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Mission

The mission for the NIH enterprise architecture program is to develop a comprehensive plan for IT support at the NIH that acknowledges the need for both conforming and diverse business processes.

Vision

The Office of the Chief IT Architect's (OCITA) vision is to establish an enterprise architecture that will enable efficient business processes and information access for all NIH Institutes and Centers (IC) by providing the necessary:
  • Common models
  • Frameworks
  • Standards
    by which to build and plan:
    • Shared NIH enterprise systems
    • A secure and robust core IT infrastructure.

      Scope

      The NIH Enterprise Architecture Policy directs that the scope of its enterprise architecture span all ICs, including work completed or supported by outside agents. It specifically addresses the needs of NIH administrative and management functions, as well as interfaces to the external community with which it interacts (e.g., HHS, other HHS operational divisions, other Federal agencies, the general public). Some examples of technology included in the scope are enterprise applications (e.g., NIH Business System (NBS), Electronic Research Administration (eRA), and Clinical Research Information System (CRIS), enterprise data, systems management tools, and the following infrastructure:
      • Security
      • Network:
        • WAN
        • LAN
        • Wireless
        • Voice
      • Integration middleware
      • Hand-held devices
      • Email

        Scientific Systems

        The requirements of IC scientific research functions and supporting scientific systems influence the NIH Enterprise Architecture; however, they are generally not in scope because NIH recognizes the importance of innovation in this mission area.
        Organizations, therefore, are responsible for keeping the Chief IT Architect informed of scientific systems' requirements to ensure that the scope of the NIH Enterprise Architecture includes the necessary supporting infrastructure. The Chief IT Architect will also participate in the development of scientific systems when invited.

        Approach at NIH

        The NIH enterprise architecture program is managed by the Office of the Chief IT Architect (OCITA), which reports directly to the NIH Chief Information Officer (CIO). The key components of NIH's enterprise architecture program are:
        OCITA 5 Year Goals - a set of 9 goals prioritized to ensure OCITA achieves its vision.
        NIH Enterprise Architecture Program Plan - the master plan that identifies current and planned enterprise architecture initiatives and their relative priorities.
        Governance Framework - the allocation of decision rights and authority across the various NIH enterprise architecture stakeholders and the processes for making decisions.
        Enterprise Architecture Standards Process - documents the process used by the NIH community for the collaborative creation of architecture standards for Information Technology. It defines the stages in the standardization process, the requirements for moving a document between stages, and the types of documents used during this process.
        NIH Enterprise Architecture Framework - the conceptual framework for how the NIH Enterprise Architecture is structured. It establishes the taxonomy for categorizing various architecture artifacts, which are contained in the Architecture Library.
        Subscribe - the ongoing tracking and publication of updates to the enterprise architecture program. Often this involves the development of a new enterprise architecture artifact, the revision to an existing artifact, or an update to the NIH Enterprise Architecture Program Plan.


        Last Updated: December 04, 2011