The need for a comprehensive NCI-wide terminology arose because NCI staff requires access to timely and accurate information about activities related to the scientific mission of the Institute. The collection, storage and retrieval of data related to NCI research programs is necessary to analyze, manage, and report about these activities. Though centralized coding of NCI-supported research-related activities met some of these needs, supplementary data coding had become common. This coding was assigned independently within various components of the Institute, and was frequently based on locally .
