; (2) collaborative research achievements of the program; and (3) potential opportunities to expand the technical capabilities of the Department. (e) Funding The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall devote $27,000,000 to carry out the activities authorized under this section during fiscal years 2019 through 2023, subject to the availability of appropriations, to come from amounts made available for medical and prosthetic research. This section shall be carried out using funds otherwise appropriated by law after the date of enactment of this Act. 5. Artificial intelligence, data analytics, and computational research pilot program (a) In general The Secretary shall carry out a pilot program to develop tools for big data analytics by utilizing data sets generated by Federal agencies, institutions of higher education, nonprofit research organizations, and industry in order to advance artificial intelligence technologies to solve complex, big data challenges. The Secretary shall carry out this program through a competitive, merit-reviewed process, and consider applications from National Laboratories, institutions of higher education, multi-institutional collaborations, and other appropriate entities. (b) Program components In carrying out the pilot program established under subsection (a), the Secretary may— (1) establish a cross-cutting research initiative to prevent duplication and coordinate research efforts in artificial intelligence and data analytics across the Department; (2) conduct basic research in modeling and simulation, artificial intelligence, machine learning, large scale data analytics, natural language processing, and predictive analysis in order to develop novel or optimized predictive algorithms suitable for high-performance computing systems and large biomedical data sets; (3) develop multivariate optimization models to accommodate large data sets with variable quality and scale in order to visualize complex systems