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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 10 (Tuesday, January 16, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2629-2630]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-00696]

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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

National Institutes of Health

Request for Information (RFI): Inviting Comments on the National 
Institutes of Health's (NIH) Strategic Plan for Data Science 2023-2028

AGENCY: National Institutes of Health, HHS.

ACTION: Request for information.

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SUMMARY: The purpose of this Request for Information (RFI) is to 
solicit public comments on the updated NIH Strategic Plan for Data 
Science, 2023-2028, including members of the scientific community, 
academic institutions, the private sector, health professionals, 
professional societies, advocacy groups, and patient communities, as 
well as other interested members of the public.

DATES: The NIH Request for Information is open for public comment. To 
assure consideration, your response must be received by March 15, 2024, 
11:59 p.m. (ET).

ADDRESSES: All comments must be submitted electronically on the 
submission website at https://datascience.nih.gov/rfi-strategic-plan or 
to the mailbox at [email protected].
    Responses must be received by 11:59:59 p.m. (ET) on March 15, 2024.
    Responses to this RFI are voluntary and may be submitted 
anonymously. You may voluntarily include your name and contact 
information with your response. If you choose to provide NIH with this 
information, NIH will not share your name and contact information 
outside of NIH unless required by law.
    Other than your name and contact information, please do not include 
any personally identifiable information or any information that you do 
not wish to make public. Proprietary, classified, confidential, or 
sensitive information should not be included in your response. The 
government will use the information submitted in response to this RFI 
at its discretion. Other than your name and contact information, the 
government reserves the right to use any submitted information on 
public websites, in reports, in summaries of the state of the science, 
in any possible resultant solicitation(s), grant(s), or cooperative 
agreement(s), or in the development of future funding opportunity 
announcements. This RFI is for informational and planning purposes only 
and is not a solicitation for applications or an obligation on the part 
of the government to provide support for any ideas identified in 
response to it. Please note that the government will not pay for the 
preparation of any information submitted or for use of that 
information.
    We look forward to your input and hope that you will share this RFI 
opportunity with your colleagues.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions about this request for 
information should be directed to Dr. Susan Gregurick, 301-538-9781, 
[email protected], National Institutes of Health, Office of 
Data Science Strategy, 9000 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, Maryland 20892.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NIH is requesting public comment on topics 
under consideration for the updated NIH Strategic Plan for Data 
Science, 2023-2028 from its partners and collaborators, including 
members of the scientific community, academic institutions, the private 
sector, health professionals, professional societies, advocacy groups, 
and patient communities, as well as other interested members of the 
public. This RFI is in accordance with 42 U.S.C. 281 as amended.

Background

    The updated Strategic Plan for Data Science (https://datascience.nih.gov/sites/default/files/NIH-STRATEGIC-PLAN-FOR-DATA-SCIENCE-2023-2028-final-draft.pdf) sets a bold vision for the future, 
one in which data generated in the course of care of individuals and 
data generated from biomedical and basic research become powerful 
inputs that enhance our understanding of fundamental biology and 
enables the development of new clinical treatments and diagnostic 
technologies. This updated plan builds on accomplishments from the 
initial NIH Strategic Plan for Data Science (https://datascience.nih.gov/nih-strategic-plan-data-science) and will prepare 
NIH to face the acceleration of sophisticated new technologies and 
address the rapid rise in the quantity and diversity of data. The 
updated Strategic Plan supports the NIH Policy for Data Management and 
Sharing (https://sharing.nih.gov/data-management-and-sharing-policy) 
and embraces data-

[[Page 2630]]

driven discovery as a powerful tool to elucidate biological processes 
and better characterize the health and health consequences of all 
people. This plan also fosters ethical use of new methodologies arising 
from artificial intelligence and machine learning.
    The updated Strategic Plan will accomplish five overarching goals:

 Goal 1: Improve Capabilities to Sustain the NIH Policy for 
Data Management and Sharing
 Goal 2: Develop Programs to Enhance Human Derived Data for 
Research
 Goal 3: Provide New Opportunities in Software, Computational 
Methods, and Artificial Intelligence
 Goal 4: Support for a Federated Biomedical Research Data 
Infrastructure
 Goal 5: Strengthen a Broad Community in Data Science

    The complete draft plan is available at: https://datascience.nih.gov/sites/default/files/NIH-STRATEGIC-PLAN-FOR-DATA-SCIENCE-2023-2028-final-draft.pdf.

Information Requested

    NIH is requesting public comment throughout the scientific research 
community and members of the general public for the updated NIH 
Strategic Plan for Data Science. NIH encourages organizations (e.g., 
patient advocacy groups, professional organizations) to submit a single 
response reflective of the views of the organization or membership as a 
whole.
    Response to this RFI is voluntary. Respondents are free to address 
any or all topics listed below, as well as other relevant topics, for 
NIH's consideration. If you choose to provide NIH with this 
information, NIH will not share your name and contact information 
outside of NIH unless required by law.
    The NIH seeks comments on any of the following topics:
     The appropriateness of the goals of the plan, the 
strategies and implementation tactics proposed to achieve them; 
including potential benefits, drawbacks or challenges.
     Opportunities for NIH to partner to achieve these goals.
     Emerging research needs and opportunities that should be 
added to the plan.
     Any other topic the respondent feels is relevant for NIH 
to consider in developing this strategic plan.
    This RFI is for planning purposes only and should not be construed 
as a solicitation for applications or proposals, or as an obligation in 
any way on the part of the United States federal government. The 
federal government will not pay for the preparation of any information 
submitted or for the government's use. Additionally, the government 
cannot guarantee the confidentiality of the information provided.

    Dated: January 6, 2024.
Lawrence A. Tabak,
Principal Deputy Director, National Institutes of Health.
[FR Doc. 2024-00696 Filed 1-12-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4140-01-P
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