NSF plans for using the World Wide Web (WWW)

"NSF and the National Institutes of Health routinely place their program
announcements and various other documents in an easily searchable and
retrievable form on Internet. NSF's Science and Technology Information
Service is accessed many thousands of times each week for information
about NSF activities, funding opportunities, abstracts about research
grants, and various reports on science and technology. Access is easy,
and is provided at no charge."

The URL for this information is   http://www.nsf.gov

A reference for using Mosaic and the WWW for interactive business functions
is described in the NSF FastLane project: http://www.nsf.gov/oirm/fastlane.htm

FastLane
What is FastLane?

FastLane is a 3 year experimental program utilizing advanced information
technology to explore methods to re-design and streamline the way NSF does
business with the research, education and related communities.

The program strategy will be to develop pilot systems which will test the
application of advanced information technology, together with new processes
for exchanging information among proposers, reviewers, university research
administrators, NSF staff, and the systems that support their work. These
pilot systems will be tested with subsets of the NSF research community.
Successful pilots will then be implemented more widely.

FastLane continues NSF's long-standing emphasis on reducing the
administrative burden on NSF staff and institutions, and improving
processes through the use of technology.

FastLane is central to NSF's government re-invention initiatives. The
Report of the National Performance Review cites "NSF's efforts to automate
grant management activities...as an example of an effective way to keep up
with increasing workload by handling program administration more
efficiently."

FastLane is also one of 53 projects selected to test measurement provisions
of the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993. Performance
indicators will be developed to measure the effectiveness of the FastLane
pilots.

What Will FastLane Do?

As originally conceived, many existing paper or telephone interactions
would be re-designed to allow computer access to NSF via a dial-up or
Internet connection to Mosaic or other World Wide Web (WWW) servers. Anyone
using standard PC technology will have "point and click" access to software
that will facilitate most of NSF's business transactions -- from completing
proposal forms, to inquiring about the status of proposals.

Doing business with NSF will be simpler, faster, more accurate, and less
expensive. Proposers, reviewers and awardees will have more choices in how
to do business with the Foundation and will be provided greater access to
information. Most applications will be designed with a "smart form" that
uses all information already available in the NSF system in order to
minimize the time and effort required to complete transactions while
providing a "help" facility during the process. The amount of redundant
information collected during proposal submission will be greatly reduced.

Internal NSF systems will also be re-designed to support a new level of
connectivity and automation. Improving the quality of the Principal
Investigators, reviewers and institutions interactions with the Foundation
will directly affect the productivity, timeliness, and effectiveness of the
proposal and review system by reducing the administrative burden associated
with it.

A FastLane Internal Review Committee was formed in May 1994 to provide
guidance to the project. The committee includes representatives from NSF
directorate management, program management, grants and contracts, financial
management and information systems. Members are currently focused on
describing the NSF internal processing functions, gathering samples of
input data and resolving policy issues. The committee identified 19
potential projects. Six of these projects have been selected for pilot
applications; they are:

* 1. Electronic Proposal Forms Submission. An NSF forms server will provide
the capability for electronic submission of administrative information
related to proposals. The process will provide an automated checklist and
edit filters so that submissions are complete and mathematically correct.
For people who have previously submitted, a large portion of required
information will be provided by the system. Information could be entered
directly or by "cut and paste" from local word processing software.
* 2. Proposal Status Inquiry. The NSF proposal status server will allow
PI's and other authorized individuals to receive the current status of a
pending proposal.
* 3. Submission of Final Project Reports. An NSF forms server will provide
an electronic version of its final project report Form 98A), and enable
electronic submission of the form and attachments. At a later date, project
results information collected will be made publicly available.
* 4. Cash Transaction Requests. NSF will allow access to a menu driven cash
request system, including automatic e-mail acknowledgment and confirmation.

* 5. Submission of Review Information. Proposal reviewers will be provided
access to a menu driven system allowing reviewers to enter ratings and
review comments or cut and paste from a local word processing document.
* 6. Announcements of Award Actions. The NSF server will provide a list of
recent awards, including information on the institution, principal
investigator, amount, and duration. At a later date, additional information
about NSF awards will be made available.

The other thirteen projects are planned for implementation in 1995 and 1996.

How will NSF Involve the Research, Education and Related Communities?

NSF will directly involve a limited number of colleges and universities,
representing a cross section of its community, in the design and pilot
testing of each application. Project information will also be disseminated
widely through the Foundation's normal publications, Science & Technology
Information System (STIS), the NSF Home Page, etc., and in presentations
and site visits. NSF customer survey instruments and other feedback
mechanisms will also solicit feedback on FastLane objectives and plans.

How will FastLane Relate to Similar Efforts of Other Federal Agencies?

NSF has established working relationships with other Federal agencies that
are developing similar systems, including the Department of Energy, the
National Institutes of Health, and the Department of Defense. FastLane will
be used as a model to ensure the development of systems government-wide
that will promote a seamless interface between the institutions and the
agencies.

Additional Information: Send email to fastlane@nsf.gov


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