Research Transition Team Progress

For the past two years, to support the implementation of the Integrated Work Plan (IWP), FAA, NASA and the JPDO have been planning for the transition of research results from NASA’s Airspace Systems Program to the FAA for eventual implementation in the National Airspace System (NAS).  Dubbed Research Transition Teams (RTTs), four specific teams were formed and are now finalizing their plans for approval next month.  The four teams are:  Efficient Flow Into Congested Airspace (EFICA), Integrated Arrival/Departure/Surface (IADS), Multi-Sector Planner (MSP), and Dynamic Airspace Configuration (DAC).

Each team supports NextGen capability needs as defined in the NextGen Concept of Operations (ConOps), Enterprise Architecture, and IWP as follows:  EFICA and IADS support Trajectory Management; MSP supports Flow Contingency Management; and DAC supports Capacity Management.  As the plans are approved, the details can be added to the JPE to provide further definition to the research to implementation pathways.  Further description of the RTTs can be found on the JPDO.gov Web site, here and here.

Bob Pearce
JPDO Deputy Director

NASA Issues RFI for Validation and Verification of Flight Critical Systems

Last year, the JPDO ran an architecture-driven, multi-agency gap analysis to better understand how multi-agency investments lined up to NextGen needs as defined by the NextGen Enterprise Architecture (EA) and Integrated Work Plan (IWP). One of the areas that was uncovered as a part of the gap analysis and ranked as a high priority is Verification and Validation of Complex Systems. Given the current complexity of the aviation system and the projected increase in automation and integration as we transition to NextGen, the ability to demonstrate the performance and safety of the system under a broad array of conditions will become increasingly challenging. JPDO requested that NASA take leadership for this gap. As a result, NASA has begun exploration of the issue with an eye to future research in this area.

As a part of this effort, NASA has recently released a request for information (RFI) as follows:

NASA’s Aviation Safety Program is seeking information from the entire aviation community to identify key research needed to help create more effective methods for validation and verification of flight-critical systems.

To this end, earlier this month we released a Request For Information (RFI), available here. This RFI is NOT an initial step in a procurement process, but instead is truly a request for insight from the aviation community, including yourself, and will be used to identify key gaps that research by the NASA Aviation Safety Program can help address.

The response to this RFI is due on April 24 to NASA. We encourage members of the JPDO Community to respond to this important request.

Bob Pearce
JPDO Deputy Director

Configuration Management for Key JPDO Documents

Some of the key foundational documents that have been published by the JPDO over the past year are coming under a structured Configuration Management (CM) process. Once a proposed change or comment to one of the documents has been submitted, it enters the CM process.  The potential change is assigned to a reviewer who determines impact, extent, and issues that would result from the proposed change and proposes an initial resolution to the Change Control Board (CCB).  The CCB then adjudicates the proposed change and decides on a disposition for the proposal. If the disposition results in a change being accepted, the change is implemented and verified, and subsequently published in the next release/update of the document.  Some of the items that are anticipated to be under the new CM process include:

• Any Element in the JPE (ConOps, EA, and IWP)
• Joint Planning Framework (i.e., the metamodel)
• Approved CM Plan and CCB Charter

Other items will be included as appropriate.  For more detailed information on the CM process including the CM Plan and CCB Charter, go here (you’ll need access to KSN) under the Deliverables library.

Edgar G. Waggoner, D.Sc.
JPDO Director, Interagency Architecture and Engineering Division