Washington – What if the federal government were about to give away more than $400 billion in grants, but only people whose computers ran on Microsoft software could apply?
That is the predicament that many scientists, scholars and others say they are in as the government enters the final phase of its five-year effort to streamline its grant-application process.
The new “Grants.gov” system, under development at a cost of tens of billions of dollars, aims to replace paper applications with electronic forms.
It is being phased in at the National Institutes of Health, Department of Housing and Urban Development and other federal agencies.
All 26 grant-giving agencies are supposed to have their application processes fully online by 2007.
The problem: Although many U.S. scientists and others depend on graphics-friendly Mac intosh computers, the software selected by the government is not Mac-compatible.
And it is expected to remain so for at least a year.
Last week, faced with evidence that the system will not be fully accessible to Mac users by this fall as promised, NIH quietly dropped its plan to switch to electronic applications for October’s $600 million round of major “R01” grants.
But NIH and other agencies already have been asking for electronic applications for smaller grants, triggering hair loss among frustrated Mac users.
“It’s been hell on wheels,” said Mark Tumeo, vice provost for research and dean of the college of graduate studies at Cleveland State University, one of many smaller institutions that have been hit especially hard by the new requirement.
Although most observers believe the move to electronic granting will eventually pay off, concerns about fairness during the transition have prompted angry humor on Mac-related listservs.
“Uh, this would be the same government that spent a lot of time and money pursuing Microsoft for its anti-competitive behavior?” one blogger wrote. “And they now offer a government site that mandates monopoly?”
Critics note that in contrast to the domination of PCs in the business community, Macs constitute about one-third to one- half of the computers scientists and academicians use.
