Integrating campus operations decision support models at the National Institutes of Health (NIH)

At the National Institutes of Health (NIH), a federal agency supporting basic biomedical research, decision makers are faced with the challenge of identifying ways to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of research support services and challenges of doing “more with less” resources. The Office of Research Services (ORS), Office of Quality Management (OQM) provides support in solving these challenges through development of the Campus Operations Decision Support (CODS) simulation model. The model consists of a variety of software tools and techniques to model a campus 3D “virtual world” that can be used in a variety of applications to better understand and enhance the delivery of services to support the research mission at NIH. The project includes sub-models that aid in analyzing pedestrian and traffic movement onto and within the campus, visitor screening, the NIH shuttle bus network, and provides for future extensibility to additional research support activities.