[Ctk-developers] ITK-v4 RFQ

[Stephen Aylward]

Hi CTK Folks,

I wanted to share what I've learned/guessed regarding the ITK RFQ that
was announced on Dec 11th.  Regretfully, I've confirmed that only
entities in the USA can apply, since USA economic recovery funding is
being used.

The RFQ to refactor ITK is available at
https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=edfe3d14e14fbd8bf7ee6527c793eb9a

The following is based on a presentation made by Dr. Yoo at IEEE Vis,
discussions during an ITK review held at the NLM in April, rumors, and
my reading of the RFQ.  Dr. Terry Yoo is the program officer at the
NLM who is initiated ITK and is managing this new RFQ.

*** Regarding the current RFQ (the "ITKv4 RFQ"):

1) The NLM has allocated $3.5M in ARRA funding for the RFQ announced
on Dec 11th.   The "ITKv4 RFQ."

2) An A2D2 request for proposals will be announced in January
(probably).  They expect to allocate $150K per award.  They expect to
make 10 awards.   See below for a summary of the difference between
A2D2s and the ITKv4 RFQ.

3) We can form teams on proposals in response to the ITKv4 RFQ, but he
may break them up.   As with the original ITK funding, there will
probably be a second round of reviews for the top proposals submitted
on Jan 20.  During that round, he may ask people to eliminated certain
portions of their proposals and correspondingly reduce their budgets.
 His goal is to build a team.   It worked for ITKv1.  The ITK Review
in April recommended the same.

4) Budget is a factor in the proposal review process.   The
lowest-cost bidder will be favored, but Dr. Yoo has some discretion.

5) One concern I've heard is that they may receive too many
applications for the RFQ, and they may not be able to find enough
reviewers.   This was also a concern during ITKv1, but it ended up not
being an issue.

6) Expected start date for funding is June 1, 2010 - for RFQs and the A2D2s.


*** Regarding the RFQ for ITKv4 versus the pending call for A2D2 proposals:

The A2D2 mechanism is meant to fund algorithms, applications, data,
and dissemination (hence A2D2 is the name).   These are expected to be
~5 page purchase orders - not grants or contracts.  The NLM will be
paying you to deliver what you have specified.   Budget and reporting
requirements were minimal in the past - I don't know if the financial
and reporting requirements will remain minimal since ARRA funding is
involved, but that was one of the benefits of A2D2s in the past.

Each A2D2 award is expected to be $150K.   Based on past A2D2 awards
and the purpose of A2D2s, one trip (maybe 2) to the NLM will be
required.   The review and funding time will be quite short.  The call
is expected in Jan with funding in your hands by May/June.   That is
based on the ITK review meeting's recommendation that A2D2s and RFQ
funding operate simultaneously.

The A2D2 awardees are expected to serve as use-cases and real-world
tests for the ITK refactoring that is to be conducted under the ITKv4
RFQ.   The A2D2 awardees operate as independent entities.   The A2D2
awardees are typically biomedical researchers.

In contrast, the current RFQ (we refer to it as ITKv4) is for changing
the "guts" of ITK.  The proposals are longer.  Based on past
experience, there will be two rounds of review and negotiations -
typically each awardee will receive only a portion of the funding they
request, because the ITKv4 awardees are expected to operate as a team.
 That is, while they write a proposal to provide an entire solution,
in the end, they will typically not do all that they proposved -
instead they must adapt their plan to fit the A2D2 requirements as
well as the strengths and weaknesses of the other ITKv4 awardees. The
ITKv4 awardees are typically software engineers.  They should not add
new algorithms to ITK, except as required to test/demonstrate the new
infrastructure they are providing.

Best regards,
Stephen

-- 
Stephen R. Aylward, Ph.D.
Director of Medical Imaging Research
Kitware, Inc. - North Carolina Office
http://www.kitware.com
stephen.aylward (Skype)
(919) 969-6990 x300



On Mon, Dec 14, 2009 at 1:13 PM, Stephen Aylward
<stephen.aylward at kitware.com> wrote:
> Hi Patti,
>
> Below is the RFQ for ITK infrastructure from the NLM...
>
> Stephen
>
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Terry Yoo <tyoo at mail.nih.gov>
> Date: Fri, Dec 11, 2009 at 9:30 PM
> Subject: ITK-v4 RFQ
> To: Terry Yoo <tyoo at mail.nih.gov>
>
>
>
> The ITK-v4.0 Solicitation has been posted to FedBizOpps:
>
> https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=edfe3d14e14fbd8bf7ee6527c793eb9a&tab=core&_cview=0
>
> This requirement is funded through the American Recovery and
> Reinvestment Act or ARRA (HR-1).  All rules and restrictions from
> ARRA-related projects apply.
>
> Terry S. Yoo, PhD
> Office of High Performance Computing and Communications
> National Library of Medicine
> National Institutes of Health
> tyoo at mail.nih.gov
>
>
>
>
>
>
> --
> Stephen R. Aylward, Ph.D.
> Director of Medical Imaging Research
> Kitware, Inc. - North Carolina Office
> http://www.kitware.com
> stephen.aylward (Skype)
> (919) 969-6990 x300
>



-- 
Stephen R. Aylward, Ph.D.
Director of Medical Imaging Research
Kitware, Inc. - North Carolina Office
http://www.kitware.com
stephen.aylward (Skype)
(919) 969-6990 x300