INTRODUCTION

The Federal government is a major user of information technologies, a collector and maintainer of very large data sets, and a provider of critical and often unique information services to individuals, states, businesses, and other customers. The goal of the Digital Government Program is to fund research at the intersection of the computer and information sciences research communities and the mid- to long-term research, development, and experimental deployment needs of the Federal information service communities. The Internet, which was created from a successful partnership between Government agencies and the information technologies research community, is a major motivating factor and context for this program.

The coming decade will see the potential for nearly ubiquitous access to government information services by citizen/customers using highly capable digital information/entertainment appliances. Given the inexorable progress toward faster computer microprocessors, greater network bandwidth, and expanded storage and computing power at the desktop, citizens will expect a government that responds quickly and accurately while ensuring privacy. Enhancements derived from new information technology-based services can be expected to contribute to reinvented and economical government services, and more productive government employees. As society relies more and more on network technologies, it is essential that the Federal Government make the most effective use of these improvements.

There is an immediate opportunity for the broad connection of information services providers and research communities, in an arena drawing heavily on the challenging and unique requirements of the Federal sector, to speed innovation and development, deployment, and application of more advanced technologies into usable systems. By supporting mid- to long-term research, development, and experimental deployment, fundamental limitations encountered in applying information technology to the Federal information services domain can begin to be addressed. Research that considers real world operating constraints can provide valuable new problems and insights for the academic research domain, while demonstrating pilot systems with new capabilities for Federal agencies. Such research can contribute to a long-term transition strategy for migrating Federal information services from legacy systems, through interoperable systems of the Internet, toward advanced integrated global systems.

Within this context, the objective of the Digital Government Program is to support projects that innovatively, effectively, and broadly address through research the potential improvement of agency, interagency, and intergovernmental operations and/or government/citizen interaction. Such research is expected to enable the generation and use of a continuous stream of advanced information technologies for early adoption and integration into the Federal information systems community. 

Examples of project areas are listed below to suggest the types of activities envisioned for this Program. Even though two sample domains are used in several of these examples (i.e., Federal statistics and emergency management), these are illustrative and do not imply any priority for them.

This topic includes techniques to define, design and maintain shared ontologies, or the means of mediating queries among multiple data and information sources which may contain heterogeneous or incongruent data. Also included are collaboration tools for network based information systems to allow widely distributed groups of citizens or government personnel to collaborate and interact remotely to achieve common goals; adaptive planning environments. Examples are:

• Automated "content" searching to generate indices, with formal ontologies of available Federal statistical data and their meaning, and access methods.
• Automated formal processes assisting and guiding emergency managers to locate, access and effectively use available data and information resources.

Technologies to cost-effectively acquire, integrate and view geographic, biological, environmental, social, and economic data and meta-data of all types. Examples are:

• "Uniform" access to linked statistical data sources in the 70+ agencies that gather statistics and disseminate this information across multiple sectors;
• A master USA data source index for rapid culling together of data for emergency managers dealing with crises and critical emergencies in the field;

Infrastructure to allow the broadest range of analysis techniques to be applied to user selected views and visualization of very large data and information sources. Examples are:

• Data mining facilities and computing utility services for citizens to compute models of online statistical data sources;
• Information-on-demand services for emergency management which present only the information needed to avoid information overload.

Common transaction media between government and the citizenry; successful migration strategies from batch-oriented transactions to scaleable and efficient on-line systems; security and authentication mechanisms to maintain the highest levels of privacy. Examples are:

• Electronic Service Delivery via WWW and distributed kiosks at public sites, any-time processing allowing citizens to process benefits inquiries and requests electronically.
• Demonstrations of new security capabilities based upon novel means of detecting fraud or unauthorized access and use of information.

Human computer interactions (e.g., human-centered factors), visualization and presentation technologies to accommodate the widest range of interaction environments and modalities, multimedia objects, tools sets and user's needs and requirements. Examples are:

• Kiosk-based access for multiple service delivery;
• A Computing Services Utility allowing the citizenry remote access to data and computational resources and enabling its processing from publicly available computing appliances.

The application of R&D in information technology to the implementation of Federal law, policy and regulation, such as:

• Archiving and record keeping
• Authentication of documents
• Privacy e.g. reliable identification of individuals, journaling of access and access control
• Systems to support the regulatory process, e.g. collection and synthesis of public commentary

Relevant laws and regulations might include, but are not limited to: Computer Security Act of 1987, Copyright Act of 1976, Federal Records Act, National Archives and Records Administration Regulations, Freedom of Information Act, Information Technology Management Reform Act of 1996, Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Privacy Act, Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and the Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1992.

Digital government projects may relate to a variety of NSF activities such as those listed below. Further information on CISE program areas dealing with these may be found at http://www.cise.nsf.gov

• Partnerships for Advanced Computational Infrastructure
• High-speed Networking Access and Applications
• Computation and Social Systems
• Human Computer Interaction
• Knowledge and Cognitive Systems
• Software Engineering
• Information and Data Management
• Educational Innovation
• Knowledge and Distributed Intelligence

On-line information on NSF programs in general may be found at http://www.nsf.gov

Examples of other cross-agency domain areas include:

• Electronic grant administration
• Financial systems (e.g. real-time intrusion alerts, data-mining for patterns of abuse, access journaling)
• Geographic Information Systems
• Next Generation Internet applications - e.g., large file transfer, quality of service, bandwidth reservation, synchronous service
• On-line intelligent learning and training
• Procurement
• Public health
• Security, privacy and information assurance
• Summarization and semantic analysis of public comment (e.g. issuance of regulations, the Federal Advisory Committee Act process, commentary through the Federal Register)
• Virtual government agencies (cross-organization collaboration, sharing of information, distributed databases)

Proposals must be in accordance with NSF Grant Proposal Guide NSF 98-2, and incorporate significant participation by at least one Federal agency in the definition and execution of the proposed work. Federal agencies participating in proposals must be fully engaged in the development of the proposal and subsequent project activities. Agencies are encouraged to partner through sharing of facilities, data, and personnel, as well as either joint direct funding with the National Science Foundation or interagency funds transfer to the Foundation, for support of non-Federal project costs. NSF funds may not be used to support costs incurred by other agencies directly related to carrying out their missions, such as staff, travel, and cost of facilities. Inasmuch as NSF does not intend to supplement the budgets of other Federal agencies, NSF will support only the research elements of the work proposed. For the non-research parts of the project, other sources of support must be identified. Proposers are responsible for identifying and addressing in the proposal any constraints by law or regulation on the collection, creation, dissemination or disposition of data, in particular related to their Federal partner agencies. Participation by other sectors (vendors, industry, private research laboratories, state/local government, foundations) as appropriate, is encouraged.

1. Standard NSF research projects
2. Domain-specific cross-agency pilot projects or testbeds
3. Planning grants - preparatory to proposals for pilot projects or testbeds, the program will support planning grants of up to $50,000 for one year. These are one-time awards that may be used for preliminary work to determine the feasibility of a proposed line of inquiry.
4. Human-development activities (e.g. sabbaticals for faculty at Federal agencies, student internships at agencies, assignments of Federal employees at universities or vendors)
5. Workshops and other community-building, technology exchange, or clearinghouse mechanisms related to digital government research topics

• For all proposals:
• A domain area that is primarily governmental in nature, or where Federal government requirements are unique
• Integration of domain experts (users, customers) during the project life cycle
• For cross agency pilot project or testbed proposals:
• Plans for a framework or architecture for the development of application program interfaces, software objects, software re-use, and modularization, to encourage sharing of functionality across projects.
• Plans for early and regular delivery of partial research products in accordance with a proposed set of milestones.
• Plans for evaluation, during the project and at its conclusion, by the proposer to determine the usefulness and usability of its research products.
• Upon project completion, plans to ensure capture of research results; e.g. involvement of potential commercial partners (systems integrators, software vendors), commitments by other organizations for continued funding, etc.

Other project elements might be included depending on the nature of the proposed work, such as user learning and help components, human-centered systems elements (e.g., user interfaces, visualization tools, user interaction metrics), use of non-proprietary or platform-neutral technologies, ability to scale and integrate systems, Web-compatible interfaces, use of collaboration technologies, and integration of educational elements within the project.

The context of Digital Government research can be obtained from the following reports [Web references for other related reports can be found at http://nii.nist.gov/pubs/pubs.html]:

• "Toward a Digital Government in the 21st Century", supported by the National Science Foundation, the Federal Information Services and Applications Council of the National Science and Technology Council, and the National Center for Research Resources of the National Institutes of Health (http://www.isi.edu/nsf/)
• Access America, a report from the President's Government Information Technology Services Board (http://www.gits.fed.gov)
• Topical reports from the Computer Science and Telecommunications Board of the National Academy of Sciences (http://www2.nas.edu/cstbweb/)
• The Strategic Plan of the Federal Chief Information Officers Council (http://www.cio.fed.gov/)
• Report of the Presidential Commission on Critical Infrastructure Protection (http://www.pccip.gov)
• Report of the Presidential working group - "A Framework for Global Electronic Commerce" (http://www.iitf.nist.gov/electronic_commerce.htm)
• Enhancing Learning and Education Through Technology - A Presidential Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies - (http://www.pub.whitehouse.gov/WH/Publications/html/Publications.html)

Proposals will be subject to peer review, in most cases by a panel of experts from multiple sectors, including academia, government agencies, the private sector, and national laboratories. Site visits may be made to clarify issues raised during the review process, and to explore other matters as needed. As with all proposals to NSF, these proposals will be evaluated using the two standard review criteria:

1. The intellectual merit of the proposed activities. Potential considerations may include, depending on the particulars of the proposal:
• How important is the proposed activity to advancing knowledge and understanding with its own field or across different fields?
• How well qualified is the proposer (individual or team) to conduct the project? (If appropriate, quality of prior work will be considered)
• To what extent does the proposed activity suggest and explore creative and original concepts?
• How well conceived and organized is the proposed activity?
• Is there sufficient access to the necessary resources?
2. The broader impacts of the proposed activities. Potential considerations may include, depending on the particulars of the proposal:
• How well does the activity advance discovery and understanding while promoting teaching, training, and learning?
• How well does the proposed activity broaden the participation of underrepresented groups (e.g. gender, ethnicity, disability, geographic, etc.)?
• To what extent will the proposed activity enhance the infrastructure for research and education, such as facilities, instrumentation, networks and partnerships?
• Will the results of the proposed activity be disseminated broadly to enhance scientific and technological understanding?
• What may be the benefits of the proposed activity to society?

The following additional evaluation criteria will be employed:

• Feasibility of proposed work
• Potential for impact on Federal information services and facilitation of mission accomplishment
• Degree of in-kind leverage, including personnel provided by project partners, facilities, vendor discounts, and involvement of associated but separately funded projects which will benefit the proposed work.

For FY98, available funding from NSF is $1Million, primarily for workshops and planning grants. In FY99, additional funding has been requested in the President’s budget to Congress; funding from other agencies is anticipated (updates on available funding can be obtained from dgpd@nsf.gov, or http://www.cise.nsf.gov). At that time a small number (1-3) of large center-like awards may be made with a mix of other smaller awards; large awards may require the use of cooperative agreements rather than grants.

In award and funding decisions, the Program will seek a portfolio of activities balanced with respect to:

• Project domains
• Technologies explored
• Involvement of multiple agencies
• User community
• Categories of proposals (as indicated above)

Projects which are initially funded at a level exceeding $500,000 per year for two or more years will have their progress evaluated annually by teams of experts. Funding for the balance of the project term may be revised based on this evaluation.

All publications, reports, data and other output must be prepared in digital form and allow for electronic storage, indexing, searching and retrieval.

The following individuals will act in an ombudsman capacity, and may be contacted for information and identification of potential agency participants. The listing of an agency or individual below does not necessarily imply an agreement to participate as a partner in any proposals.

To assist the Program in planning for merit review of proposals, potential proposers are requested, but not required, to send a short (paragraph or two) description of the essential elements of their proposal, including major partners, by email to dgpd@nsf.gov. A notice of intent to propose does not bind the submitter in any way, nor is the submission of a notice required to submit a proposal. Notices of intent will not be reviewed for merit, but will be used to help plan the review.

Proposals submitted in response to this program should follow the instructions in the Grant Proposal Guide (GPG) (NSF 98-2), using copies of the forms included in the appendices of GPG. All of this material is available on the NSF Web site at http://www.nsf.gov/bfa/cpo/gpg/start.htm

Formal communications for this program competition will be electronic wherever possible. Therefore, proposers are encouraged to submit proposals electronically using the NSF FastLane system for electronic proposal submission and review, available through the World Wide Web on the FastLane home page (http://www.fastlane.nsf.gov). To access the FastLane Proposal Preparation application, your institution needs to be a registered FastLane institution. A list of registered institutions and the FastLane registration form are located on the FastLane home page. For questions or problems concerning submitting a proposal via FastLane, please contact fastlane-comments@nsf.gov.

Proposals must be submitted no later than September 1, for FY1998 submissions, and March 1 for FY1999 and thereafter.

Awards resulting from this announcement will be administered in accordance with the terms and conditions of NSF GC-1, (10/95) or FDP-III (7/1/96) Grant General Conditions. Copies of these documents are available through NSF’s site on the World-Wide Web or from the NSF Publications Clearing House, P.O. Box 218, Jessup, MD 20794-0218, phone: 301-947-2722. More comprehensive information is contained in the NSF Grant Policy Manual (7/95) (NSF 95-26) for sale through the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington DC, 20402, and available on the World-Wide Web. Depending on the nature of the project, NSF may elect to enter into a cooperative agreement with the awardee.

For more information on the Digital Government Program, contact:

The Foundation provides awards for research and educational activities in the sciences and engineering. The awardee is wholly responsible for the conduct of such research and preparation of the results for publication. The Foundation, therefore, does not assume responsibility for the research findings or their interpretation.

The Foundation welcomes proposals from all qualified scientists and engineers and strongly encourages women, minorities, and persons with disabilities to compete fully in any of the research and education-related programs described here. In accordance with federal statutes and regulations and NSF policies, no person on grounds of race, color, age, sex, national origin, or disability shall be excluded from participation in, denied the benefits of, or be subject to discrimination under any program or activity receiving financial assistance from the National Science Foundation.

Facilitation Awards for Scientists and Engineers with Disabilities (FASED) provide funding for special assistance or equipment to enable persons with disabilities (investigators and other staff, including student research assistants) to work on NSF projects. See the program announcement or contact the program coordinator at (703) 306-1636.

The National Science Foundation has TDD (Telephonic Device for the Deaf) capability, which enables individuals with hearing impairment to communicate with the Foundation about NSF programs, employment, or general information. To access NSF TDD dial (703) 306-0090; for FIRS, 1-800-877-8339.

The information requested on proposal forms and project reports is solicited under the authority of the National Science Foundation Act of 1950, as amended. The information on proposal forms will be used in connection with the selection of qualified proposals; project reports submitted by awardees will be used for program evaluation and reporting within the Executive Branch and to Congress. The information requested may be disclosed to qualified reviewers and staff assistants as part of the application review process; to applicant institutions/grantees to provide or obtain data regarding the application review process, award decisions, or the administration of awards; to government contractors, experts, volunteers and researchers as necessary to complete assigned work; to other government agencies needing information as part of the review process or in order to coordinate programs; and to another Federal agency, court or party in a court or Federal administrative proceeding if the government is a party. Information about Principal Investigators may be added to the Reviewer file and used to select potential candidates to serve as peer reviewers or advisory committee members. See Systems of Records, NSF-50, "Principal Investigator/Proposal File and Associated Records," 63 Federal Register 267 (January 5, 1998), and NSF-51, "Reviewer/Proposal File and Associated Records," 63 Federal Register 268 (January 5, 1998). Submission of the information is voluntary. Failure to provide full and complete information, however, may reduce the possibility of receiving an award.

Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 120 hours per response, including the time for reviewing instructions. Send comments regarding this burden estimate and any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to: Reports Clearance Officer, Information Dissemination Branch, DAS, National Science Foundation, 4201 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, VA 22230

Programs described in this publication are in Category 47.070 (Computer and Information Science and Engineering) in the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance.

OMB 3145-0058
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