_
-  IMPAC = Mainframe
-  IMPAC II = Client/server
-   Oracle DBMS
-   C/S Oracle Forms
-  Fully Secure Trans-NIH
-      Network

## ERA Concept of Operations  

**NIH**
** ****IC Staff**

- ERA Concept of Operations**  **

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

**Information **
**Dissemination:**
**Unlimited Access Through any Web Browser**

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

**Exchange of**
**Confidential Information:**
**Requires Institutional Registration and Account Creation for Logon**

## NIH eRA Systems Design Principles-  Accommodating Extramural “Business 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

## 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

- 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

## 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

## Interface 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-Computer

## Interface Option: Interactive Web

## Interface 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-Computer

## Interface Option: Datastream 

- Interface Option: Datastream

## 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

## 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

- 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 Development/Deployment Efforts

## Current eRA 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

## 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

- 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 Development/Deployment...cont.

## 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

- 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 Interface

**Notes:**
Plans are currently on track for the deployment of the new Commons database platform and architecture, as well as new version of the Commons user interface in June 2002.  The deployment will allow for all institutions to register for the Commons.  In fact, once the deployment is underway all institutions will be expected to register whether they plan to submit electronic applications or continue to submit applications in hard copy.  The registration of all institutions will important for efforts to improve data quality in the NIH enterprise database, IMPAC II.  Registration will ensure that the information that is submitted on the hard copy application will be the same as the information present in IMPAC II. This reconciliation will allow NIH to use a single profile for each institution, thereby removing any doubt or question as to the true identity of any institution.  

Institutional staff should be encouraged to review the NIH Guide weekly, since further information about the Commons registration will be posted as June approaches.

Having made recommendations for the reengineering of the SNAP progress reporting process in CY2001, in CY2002 we expect to be deploying the e-SNAP interface, including all the recommendation made by the CWG. We will also be implementing a Financial Status Report (FSR) function to support the electronic submission of grants financial status reports (Standard Form 269).

In 2002 the CWG’s attention will be providing the NIH with recommendations for the reengineering of the competitive grant application.

## Deployment of e-SNAP – October 2002
Noncompeting 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

- Noncompeting 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

**Notes:**
Though plans for CY2003 may be seen currently as a bit premature, the plans call for:

The CWG’s recommendations for reengineering of the competing grant applications will be incorporated into the design, development and (hopefully) pilot deployment of the first version of the electronic competing grant application.  The first version of the software will allow institutions to submit applications using a computer-to-computer transmission, rather than web-based (human-to-computer) transmission (similar to FastLane).

Deployment of an enhance version of X-Train.  The enhancements will be based on input received from the user community.

Work has already begun on a future release of the Commons that will allow for Commons users to have customized profiles.  This feature will allow for institutions to provide each Commons user with unique combinations of permissions to support creation, approval, and submission of electronic applications.

## Commons Version 2.0 Implementation Schedule 

**Commons Version 2.0 Implementation Schedule **

***Jan                Jul             Dec  Jan               Jul               Dec    Jan              Jul               Dec***

***Commons Version 2***

**Phase 1** * Infrastructure*

**Phase 2***** ***

**Phase 3***** ***

*SNAP Progress Report*

** **Includes business process reengineering and design*

*Legend:  Analysis**

*Development*

*Deployment*

*Start*

*Continuing*

*Competing Application *
*  **(R01)*
*CGAP (XML Datastream)*

*E-SNAP *