1 STRIDES Baseline Survey

NIH ODSS STRIDES Initiative Baseline Survey
Survey Introduction
Thank you for participating in the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Data
Strategy Science (ODSS) Science and Technology Research Infrastructure for Discovery,
Experimentation, and Sustainability (STRIDES) Initiative baseline survey. The survey will
take maximum 20 minutes and is designed to help NIH better understand the culture
of cloud usage and broader challenges among the scientific community. Additionally, the
survey will help NIH identify, segment and prioritize potential STRIDES participants. Your
responses will be used to assess the programs' impact on NIH’s business processes and
how research is performed. Please identify only facilitators and barriers that have had a
significant impact on your scientific research using big data. Thank you for your time!
OMB#: 0925-0648 Exp. Date: 05/31/2021
Burden Disclosure: Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 20
minutes per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources,
gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. An
agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information
unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or
any other aspect of this collection information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to: NIH, Project
Clearance Branch, 6705 Rockledge Drive, MSC 7974, Bethesda, MD 20892-7974, ATTN: PRA#0925-0648.
Do not return the completed form to this address.
1. Please enter your email address.

Researcher Characteristics
The information collected within this section will help NIH identify, segment and prioritize current and
potential STRIDES participants and their unique needs. For example, Question #6 asks if respondent works with
sensitive data. We ask this because we want to be sure that we are connecting them with the resources they need to
architect their environment properly.

2. Please provide your academic institution, if applicable.

3. Please select your NIH Institute and Center (IC), if applicable.
NCI
NEI
NHLBI
NHGRI
NIA
NIAAA
NIAID
NIAMS
NIBIB
NICHD
NIDCD
NIDCR
NIDDK
NIDA
NIEHS
NIGMS
NIMH
NIMHD
NINDS
NINR
NLM
CC
CIT
CSR
FIC
NCATS
NCCIH
Not applicable

4. What is your current role at your NIH Institute and Center (IC) or the big data/cloud-based project you
support?
Senior Investigator
Investigator
Senior Clinician
Senior Scientist
Assistant Clinical Investigator
Staff Clinician
Staff Scientist
Senior Research Assistant/Research Assistant
Scientist Emeritus
Postdoctoral Fellow
Pre-Doctoral Fellow
Post-Baccalaureate Fellow
Technical Fellow
ORISE Senior Fellow
Senior Clinical Fellow
Clinical Fellow
Senior Research Fellow
Research Fellow
Other - Write In (Required)

5. How would you best describe your research? (e.g., clinical research)

6. Do you work with sensitive data? If so, what kinds?
I don't work with sensitive data
Human subject data
Non-human subject data

7. Select the data categories that you generate, use, process or analyze in your research. Check all that
apply.
Genomic
Proteomic
Metabolomic
Micro/Macro Imaging
Clinical Observations
Clinical Chemistry
Clinical Reports
Social
Other - Write In (Required)
*

8. How large is the total footprint of your data?
Between 0 and 1 TB
Between 1 TB and 500 TB
Greater than 500 TB
I don't know the total footprint of my data

9. How rapidly does your data grow?
Less than double per month
Greater than or equal to double per month
I don't know how rapidly my data grows

Experience with Cloud Tools or Capabilities
Show/hide trigger exists.

10. Do you typically utilize commercial cloud tools or capabilities while conducting scientific research? (e.g.,
AWS, GCP, Azure or other cloud-based software solutions) Check all that apply.
Yes; I use commercial cloud tools or capabilities to access data sets or other digital
objects
Yes; I use commercial cloud tools or capabilities to store data sets or other digital
objects
Yes; I use commercial cloud tools or capabilities to manipulate, visualize, or evaluate
data sets or other digital objects
Yes; I use commercial cloud tools or capabilities to share data sets or other digital
objects
No; I don't currently use commercial cloud tools or capabilities when conducting
scientific research, but am potentially interested in using them to better fulfill my
research needs
No; I don't currently use commercial cloud tools or capabilities when conducting
scientific research and do not believe they are required to fulfill my research needs

Hidden unless: #10 Question "Do you typically utilize commercial cloud tools or capabilities while
conducting scientific research? (e.g., AWS, GCP, Azure or other cloud-based software solutions) Check all
that apply." is one of the following answers ("Yes; I use commercial cloud tools or capabilities to access data
sets or other digital objects","Yes; I use commercial cloud tools or capabilities to store data sets or other
digital objects","Yes; I use commercial cloud tools or capabilities to manipulate, visualize, or evaluate data
sets or other digital objects","Yes; I use commercial cloud tools or capabilities to share data sets or other
digital objects")
11. What percentage of your data is currently stored in the cloud?
0%-1%
2%-25%
26%-50%
51%-100%

Hidden unless: #10 Question "Do you typically utilize commercial cloud tools or capabilities while
conducting scientific research? (e.g., AWS, GCP, Azure or other cloud-based software solutions) Check all
that apply." is one of the following answers ("Yes; I use commercial cloud tools or capabilities to access data
sets or other digital objects","Yes; I use commercial cloud tools or capabilities to store data sets or other
digital objects","Yes; I use commercial cloud tools or capabilities to manipulate, visualize, or evaluate data
sets or other digital objects","Yes; I use commercial cloud tools or capabilities to share data sets or other
digital objects")

12. How would you rate your ability to conduct scientific research using cloud tools and capabilities?
Beginner
Novice
Intermediate
Advanced
Expert

Hidden unless: #10 Question "Do you typically utilize commercial cloud tools or capabilities while
conducting scientific research? (e.g., AWS, GCP, Azure or other cloud-based software solutions) Check all
that apply." is one of the following answers ("Yes; I use commercial cloud tools or capabilities to access data
sets or other digital objects","Yes; I use commercial cloud tools or capabilities to store data sets or other
digital objects","Yes; I use commercial cloud tools or capabilities to manipulate, visualize, or evaluate data
sets or other digital objects","Yes; I use commercial cloud tools or capabilities to share data sets or other
digital objects")
13. Please select the commercial cloud platform(s), if any, you have used while conducting scientific
research. Check all that apply.
Google Cloud Platform
IBM
Amazon Web Services
Microsoft Azure
Other - Write In (Required)
*

Experience with Cloud Tools or Capabilities
Piped Values From Question 13. (Please select the commercial cloud platform(s), if any, you have
used while conducting scientific research. Check all that apply.)

14. Please select the vendor, if any, associated with the cloud service provider (CSP) from which you have
obtained cloud services from while conducting scientific research. Check all that apply.
Carahsoft
Onix
REAN
Four Points
Figshare
OmniBond
SevenBridges
Not applicable
Enter another option

Hidden unless: #10 Question "Do you typically utilize commercial cloud tools or capabilities while
conducting scientific research? (e.g., AWS, GCP, Azure or other cloud-based software solutions) Check all
that apply." is one of the following answers ("Yes; I use commercial cloud tools or capabilities to access data
sets or other digital objects","Yes; I use commercial cloud tools or capabilities to store data sets or other
digital objects","Yes; I use commercial cloud tools or capabilities to manipulate, visualize, or evaluate data
sets or other digital objects","Yes; I use commercial cloud tools or capabilities to share data sets or other
digital objects","No; I don't currently use commercial cloud tools or capabilities when conducting scientific
research, but am potentially interested in using them to better fulfill my research needs")

15. Select one or more cloud services that have helped, or could help, accelerate your research. Check all
that apply.
Bulk data transfer technologies
Storage
Compute (i.e. virtual machines and container management techniques)
Data delivery
SQL/no SQL technologies
Big data technologies
Analytics
Artificial intelligence (e.g., machine learning)
Domain-specific applications or tools
Internet of things (IoT)
Other - Write In (Required)
*

Hidden unless: #10 Question "Do you typically utilize commercial cloud tools or capabilities while
conducting scientific research? (e.g., AWS, GCP, Azure or other cloud-based software solutions) Check all
that apply." is one of the following answers ("No; I don't currently use commercial cloud tools or capabilities
when conducting scientific research, but am potentially interested in using them to better fulfill my research
needs","No; I don't currently use commercial cloud tools or capabilities when conducting scientific research
and do not believe they are required to fulfill my research needs")

16. What has prevented you from utilizing commercial cloud services or tools while conducting scientific
research? Check all that apply.
Concerns related to data privacy or security
Lack of skills or training
Lack of funding or resources
General hesitancy
Cloud tools/capabilities are not user friendly
Cloud tools/capabilities do not support research methods performed (e.g., deep
learning, big data analytics)
Research requires computational performance currently only available through high
performance computing (HPC)
Research uses well-defined computational approaches on a scale that does not justify
migrating to the cloud to exploit its dynamic, elastic and scalable capability
Available publicly-funded cloud services, such as National Institute of Standards and
Technology (NIST), obviate the need for any commercial cloud services
Traditional computational support locally available at low/no cost
Ingress/egress cost waivers (e.g., those available with Internet 2 membership)
Ability to leverage the same computational hardware investments for more than one
research project
Cloud is not part of your longer-term data management strategy
Collaboration goals for your program/project does not require sharing data broadly
(e.g., team is geographically dispersed)
Do not anticipate variability (i.e., spikes and valleys) in terms of computational and
storage needs over the course of your program/project
No one on your team who can support the administration, provisioning, and
management of data in the cloud, along with serving as the accountable party to
monitor usage and ensure proper information security controls are in place
Other - Write In (Required)
*

Hidden unless: #10 Question "Do you typically utilize commercial cloud tools or capabilities while
conducting scientific research? (e.g., AWS, GCP, Azure or other cloud-based software solutions) Check all
that apply." is one of the following answers ("No; I don't currently use commercial cloud tools or capabilities
when conducting scientific research, but am potentially interested in using them to better fulfill my research
needs","No; I don't currently use commercial cloud tools or capabilities when conducting scientific research

and do not believe they are required to fulfill my research needs")
17. What would you suggest NIH do to support or encourage the utilization of cloud tools and capabilities
when conducting scientific research? Check all that apply.
Offer training
Offer cost incentives
Minimize paperwork required to acquire cloud resources
Promote culture of using cloud
Provide easier access or change data access/sharing policies
Provide funding
Provide education on how cloud could benefit or provide long-term value to your
research
Demonstrate how to make tools “cloud-ready” (i.e., configured or configurable) to work
effectively in the cloud
Other - Write In (Required)
*

Barriers or Challenges
Show/hide trigger exists.
18. Please select when, if at all, you encounter barriers or challenges. Check all that apply.
Using commercial cloud service(s) or tool(s)
Accessing data sets
Storing data sets
Manipulating, aligning, visualizing or evaluating data sets
Sharing data sets
I do not encounter barriers or challenges related to the response options provided

Barriers or Challenges
Hidden unless: #18 Question "Please select when, if at all, you encounter barriers or
challenges. Check all that apply." is one of the following answers ("Using commercial cloud service(s) or
tool(s)")

19. What significant barriers have you encountered when using commercial cloud services or tools? Check
all that apply.
Governance or control
Cloud vendor reliability or performance
Research lead may feel apprehensive using certain cloud tools or capabilities
Lack of knowledge or expertise
Cloud tools or capabilities do not meet research needs
Cloud vendor pricing structure
Lack of desired data sets available on the cloud
Lack of funding or resources
Data migration such as extensive troubleshooting or slow data migration
Data security
Agreement issues or legal considerations
Onboarding or account setup
Controlled Access
Timely routes to access data concerning a single scientific focus area
Lack of ability to perform analysis across multiple data sets
No capability that easily enables collaboration
Type of data is not readily available via cloud resources
Ability to manage cloud spend
Personal preference
Other - Write In (Required)
*

Barriers or Challenges
Hidden unless: #18 Question "Please select when, if at all, you encounter barriers or
challenges. Check all that apply." is one of the following answers ("Using commercial cloud service(s) or
tool(s)")
Piped From Question 19. (What significant barriers have you encountered when using commercial
cloud services or tools? Check all that apply.)
Hidden unless: #18 Question "Please select when, if at all, you encounter barriers or
challenges. Check all that apply." is one of the following answers ("Using commercial cloud service(s) or

tool(s)")

Hidden unless: #18 Question "Please select when, if at all, you encounter barriers or
challenges. Check all that apply." is one of the following answers ("Using commercial cloud service(s) or
tool(s)")
Piped From Question 19. (What significant barriers have you encountered when using commercial
cloud services or tools? Check all that apply.)

Barriers or Challenges
Hidden unless: #18 Question "Please select when, if at all, you encounter barriers or
challenges. Check all that apply." is one of the following answers ("Accessing data sets")
20. What significant barriers have you encountered when accessing data sets? Check all that apply.
Data type necessary for meeting scientific research objectives is not available because
the cultural or social norms within community does not promote sharing that type of
data
Research lead may feel apprehensive using certain cloud tools or capabilities
Lack of understanding or implementation of FAIR criteria
Willingness to give others data set ownership
Unreliable data or corrupt data files
Complex, or lack of, data access resources
Lengthy data access approval process
Complex data access policies
System errors
File size and bandwidth
Metadata is not sufficiently detailed enough to understand the provenance of the data
Data is not readily available via cloud resources
Lack of knowledge or experience accessing large data sets using NIH publicly
available software tools/APIs/etc.
Other - Write In (Required)
*

Barriers or Challenges

Hidden unless: #18 Question "Please select when, if at all, you encounter barriers or
challenges. Check all that apply." is one of the following answers ("Accessing data sets")
Piped From Question 20. (What significant barriers have you encountered when accessing data
sets? Check all that apply.)
Hidden unless: #18 Question "Please select when, if at all, you encounter barriers or
challenges. Check all that apply." is one of the following answers ("Accessing data sets")

Hidden unless: #18 Question "Please select when, if at all, you encounter barriers or
challenges. Check all that apply." is one of the following answers ("Accessing data sets")
Piped From Question 20. (What significant barriers have you encountered when accessing data
sets? Check all that apply.)

Barriers or Challenges
Hidden unless: #18 Question "Please select when, if at all, you encounter barriers or
challenges. Check all that apply." is one of the following answers ("Storing data sets")
21. What significant barriers have you encountered when storing data sets? Check all that apply.
Research lead may feel apprehensive using certain cloud tools or capabilities
Lack of infrastructure that can support data at scale
Lack of funding for cloud resources
Concerns regarding data security
Moving data to the cloud isn't feasible
Lack of experience or knowledge
Other - Write In (Required)
*

Barriers or Challenges
Hidden unless: #18 Question "Please select when, if at all, you encounter barriers or
challenges. Check all that apply." is one of the following answers ("Storing data sets")
Piped From Question 21. (What significant barriers have you encountered when storing data
sets? Check all that apply.)
Hidden unless: #18 Question "Please select when, if at all, you encounter barriers or
challenges. Check all that apply." is one of the following answers ("Storing data sets")

Hidden unless: #18 Question "Please select when, if at all, you encounter barriers or
challenges. Check all that apply." is one of the following answers ("Storing data sets")
Piped From Question 21. (What significant barriers have you encountered when storing data
sets? Check all that apply.)

Barriers or Challenges
Hidden unless: #18 Question "Please select when, if at all, you encounter barriers or
challenges. Check all that apply." is one of the following answers ("Manipulating, aligning, visualizing or
evaluating data sets")
22. What significant barriers have you encountered when manipulating, aligning, visualizing or
evaluating? Check all that apply.
Research lead may feel apprehensive using certain cloud tools or capabilities
Lack of infrastructure that can support data at scale
Lack of available resources or guidance
Unclean or unformmated data
Lengthy processing time
Lack of usability (the adequacy of metadata associated with data)
Publicly available software libraries or data analysis tools do not meet scientific
research needs
Insufficient skill in research or data science methods necessary to meet scientific
research objectives
Insufficient skill in software libraries or data analysis tools
Other - Write In (Required)
*

Barriers or Challenges
Hidden unless: #18 Question "Please select when, if at all, you encounter barriers or
challenges. Check all that apply." is one of the following answers ("Manipulating, aligning, visualizing or
evaluating data sets")
Piped From Question 22. (What significant barriers have you encountered when manipulating,
aligning, visualizing or evaluating? Check all that apply.)
Hidden unless: #18 Question "Please select when, if at all, you encounter barriers or
challenges. Check all that apply." is one of the following answers ("Manipulating, aligning, visualizing or
evaluating data sets")

Hidden unless: #18 Question "Please select when, if at all, you encounter barriers or
challenges. Check all that apply." is one of the following answers ("Manipulating, aligning, visualizing or
evaluating data sets")
Piped From Question 22. (What significant barriers have you encountered when manipulating,
aligning, visualizing or evaluating? Check all that apply.)

Barriers or Challenges
Hidden unless: #18 Question "Please select when, if at all, you encounter barriers or
challenges. Check all that apply." is one of the following answers ("Sharing data sets")
23. What significant barriers have you encountered when sharing data sets? Check all that apply.
Type of data you want to share does not align with the cultural or social norms within
your research community, which does not promote sharing that type of data
Research lead may feel apprehensive using certain cloud tools or capabilities
Lack of data sharing resources or guidance
Lengthy IRB review/approval process
Lengthy data sharing process
Meeting NIH data quality standards (e.g., format, metadata)
Privacy of research participants (e.g., data includes identifiers that would permit
linkages to individual research participants and variables that could lead to deductive
disclosure of the identity of individual subjects)
Lack of understanding FAIR Guideline application
Lack of understanding data sharing policies or process
Other - Write In (Required)
*

Barriers or Challenges
Hidden unless: #18 Question "Please select when, if at all, you encounter barriers or
challenges. Check all that apply." is one of the following answers ("Sharing data sets")
Piped From Question 23. (What significant barriers have you encountered when sharing data
sets? Check all that apply.)
Hidden unless: #18 Question "Please select when, if at all, you encounter barriers or
challenges. Check all that apply." is one of the following answers ("Sharing data sets")

Hidden unless: #18 Question "Please select when, if at all, you encounter barriers or

challenges. Check all that apply." is one of the following answers ("Sharing data sets")
Piped From Question 23. (What significant barriers have you encountered when sharing data
sets? Check all that apply.)

Additional Input on Barriers, Facilitators, or Solutions
Hidden unless: #18 Question "Please select when, if at all, you encounter barriers or
challenges. Check all that apply." is one of the following answers ("Using commercial cloud service(s) or
tool(s)","Accessing data sets","Storing data sets","Manipulating, aligning, visualizing or evaluating data
sets","Sharing data sets")
24. How can STRIDES help you address the barrier(s) you identified and described earlier? *

25. Are there significant facilitators (e.g., tools, people, cloud capabilities, programs) that you rely on when
accessing, storing, using, and sharing data for scientific research?

26. Would you be interested in participating in a future focus group or Townhall to further discuss your
responses?

Thank You!
Thank you for taking our survey. Your response is very important to us.