The Contractor shall operate the Advanced Biomedical Computing Center (ABCC), located primarily in NCI-Frederick, Bldg, 430, as the main scientific computational resource for the NCI-Frederick, the ABCC shall provide state-of-the-art computing support and technology to NCl/NIH-supported scientists and other DHHS components. (a) The ABCC staff shall employ computer and advanced discipline specialists to apply computing technology to problems in biomedical research, as required. These staff members shall address, but are not limited to: (i) planning, development, coordination and implementation of hardware, systems software, networks, data communication, user services, engineering and maintenance, facility planning, training, and operations or administration;and, (ii) development and maintenance of programs and systems in support of biomedical research, including proteomics, bioinformatics, imaging, structural and molecular biology data, genomics, and other emerging disciplines, such as nanotechnology as requested by the NCI. (b) The ABCC shall provide technical support, including consultation, training, and educational services;collaboration on research and emergent technology;and complex algorithm programming. The ABCC shall maintain technological currency to provide a cyber infrastructure to produce an environment for the solution of data intensive problems, and shall operate in accordance with policy and guidance established by the DHHS Information Resources Management Manual, applicable public law, and Federal regulations. (c) The ABCC shall provide services for computer utilization, code optimization, computer programs, database development, data management, data visualization. The ABCC shall also provide a system capability to support remote access for interactive processing, as well as capability for developing and processing large complex scientific problems. The ABCC shall, as requested by the NCI, provide a computational environment for the support of the CaBIG initiative, and provide an Applications Programming Interface as needed as a gateway for laboratory operations to access CaBIG. (d) The ABCC shall provide networking, video conferencing and local area network (LAN) support to the NCI-Frederick, as required by the Government. The ABCC shall define and submit to NCI for funding requirements and implementation plans for bandwidth adequate to support the Frederick and Bethesda research data management environment, maintain the Frederick network infrastructure, and cooperate with CIT for joint data sharing activities, and network security protocols. (e) The ABCC shall, in collaboration with the NCI, establish a User Oversight Committee consisting of internal NCI ABCC users and outside experts in various disciplines. This committee shall provide guidance and advice for the ABCC on a yearly basis.
