CaBIG: Cancer Research Boon or Bane?

Following a four-month review, a board of scientific advisors criticized the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) large-scale cancer research computing grid as being problematic, overly complex, and unsustainable.

In the report issued last month, the NCI board cited a long list of problems with the Cancer Biomedical Informatics Grid (CaBIG), including the exorbitant cost—approaching $10 million—of its applications development. The NCI board also issued 10 recommendations for corrective action, including an immediate moratorium on all proprietary software development, a one-year moratorium on all new projects and contracts, an audit of all expenditures to date, and the implementation of an independent oversight committee.