Speeding
the Way to an NIH Grant
For decades, scientists waited a year to get a
grant from the National Institutes of Health. In recent years, the
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, one of 18
NIH Institutes, built three systems, using Internet-based technology
that will merge with NIH efforts to create electronic commerce.
They've slashed the processing time to 4 or 5 months for certain
grants. The grand vision is a mere 3 months from start to finish
for 30,000 grant applications a year.
Online
Center Helps Women Start and Build a Business
Women
are starting new firms at twice the rate of other groups and own
nearly 40 percent of all firms in the U.S. These 8 million firms
employ 18.5 million -- one in every five U.S. workers -- and contribute
$2.3 trillion to the economy. The Small Business Administration
has an online center to help women start and build businesses. It's
reaching women over the world.
National
Institutes of Health Takes the Time Out of Timekeeping
The National Institutes of Health was one of the first federal agencies
to heed Vice President Gore's call to reinvent labor-intensive timekeeping
systems, including eliminating employee sign in sheets. Good systems
trust employees, ask them to report time only when they take leave,
and use information technology to reduce timekeeping tasks. First
NIH implemented a timesaving system, using a National Science Foundation
system as its model. Now it's moving to a Web-based system. Recently,
the Department of Health and Human Services announced it will adopt
the NIH system as its official timekeeping system.
"Talking"
Glossary Explains DNA, Gene Therapy
Do you know that DNA stands for deoxyribonucleic
acid? OK, do you know how to pronounce it? If you need a vocabulary
to keep up with recent advances in genetics, visit the National
Human Genome Research Institute's new online glossary. Featuring
nearly 200 terms, the glossary is easy to read and easy to use.
It offers handy pronunciation guides, brief text definitions, and
dozens of richly illustrated diagrams of selected terms. The glossary
also "talks." It features in-depth audio clips -- spoken explanations
-- provided by more than two-dozen researchers in the fields of
genetics, molecular biology, and medicine.
Smart
Cards Carry All
All of us who use ATM and credit cards know how
smart a little plastic card with a magnetic stripe can be. But plastic
cards are getting smarter. A smart card contains an integrated circuit
chip with a microprocessor and memory. They are portable databases
that government workers can use to work better and faster. The General
Services Administration, in partnership with Navy, opened a Smart
Card Technology Center in Washington, DC, in September 1998. The
Center demonstrates one card storing everything from "cash" to fingerprints
to medical and dental records.
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In This Issue
Electronic Grants at NIH
Women's Online Business Center
Online Timekeeping
"Talking"
Gene Glossary
Smart
Cards Carry All
Back Issues
Vol. 1, No. 15, January 25, 1999
Vol. 1, No. 14, January 18, 1999
Vol. 1, No. 13, January 11, 1999
Vol. 1, No. 12, January 4, 1999
Vol. 1, No. 11, December 28,
1998
Vol. 1, No. 10, December 21,
1998
Vol. 1, No. 9, December 14, 1998
Vol. 1, No. 8, December 7, 1998
Vol. 1, No. 7, November 30, 1998
Vol. 1, No. 6, November 23, 1998
Vol. 1, No. 5, November 16, 1998
Vol. 1, No. 4, November 9, 1998
Vol. 1, No. 3, November 2, 1998
Vol. 1, No. 2, October 26, 1998
Vol. 1, No. 1, October 2, 1998
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