NIH Seeks Input on Strategic Plan for Data Science

By: Bethany Drehman
Thursday, March 29, 2018

On March 5, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) issued for public comment a Strategic Plan for Data Science (NOT-OD-18-134). Through this plan, NIH aims to capitalize on new scientific opportunities made possible through advances in data science and enhance how data is collected, used, stored, and shared in biomedical research.

As required in the FY 2017 appropriations bills, NIH must submit its final plan to Congress in May. The plan is organized around the following five goals with several objectives and implementation tactics per goal:

1. Support a highly efficient and effective biomedical research data infrastructure;
2. Promote modernization of the data-resources ecosystem;
3. Support the development and dissemination of advanced data management, analytics, and visualization tools;
4. Enhance workforce development for biomedical data science; and
5. Enact appropriate policies to promote stewardship and sustainability.

NIH is seeking feedback on the appropriateness of the goals, objectives, and implementation tactics; opportunities for NIH to partner in achieving these goals; additional concepts that should be included; and potential performance measures and milestones.

FASEB is developing a statement and encourages other stakeholders to respond to this request for information. Comments are due April 2 and should be submitted via this online form.