The message below was just received from the National Science Foundation. Although we now see very few paper proposals still being submitted, I thought this information should be relayed just in case someone does submit a proposal without using FastLane. As always, if you have any questions pertaining to proposal submission, please feel free to contact your Research Administrator. This new requirement was instituted to help NSF record all of the contents of a proposal in an electronic format.
Initial results indicate that the barcodes are proving to be cumbersome and unreliable.
In addition, some proposers, have encountered technical difficulties regarding use of the new barcodes. Please note that barcodes are not relevant to proposals prepared via FastLane.