Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Financial and Contracting Oversight Hearing
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Introduction
Chairman
Today, I appreciate the opportunity to provide an overview of the value that NTIS provides the Federal Government and the American public, and to express the Administration's opposition to S. 2206.
The Mission of the Service and its History
The NTIS mission can be summed up as promoting American innovation and economic growth by serving as the federal government's central means of collecting and widely disseminating scientific, technical and engineering information to the public and industry, and by providing innovative information management solutions to assist other federal agencies in managing and disseminating information to their users and constituencies. The mission of the Service compliments and supports the mission of the
The Service was originally established in the
The National Technical Information Act of 1988 and other statutes provide the Service with its unique authorities to serve the public and industry, e.g., establishing and maintaining an information clearing house; implementing new methods and media for ensuring official federal science information access; entering into cooperative agreements and public-private joint ventures and other transactions to foster the dissemination of information to the public. Under the American Technology Preeminence Act of 1991 (ATPA), all federal agencies are required to transfer to the Service all unclassified scientific, technical, and engineering information that results from research and other activities funded by the government. The objective of the ATPA is to ensure permanent public access to federal technical reports, since federal agencies are not required to make these reports permanently available to the public. That permanent repository function is the responsibility of the Service. No other federal agency has the statutory authorities accorded to the Service under the ATPA to perform these critical functions for the public and other federal agencies. In fulfilling that congressional mandate, the Service has become the largest supplier of federal technical and science research reports (commonly known as "gray literature") that are not commercially published and are not generally accessible to the public. As a result, the Service has assumed a major role in the preservation and dissemination of this valuable reservoir of federal scientific and technical knowledge. NTIS's role as a permanent repository is as critical today, in the Internet age, as it has ever been.
Value of the
Senator
"This bill will make it possible for a company that is in need of specific information in reference to the latest available technical knowledge on a specific commodity to secure such information through one request instead of hunting from place to place as is the condition at present, and then perhaps not be able to find it even though the data may be available."
The Senator recognized the problem, and its solution would become the NTIS mission. In executing that basic statutory mission, the Service, on behalf of other federal agencies, has amassed a collection of approximately 2.8 million publications covering more than 350 technical and business-related subject areas. These items are perpetually available through the Service and approximately 30,000 new titles are added annually. All technical reports in the repository are indexed, cataloged, and abstracted by the Service, enabling the public user and professional researcher to efficiently locate reports and information within each subject area.
Importantly, the Service is a significant source of federal technical and science information and associated bibliographic metadata for world wide web search engines. Search engines can more easily find reports and documents that have had the underlying bibliographic metadata coding created by the Service. NTIS sitemaps and indexing enables and complements private search engines.
NTIS possesses a unique repository and clearinghouse with supporting systems and business processes. The GAO has reported that up to 45% of federal technical reports in a given subject category within the NTIS collection are only findable and available from the Service. The Service also ensures public access to the 26% of the reports entered into the NTIS collection since 1990 that GAO determined were not available from any of the four public sources searched by GAO, including the issuing agency website,
As the publishing industry has evolved due to technology advancement, the Service has also evolved from print and microfiche to electronic distribution of its information reports and products. Since 1997, the Service has been making technical reports available electronically.
In
In 2012, NTIS initiated the Federal Science Repository Service (FSRS). The FSRS provides a set of tools for NTIS to design an agency-specific digital repository that serves as a distinct gateway to the agency's scientific and technical documents, images, videos and other content. Two recent FSRS projects are the NOAA Deepwater Horizon Archive and the Iraqi Science and Technical Information Repository.
The Service has also responded to the call from the scientific and academic communities for a sustainable, open access model for science information. An important issue for content and knowledge management of federal science and technology information is promoting the adoption of open information environments, while simultaneously achieving a financially sustainable model to permit future content and technology developments. The Service recognizes the need to significantly adjust the sustainability of its model as it adopts a more open environment for accessing federal science content. The NTIS business model was originally premised on a demand-base of hardcopy delivery formats of scientific information. Consistent with the evolution of electronic access and this Administration's emphasis on "Open Government," the Service is modifying its cost recovery business model - a transition that is well underway. NTIS is working to broaden our information dissemination scope and to be more "open." NTIS's transition initiatives include the Public Access NTRL program and other actions that I will address later in my testimony.
Value of
Throughout its history, the Service has had to develop advanced information systems to accomplish its mission. NTIS was a leading adaptor and innovator in the 1970's and 1980's of information technology solutions in support of the clearinghouse mission. Responding to the evolving need for document access,
The joint venture authority created by
The Service continues to provide information management services through a mix of in-house services, public-private joint venture partnerships, and federal contracting tailored to meet the needs of the project. NTIS' joint venture partners range from Disabled Veterans, Women-owned and Small, Disadvantaged Businesses to middle- and large-sized businesses.
NTIS has been providing innovative technology services to the public and other federal Agencies since 1992, when FedWorld was created as a division within the Bureau. FedWorld was established to leverage in-house NTIS technology for public and federal consumption. During those first years, the NTIS systems were available to all citizens through dial-up connections accessing DOS-based bulletin boards, and FedWorld provided any US citizen with telephone service access to bulletin boards as well as early email address and services.
FedWorld systems also provided online locator services for a comprehensive inventory of information disseminated by the Federal Government, thereby assisting agencies and the public to electronically locate Federal Government information from a single location. Metadata on federal and commercial sites were housed within the NTIS repository, and information was made accessible through an electronic gateway of more than 100 Government bulletin boards. What started out as a small dial-up access system grew quickly in size, technology, and content.
The NTIS FedWorld website was one of the first to provide centralized portal services to citizens and other federal agencies searching for government information. Some of the portal services provided were:
* Metadata compendium of scientific web resources;
* Federal job vacancy announcements (prior to the launch of USAJobs.gov);
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* National Audiovisual Center;
* Portal for the Government Information Locator Service (GILS).
Much of the functionality of the FedWorld site was transferred to USA.gov when it was launched.
When the
The Service began providing Learning Management Systems more than 15 years ago to the
The NTIS track record of creative, innovative technology solution support for federal agencies has continued in the 21st century. NTIS technology innovation can be summed up as secure management and distribution of government content and data, a capability that is evolutionary and ongoing. The Service has a long, solid history providing those shared services to all branches of the government.
Today, the Service offers federal information services in the following business categories:
* Distribution and Fulfillment
* Scanning and Digitization
* E-Training and Knowledge Management
* Web Services and Federal Cloud Computing
In Fiscal Year (FY) 2013, NTIS, as a federal shared services provider, completed 103 separate services projects for 39 federal agencies and departments. The following are a few examples of current and recent NTIS services projects:
* Limited Access Death Master File (DMF) Certification Program
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* Financial Disclosure Online (FD OnLine)
* Distribution of 46.6 Million information products for other federal agencies
NTIS provided
For example, an NTIS joint venture project developed a fully integrated system for talent management, the "One USDA Staff Acquisition Solution," for the
The Service has streamlined and modernized warehouse and distribution infrastructure that provides distribution/warehouse services to other agencies, including the
The
Systems deployed by the NTIS teams are continually reviewed to improve processes. An annual project plan is developed and agreed to with the federal client. In this way, the NTIS teaming capability provides a framework for continuing to refine improvements for new and improved functionality. One example is the "Financial Disclosure Online," which is constantly updated based on the needs and requirements expressed by users. This responsive, iterative methodology avoids insufficient, outdated, and inferior system requirements and is representative of NTIS projects.
After the federal client decides to proceed with the project, an interagency agreement and project plan are developed to accomplish the project. Federal agencies are under no mandate to use NTIS information services. Agencies are free to obtain information services through interagency agreements with other federal agencies or obtain services through federal contract acquisition.
As is evident by NTIS's long history as a shared services provider and technical innovator, NTIS is constantly re-evaluating the technical environment and the evolving demand for services. The growth in NTIS federal services, provided to other agencies is a direct result of NTIS technical innovation and its ability to provide secure delivery of content. Federal agencies enter into shared services agreements with NTIS instead of contracting with industry for the following reasons:
* NTIS has the resources and technical expertise necessary to assist federal agencies in serving the information needs of their constituencies.
* NTIS provides a government-to-government partnership arrangement that is executed in a known financial and programmatic environment. The arrangement is collaborative and transparent.
* NTIS can enter into public-private joint venture partnerships to develop innovative solutions that other federal agencies require.
* NTIS is recognized for its operational efficiencies, best value pricing, and customer satisfaction.
* NTIS is customer-focused and has created feedback mechanisms to continue understanding evolving requirements.
Critical NTIS Functions Performed for the American Public
NTIS has unique authorities that enable it to provide scientific and technical repository services for the rest of the Federal government to foster dissemination of information and data. As the amount of data generated by the Federal Government grows, so does the challenge of ensuring its continued access and permanent availability. This is a function unique to NTIS.
NTIS provides services typically not directly available from private search engines. For instance, NTIS catalogues and indexes all of the collection documents and creates sitemaps that are then made available to all search engines to provide better "views" into the collection. Additionally, few agencies are required to maintain permanent access to their own agency information on their own websites and many have neither the technical or financial resources to do so. Consequently, by sending their official reports to NTIS, agencies ensure permanent public access to this information.
The Service also performs other valuable and unique functions for federal agencies and the public, a number of which are highlighted below.
Insurance: NTIS handles requests for, and provides information from, the Limited Access Death Master File (DMF), which is used by insurance and annuity companies to ensure that death benefits and annuities go to the right people, and to prevent fraud. By statute, many states require insurance companies to utilize the DMF for purposes of determining annuities. NTIS provides this critical service through an agreement with the
Financial institutions and retail companies such as Amazon, also use the DMF from NTIS to ensure the security of hundreds of thousands of transactions every day. Legitimate users of the DMF have made it abundantly clear that the DMF's unavailability - even temporary unavailability, would have a severe and wide-spread negative impact on financial and retail institutions. The Service is committed to ensuring the continued and uninterrupted contributions of the DMF to our Nation's financial well-being.
Medical and Pharmaceutical Services Firms: The Service provides controlled distribution of sensitive data for the
Libraries: Many academic and government libraries subscribe to the Service's
American Public and Consumers: NTIS' permanent repository is one of the comprehensive collections of federally funded science and technology documents. Common search engines use algorithms that are designed to learn what users want to see based on previous searches, location, ad clicks, etc., rather than through pure search and retrieval. These search engines leverage the cataloguing and indexing work published by the Service at the NTIS sitemap.
NTIS is mandated to be the permanent repository of federal science and technology reports. The Service was given that role precisely to avoid the duplication of effort, and consequent waste of taxpayer dollars that would result if individual agencies were required to take on that repository function within each agency. Moreover,
As I noted previously, many federal agencies and departments have neither the technical expertise, nor the statutory mandate or funding, that would be necessary to individually take on responsibility to maintain permanent availability of their scientific and technical information. This is a service that NTIS is uniquely suited and mandated to provide, and which it provides without appropriated funding.
Developing an Open and Sustainable Model for NTIS Technical Reports
NTIS is a self-sustaining federal agency maintaining fiscal viability and responsibility through the collection and management of fees for both information products and services. NTIS has had positive margins for each of the past five Fiscal Years and expects to remain viable and self-sustaining throughout this decade. Significant cost reductions in direct and allocated costs, combined with new efficiencies in information products and information systems upgrades, have significantly reduced the operating costs associated with NTIS information products.
The Service does not oppose changes to the fee-based model under which NTIS has operated for the dissemination of federal technical reports as
* The Service is proactively engaged with the
* After receiving the final concurrence from the
* NTIS features on its website that each of the technical reports and documents in its repository may be available online for free either from the issuing federal agency, GPO, or through private sector search engines. NTIS also advises the public of free ways in which to receive a report before processing a request for a technical report.
* The Service is working with other federal agencies to facilitate the collection and dissemination of federal science and technical information by providing enhanced information management and repository services to federal scientific content developers. NTIS, under the Federal Science and Repository Service (FSRS), will become a center of excellence for expertise and capabilities in assisting federal agencies in making the data associated with their scientific and technical reports available for public use in accordance with the Administration's Open Access and Open Data Policy, and the
* NTIS has applied for FEDRamp Certification and will submit NTIS shared services for inclusion on Uncle Sam's List.
In conclusion, as NTIS moves forward, we will continue to adopt the business processes and technology needed to achieve the Service's mission in the most efficient and effective manner.
Thank you for this opportunity to present to the Subcommittee. I am pleased to answer any questions that you may have.
Read this original document at: http://www.hsgac.senate.gov/download/?id=f6ee1219-0590-4996-a6e7-e218a20a4f82
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