[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 74 (Monday, April 19, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19183-19184]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-9757]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

National Institutes of Health


National Cancer Institute: Opportunity for a Cooperative Research 
and Development Agreement (CRADA) for the Research and Development of 
Software for Managing Distributed Knowledgebases Consisting of Large 
Numbers of Objects of Diverse Categories Spanning Administrative, 
Scientific and Other Knowledge Domains

AGENCY: National Institutes of Health, PHS, DHHS.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The National Cancer Institute seeks a Cooperative Research and 
Development Agreement (CRADA) with a software company with demonstrated 
excellence in the development and deployment of software applications 
for the enterprise and individuals. NCI has recently developed a 
powerful but user-friendly computer-based system which enables its 
users to create, use and share a knowledge base of information 
consisting of diverse objects related to each other by semantically 
meaningful links. This system, provisionally called ``KBTool'', can be 
considered a new class of software application since it is sufficiently 
different from existing applications. The system provides a knowledge 
base that is seamless, allowing individuals to store information on a 
virtually unlimited range of objects and concepts. In addition, dense 
and informative links between many types of concepts are constructed. 
The system is extensible so that it is suited for use in distributed 
systems in which information is shared between users and stored at 
different physical locations. Because of the power of the system and 
its relevance to many domains of knowledge and types of applications, 
the NCI is seeking a commercial partner for its continued development 
and deployment. The software was originally created to organize and 
link vast quantities of scientific data; however, NCI predicts that 
KBTool's functionality will be applicable to a wide variety of fields. 
The Collaborator must have a demonstrated record of success in 
privately producing and marketing information resources.

DATES: Interested parties should notify this office in writing of their 
interest in filing a formal proposal no later than June 18, 1999. They 
will then have an additional thirty (30) days to submit a formal 
proposal.

ADDRESSES: Inquiries and proposals regarding this opportunity should be 
addressed to Holly S. Symonds, Ph.D. (Tel. #301-496-0477, FAX #301-402-
2117), Technology Development and Commercialization Branch, National 
Cancer Institute, 6120 Executive Blvd., Suite 450, Rockville, MD 20852. 
Inquiries directed to obtaining patent license(s) needed for 
participation in the CRADA opportunity may be addressed to John Fahner-
Vihtelic, Office of Technology Transfer, National Institutes of Health, 
6011 Executive Blvd., Suite 325, Rockville, MD 20852, (Tel. 301-496-
7735, ext. 270; FAX 301-402-0220).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: A Cooperative Research and Development 
Agreement (CRADA) is the anticipated joint agreement to be entered into 
by the NCI pursuant to the Federal Technology Transfer Act of 1986 and 
Executive Order 12591 of April 10, 1987 as amended by the National 
Technology Transfer Advancement Act of 1995. The NCI is looking for a 
CRADA partner to collaborate in the development of the properties of 
the KBTool data management system. The expected duration of the CRADA 
would be from one (1) to five (5) years.
    KBTool is a data management system and process for efficiently 
storing and retrieving data. The Experimental Immunology Branch of the 
NCI has designed KBTool to combine maximum data management flexibility 
and stability into unified knowledgebase applications. As a result, it 
has a diverse functionality which can replace users' fragmented world 
of specialized applications such as contact manager, administrative 
database, bookmark keeper, and fact finder. Some unique features of 
this software-based invention are: (1) ability to handle any number of 
conceptually distinct categories of items (such as people, events, 
institutions, tasks, concepts, processes, document types); (2) tools 
for creating relationships between any two or more objects, with the 
ability to categorize types of relationships and decide which 
categories they apply to; (3) use of parent-child relationship as a 
singularly important relationship to organize, view and navigate 
information; (4) flexibility in adding diverse categories of objects 
and relationships, while maintaining a simple underlying data structure 
and programming environment; (5) ability to view complex relationships 
in flexible and informative ways; (6) tools for managing names which 
are indispensable for finding the relevant objects; and (7) efficient 
ways to search information and filter retrievals to limit to relevant 
information.
    The prototype implementation of KBTool is already a highly 
functional system. For example, it manages information on more than 
50,000 ``concepts''. These concepts are classified into more than 200 
distinct categories. The 10 most highly represented categories are 
biased towards biological and software knowledge domains: genes, 
transcripts, proteins, protein spots; humans, institutions, journals, 
scientific publications, visuals, software applications, and scientific 
methods. However, its diversity is reflected in categories such as 
tasks, events, equipment, accounts, documents, areas of expertise and 
geographical locations. It has more than 50,000 links between these 
items; each of which conveys not simply the existence of a 
relationship, but the character of that relationship. This data is 
distributed into multiple linked databases. The most remarkable feature 
of the design of the data engine and knowledge representation is its 
simplicity and generality.
    KBTool was designed to allow the maintenance of a ``fabric'' of 
information regarding biological systems. It's current implementation 
can be viewed as the first in a sequence of many steps towards a 
``virtual cell'', which allows modeling of the enormous complexity of a 
human cell. Having taken this first step, NCI would like to solidify 
the prototype and subsequent steps in the process. Because of the 
myriad of components in a biological cell, KBTool had to be designed 
with

[[Page 19184]]

great flexibility. As a result, it has matured into an approach which 
is unusually broad in its cope, and its ability to create a fabric of 
information out of very disparate data types.
    The described methods are the subject of a patent application, USPA 
SN 09/203,037 filed November 30, 1998 by the Government.
    Under the present proposal, the goal of the CRADA will be to 
enhance the development in one or more of the following areas:

1. Client Software Development

    The prototype client software, KBTool is written in Microsoft 
Visual Basic 6.0 running under Windows operating systems. Planned 
evolution includes steps such as the following:
    (a) flexible interfaces for information viewing and update via the 
WWW;
    (b) rewriting parts of the application in C++ and Java;
    (c) porting to other operating systems (or re-writing in portable 
code);
    (d) enhanced graphical interfaces to view and manipulate the 
thought objects in a graphical way; and
    (e) development of specific enhancement for use for specific tasks 
such as workflow management, document and library management, 
simulation of biological processes, expert systems.

2. Database Engine/Server Development

    The prototype knowledge base is stored in a standard relational 
database manipulated primarily via SQL. In the long run, the 
application will likely benefit from using a database engine optimized 
for it. This would likely include speed improvements, and ability to 
handle validation and integrity issues at the level of the engine 
rather than the client software.

3. Content Development

    The design of this system is well adapted to many different kinds 
of content. Such content can be added by a range of strategies: human 
input, automated transfer from existing information resources, and 
combinations thereof. NCI seeks collaborative partner for optimizing 
input in areas related to cancer which encompasses many aspects of 
biology. For example, NCI seeks sophisticated textual analysis tools to 
facilitate harvest information from existing sources such as MEDLINE.

Party Contributions

    The role of the NCI includes the following:
    (1) Provide staff, expertise and materials for the further 
development of the KBTool system;
    (2) Evaluate the work product of the Collaborator to ensure 
progress toward meeting the CRADA goals;
    (3) Provide work space and equipment for production and testing of 
any components or improvements of the KBTool system.
    The role of the successful Collaborator will include the following:
    (1) Provide funding, if and as necessary, in support of the 
development of the KBTool system;
    (2) Provide expertise and assistance in the extension of KBTool in 
areas outlined above and in the production and market of any products 
resulting from CRADA;
    (3) Provide expertise and materials to aid in the development of 
the KBTool system during this CRADA collaboration; and
    (4) Provide, assist, or advise the NCI in quality assurance 
testing, operator training, and user support for any products resulting 
from this CRADA.

Selection Criteria

    Proposals submitted for consideration should fully address each of 
the qualifications shown below. The importance of individual criteria 
will differ between the three areas for a proposed CRADA: client 
software development, database engine/server development, and content 
development. Please address the criteria that relate to the area(s) in 
which your proposal will contribute.
    (1) Expertise:
    A. Demonstrated expertise in the creation of important new 
approaches in software design, database design, data visualization, and 
data mining, or expert systems.
    B. Demonstrated expertise in software engineering, data 
warehousing, data visualization, textual analysis;
    C. Demonstrated ability to secure national and international 
marketing and distribution of software;
    D. Demonstrated expertise in overseeing all aspects of product 
development;
    E. Demonstrated expertise in serving and supporting a significant 
client base;
    F. Familiarity with application of knowledgebase techniques to 
biomedical fields.
    (2) Demonstrated experience in the software industry with regards 
to:
    A. Producing, marketing and supporting knowledgebase and related 
applications;
    B. Indications of high levels of satisfaction by software experts 
and users of knowledgebase products; and
    C. The range of products and services it produces.
    (3) Physical Resources:
    A. An established headquarters with offices, space and equipment;
    B. Access to the organization during business hours by telephone, 
mail, email, the Internet, and other evolving technologies; and
    C. Sufficient financial and technological resources to support, at 
a minimum, the then current activities of the CRADA to meet the needs 
of the NCI.
    (4) Other:
    A. The willingness to accept the legal provisions and language of 
the CRADA with only minor modifications, if any. These provisions 
govern the distribution of patent rights to CRADA inventions. 
Generally, the rights of ownership are retained by the organization 
that is the employer of the inventor, with (1) the grant of a license 
for research and other Government purposes to the Government when the 
CRADA Collaborator's employee is the sole inventor, or
    (2) the grant of an option to elect an exclusive or nonexclusive 
license to the CRADA Collaborator when the Government employee is the 
sole inventor.
    B. The willingness to cooperate with National Cancer Institute in 
the timely publication of research results.
    C. The level of financial support the CRADA Collaborator will 
provide for CRADA-related Government activities.
    D. The willingness to commit best effort and demonstrated resources 
to the research and development of this technology, as outlined in the 
CRADA Collaborator's proposal.

    Dated: April 8, 1999.
Kathleen Sybert,
Chief, Technology Development and Commercialization Branch, National 
Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health.
[FR Doc. 99-9757 Filed 4-16-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4140-01-M