[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 141 (Friday, July 22, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44021-44024]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-18559]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

National Institutes of Health


Announcement of Requirements and Registration for Using Public 
Data for Cancer Prevention and Control: From Innovation to Impact 
Developer Challenge

AGENCY: National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, HHS.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The National Cancer Institute (NCI), Division of Cancer 
Control and Population Sciences (DCCPS), is announcing the launch of 
the Using Public Data for Cancer Prevention and Control: From 
Innovation to Impact Developer Challenge. This Challenge is sponsored 
by the NCI and is presented as part of the Office of the National 
Coordinator for Health Information Technology's Investing in Innovation 
(i2) program. This contest addresses the NCI DCCPS mission to 
disseminate information towards the prevention, early detection, 
diagnosis, and treatment and control of cancer. Specifically, the 
contest supports the detection, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of 
cancer through the demonstration of new methods for the dissemination 
of information to the general public concerning the prevention, early 
detection, diagnosis, and treatment and control of cancer.

DATES: Important dates concerning the two phases of the Challenge 
include the following:

Phase I

    Submission Period Begins: 12:01 a.m., EDT, July 20, 2011.
    Submission Period for Initial Entries Ends: 11:59 p.m., EDT, August 
26, 2011.
    Judging Process for Finalists Begins: 12:01 a.m., EDT, August 27, 
2011.
    Judging Process for Finalists Ends: 11:59 p.m., EDT, September 1, 
2011.
    Finalist(s) notified: September 2, 2011.
    Finalist Demos at Health 2.0 Conference: September 25-27, 2011.

Phase II

    Final Submission Period Begins: 12:01 a.m., EDT, October 3, 2011.
    Final Submission Period Ends: 11:59 p.m., EST, November 18, 2011.
    Final Judging Process Begins: 12:01 a.m., EST, November 19, 2011.
    Final Judging Process Ends: 11:59 p.m., EST, November 25, 2011.
    Winner(s) notified: November 30, 2011.
    Award Presentation at Hawaii International Conference on System 
Sciences (HICSS) Symposium: January 4, 2012.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Abdul R. Shaikh, PhD, MHSc, Program 
Director, Health Communication and Informatics Research Branch, BRP, 
DCCPS, National Cancer Institute, Phone: 301-594-6690.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Subject of Challenge Competition

    Entrants are asked to develop software applications (apps) that 
utilize the wide array of health-related data made available by the NCI 
DCCPS and other Federal agencies for innovative consumer health apps; 
these apps should potentially integrate with existing technology 
platforms and address targets comprising DCCPS priority areas on the 
continuum of cancer prevention and control: http://cancercontrol.cancer.gov/od/index.html. Entrants are required to 
address challenges faced by consumers, clinicians, or researchers such 
as behavior risk reduction for prevention/survivorship (e.g., 
nutrition, physical activity, smoking cessation), early detection and 
screening, informed decision-making, and adherence to treatment 
regimens.

Eligibility Rules for Participating in the Competition

    To be eligible to win a prize under this challenge, an individual 
or entity shall have complied with all the requirements under this 
section.
    An individual or entity shall not be deemed ineligible because the 
individual or entity used Federal facilities or consulted with Federal 
employees during a competition if the facilities and employees are made 
available to all individuals and entities participating in the 
competition on an equitable basis.
    This Challenge is open to any Contestant, defined as (1) an 
individual or team of U.S. citizens or permanent residents of the 
United States who are 13 years of age and over (with the permission of 
a parent/guardian if under 18 years of age), or (2) an entity

[[Page 44022]]

incorporated in and maintaining a primary place of business in the 
United States. Foreign citizens can participate as employees of an 
entity that is properly incorporated in the U.S. and maintains a 
primary place of business in the U.S. Contestants may submit more than 
one entry, e.g., if they have developed more than one app. Eligibility 
for Phase II is conditional upon being selected as a Phase I finalist. 
Eligibility for a prize award is contingent upon fulfilling all 
requirements set forth herein. NCI will not select as a Finalist or 
Winner an individual or entity that is currently on the Excluded 
Parties List (https://www.epls.gov/).
    A Federal entity or Federal employee acting within the scope of his 
or her employment is not eligible to participate. Federal employees 
seeking to participate in this contest outside the scope of their 
employment should consult their ethics official prior to developing 
their submission. Employees of the NCI and the judges or any other 
company or individual involved with the design, production, execution, 
or distribution of the Challenge and their immediate family (spouse, 
parents and step-parents, siblings and step-siblings, and children and 
step-children) and household members (people who share the same 
residence at least three (3) months out of the year) are not eligible 
to participate.
    Regarding Liability and Indemnification, by participating in this 
competition, Contestants agree to assume any and all risks and waive 
claims against the Federal Government and its related entities, except 
in the case of willful misconduct, for any injury, death, damage, or 
loss of property, revenue, or profits, whether direct, indirect, or 
consequential, arising from participation in this prize contest, 
whether the injury, death, damage, or loss arises through negligence or 
otherwise. By participating in this competition, Contestants agree to 
indemnify the Federal Government against third party claims for damages 
arising from or related to competition activities.
    Regarding Insurance, based on the subject matter of the contest, 
the type of work that it will possibly require, as well as an analysis 
of the likelihood of any claims for death, bodily injury, or property 
damage, or loss potentially resulting from contest participation, 
Contestants are not required to obtain liability insurance or 
demonstrate financial responsibility in order to participate in this 
contest.
    Regarding Copyright/Intellectual Property--Original Work: Upon 
submission, each Contestant warrants that he or she is the sole author 
and owner of the Submission, that the Submission is wholly original 
with the Contestant (or is an improved version of an existing app that 
the Contestant has sufficient rights to use--including the substantial 
improvement of existing open-source apps) and that it does not infringe 
any copyright or any other rights of any third party of which 
Contestant is aware. Each Contestant also warrants that the app is free 
of malware. In addition to complying with appropriate policies, 
procedures, and protections for data that ensures all privacy 
requirements, intellectual property considerations, and institutional/
sponsor restrictions are met, use of publicly-available data obtained 
from NCI and other Federal partners should not allow the identification 
of an individual human subject from whom NCI and other Federal partners 
obtained such data.
    Submission Rights: By participating in this contest, each 
Contestant grants to the NCI an irrevocable, paid-up, royalty-free 
nonexclusive worldwide license to post, link to, share, and display 
publicly the app on the Web, for the purpose of the Challenge, during 
the duration of the Challenge and for a period of one year following 
announcement of the winners. All Contestants will retain all other 
intellectual property rights in their Submissions.
    Regarding Registration Process for Participants, interested persons 
should read the Official Rules (also posted on Challenge.gov) and 
register at the Health 2.0 Developer Challenge portal: http://www.health2challenge.org/. Registration is free and can be completed 
anytime during the Phase I App Submission Period, July 20 to August 26, 
2011.

Amount of the Prize

    At the culmination of Phase I, up to four NCI-selected finalists 
will each be awarded a $10,000 prize in conjunction with their 
participation in a special session at the Health 2.0 Fall Conference in 
San Francisco, California, in September 2011 to engage with leaders in 
government, venture capital, and technology for support in translating 
their innovations into commercially successful apps with potential 
public health impact. Phase I finalists will then receive additional 
time to upgrade and resubmit their apps for evaluation.
    From the Slate of Phase I finalists, Phase II will lead to the 
selection of up to two winners who will each receive a $20,000 prize to 
present their apps in an award ceremony during a special symposium at 
the HICSS conference in Maui, Hawaii, on January 4, 2012. The HICSS 
symposium will focus on linking application developers with experts in 
the health science, commercial, and venture capital arenas for tailored 
advice on commercialization, integration with existing platforms, and 
public health impact. Travel expenses to San Francisco and Hawaii will 
not be separately reimbursed but are intended to be paid for from the 
Phase I and II awards, respectively.
    NCI will also feature information about all finalist apps on an NCI 
Web site. This information will include a link to the award winning 
apps. All award recipients (in Phases I and II) will be required to 
make the app available on a publicly-accessible Web site until January 
12, 2013.

Basis Upon Which Winner Will Be Selected

    Phase I and Phase II entries will be judged by an expert panel 
composed of NCI program staff and external members of the health 
information technology community in compliance with the requirements of 
the America COMPETES Act. Judges may be named after commencement of the 
challenge. The judging panel will make selections based upon the 
following criteria:
    1. Use of cancer-related data: Each entry must use at least one 
dataset or data service relevant to cancer prevention and control, as 
described in the section on judging criterion 2. When 
appropriate to the app, the use of additional datasets from other 
sources is also encouraged.
    2. Impact on the continuum of cancer prevention and control: Each 
entry will be rated on the strength of its potential to help consumers, 
clinicians, and/or researchers address challenges related to the 
continuum of cancer prevention and control. Suggested targets comprise 
behavior risk reduction for prevention/survivorship (e.g., nutrition, 
physical activity, smoking cessation), early detection and screening, 
informed decision-making, and adherence to treatment regimens. Examples 
include, but are not limited to, apps that provide new ways of 
visualizing and communicating complex health information for risk 
communication; consumer decision support incorporating multiple sources 
of data to reduce the burden of cancer and enhance outcomes following 
diagnosis and treatment; and decision aids for cancer screening (e.g., 
prostate-specific antigen (PSA), breast, and cervical cancer screening 
tests). A detailed framework describing the continuum and related 
resources is available at the NCI DCCPS Web site: http://

[[Page 44023]]

cancercontrol.cancer.gov/od/continuum.html. Also see the following:

    a. Zapka JG, Taplin SH, Solberg LI, Manos MM. A framework for 
improving the quality of cancer care: the case of breast and 
cervical cancer screening. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2003 
Jan; 12(1):4-13).
    b. Taplin SH, Clauser S, Rodgers AB, Breslau E, Rayson D. 
Interfaces across the cancer continuum offer opportunities to 
improve the process of care. J Natl Cancer Inst Monogr 
2010;2010(40):104-10.
    c. Hesse BW, Hanna C, Massett HA, Hesse NK. Outside the box: 
will information technology be a viable intervention to improve the 
quality of cancer care? J Natl Cancer Inst Monogr 2010;2010(40):81-
9.

    3. Integration: Each entry will be rated on its potential for, or 
actual integration with, existing electronic health record (EHR; 
recommended standards can be found at http://healthit.hhs.gov/portal/server.pt/community/standards_and_certification/1153/home/15755), 
personal health record (PHR), mobile, Web, and/or other emerging health 
information technology platforms.
    4. Innovation: Each entry will be rated for the degree of new 
thinking it brings to applications targeting the continuum of cancer 
prevention and control, and the creativity shown in designing for 
impact.
    5. Usability: Each entry will be rated on its user-friendliness and 
interactive capabilities. Preference will be given to applications that 
are easily accessible to a range of users, including those with 
disabilities.
    Submissions should include a title, textual description of the 
submission, a link to the app, and a list of data sources and/or 
datasets used. Pictures and video are optional but helpful.
    Additional Information: NCI, part of the National Institutes of 
Health (NIH), was established by Congress in 1937 and is the leading 
Federal agency and the world's largest organization solely dedicated to 
cancer-related research (including health communication and 
informatics), training, and dissemination of information. For more 
information, see http://www.cancer.gov.
    Winners and finalists who meet the requisite qualifications, along 
with all interested and qualified parties, are also encouraged to apply 
for relevant funding opportunities to further develop and commercialize 
their innovative apps for cancer prevention and control, e.g., in NCI's 
Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program: http://sbir.cancer.gov/.
    In order for an entry to win this Challenge, it must meet the 
following requirements:
    1. General--Contestants must provide continuous access to the app, 
a detailed description of the app, instructions on how to install and 
operate the app, and system requirements required to run the app 
(collectively, ``Submission'').
    2. Acceptable platforms--The app must be designed for the Web, a 
personal computer, a mobile handheld device, console, or any platform 
broadly accessible on the open Internet.
    3. Data used--The app must utilize cancer-related data (as 
described in the section on judging criterion 2) from 
publicly-available data sets, though they need not include all data 
fields available in a particular resource. Data from Federal sources 
may be used alone or in combination with other available data resources 
at the discretion of the entrant. Related data and resources can be 
found, for example, at the following: http://healthdata.gov; Health 
Indicators Warehouse http://www.healthindicators.gov/; American Time 
Use Survey http://riskfactor.cancer.gov/studies/atus.html; Behavioral 
Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) http://www.cdc.gov/brfss/about.htm; California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) public use data 
files http://appliedresearch.cancer.gov/surveys/chis/module.html; 
Classification of Laws Associated with School Students (C.L.A.S.S.) 
http://class.cancer.gov/About.aspx; Health Information National Trends 
Survey http://hints.cancer.gov; ImpactTeen Tobacco Database http://www.impacteen.org/tobaccodata.htm; National Health and Nutrition 
Examination Survey (NHANES) http://riskfactor.cancer.gov/studies/nhanes/; National Health Interview Survey (NHIS)--Cancer Control 
Topical Module http://appliedresearch.cancer.gov/surveys/nhis/; 
Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program http://seer.cancer.gov; Tobacco Use Supplement to the Current Population 
Survey (TUS-CPS) http://riskfactor.cancer.gov/studies/tus-cps/.
    4. Accessibility--The app must, to the extent practicable, be 
accessible to a wide range of users, including users with disabilities. 
Apps should also aim to meet objectives for Federal compliance 
guidelines for information technology as addressed by Section 508 of 
the Rehabilitation Act of 1973: http://www.section508/gov.
    5. Deadlines and Modifications--The Phase I Submission must be 
available for evaluation and judging by 11:59 p.m., EDT, on August 26, 
2011. The Phase II Submission must be available for evaluation and 
judging by 11:59 p.m., EST, November 18, 2011. These submissions must 
remain unchanged and unaltered for the Phase I and, when applicable, 
the Phase II judging periods.
    6. Intellectual Property--The Submission must not infringe any 
copyright or any other rights of any third party.
    7. No NCI logo or endorsement--The app must not use NCI's logo or 
official seal in the Submission and must not claim NCI endorsement. The 
award of a prize in this Challenge does not constitute an endorsement 
of a specific product by the NCI or the Federal Government.
    8. Functionality/Accuracy--A Submission may be disqualified if the 
software application fails to function as expressed in the description 
provided by the user or if the software application provides inaccurate 
or incomplete information.
    9. Security--Submissions must be free of malware. The Contestant 
agrees that NCI may conduct testing on the app to determine whether 
malware or other security threats may be present. NCI may disqualify 
the app if, in NCI's judgment, the app may damage the Government's or 
others' equipment or operating environment.
    10. Debarment and Suspension Screening. By submitting an entry, 
Contestants consent to debarment and compliance screening.
    Submissions satisfying these criteria will be posted on the Health 
2.0 Developer Challenge portal (http://www.health2challenge.org/) on a 
rolling basis.

Compliance With Rules and Contacting Challenge Winners

    Finalists and the Challenge Winners must comply with all terms and 
conditions of these Official Rules, and winning is contingent upon 
fulfilling all requirements contained herein. The Phase I finalists 
will be notified by e-mail, telephone, or mail after the date of the 
judging. Awards may be subject to Federal income taxes, and the 
Department of Health and Human Services will comply with the Internal 
Revenue Service withholding and reporting requirements, where 
applicable.

Privacy

    If Contestants choose to provide the NCI with personal information 
by registering or filling out the submission form through the Challenge 
Web site (http://www.health2challenge.org/), that information is used 
to respond to Contestants in matters regarding their submission, 
announcements of entrants, finalists, and winners of the Challenge, 
related to promotion of the Challenge--unless Contestants choose to 
receive updates or notifications about other competitions from the NCI 
on an opt-in

[[Page 44024]]

basis. Information is not collected for commercial marketing. Winners 
are permitted to cite that they won this contest.

General Conditions

    The NCI reserves the right to cancel, suspend, and/or modify the 
Competition, or any part of it, for any reason, at NCI's sole 
discretion.
    Participation in this Challenge constitutes a contestant's full and 
unconditional agreement to abide by the Challenge's Official Rules 
found at http://www.Challenge.gov and http://www.health2challenge.org/.

    Authority:  15 U.S.C. 3719.

    Dated: July 18, 2011.
Francis S. Collins,
Director, National Institutes of Health.
[FR Doc. 2011-18559 Filed 7-21-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4140-01-P