Next Generation Air Transportation System
Linking Test Facilities Can Help Leverage Resources and Improve Technology Transfer Efforts Gao ID: GAO-12-187T November 7, 2011This testimony discusses the use of test facilities as a means of leveraging public, private, and academic resources to deliver technologies for the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen). NextGen will affect nearly every aspect of air transportation and will transform the way in which the air transportation system operates today. It is a complex undertaking that requires new technologies--including new integrated ground and aircraft systems--as well as new procedures, processes, and supporting infrastructure. The result will be an air transportation system that relies on satellite-based surveillance and navigation, data communications, and improved collaborative decision making. Transforming the nation's air transportation system affects and involves the activities and missions of several federal agencies, though the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the lead implementer. In addition, NextGen was designed and planned to be developed in collaboration with aviation stakeholders--airlines and other airspace users, air traffic controllers, and avionics, aircraft, and automation systems manufacturers--in order to facilitate coordinated research activities, transfer technologies from FAA and partner agencies to the private sector, and take advantage of research and technology developed by the private sector that could meet NextGen needs, as appropriate. Three NextGen test facilities, collectively referred to as the NextGen Test Bed, are designed to foster the research and development of NextGen-related technologies and to evaluate integrated technologies and procedures for nationwide NextGen deployment. These test facilities provide access to the systems currently used in the national air space (NAS) and house various types of hardware, simulators, and other equipment to allow for demonstrations of new technologies. They also provide opportunities for stakeholders--public and private--to collaborate with FAA, academia, and each other. This statement today discusses (1) the role of the NextGen test facilities in the development of NextGen technologies and how private industry and partner agencies participate in projects at the NextGen test facilities, and (2) our previous findings on NextGen technology transfer and FAA's efforts to improve the transfer and implementation of NextGen-related technologies. This statement is based on our prior NextGen-related reports and testimonies, updated with information we gathered from FAA and test facility officials in October 2011. The GAO reports cited in this statement contain more detailed explanations of the methods used to conduct our work, which we performed in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards.
The role of the NextGen Test Bed is to demonstrate the benefits of NextGen initiatives and to do so early in the technology development process. While sharing a common purpose, each of the three facilities that collectively make up the NextGen Test Bed offers different testing capabilities and brings together different participants from different communities. Across the test facilities private and public sector stakeholders contribute personnel, equipment, and funding to develop and integrate technologies. Linking the test facilities to leverage the benefits of each is part of the NextGen Test Bed concept and officials from the test facilities indicated they have made some progress in doing so. In prior work on technology transfer activities, we found that the success of test facilities as a means to leverage private sector resources depends in large part on the extent to which the private sector perceives benefits to its participation. Similarly, collaboration among the NextGen partner agencies depends in part on their seeing outcomes that further their mission and on identifying a common purpose. FAA has taken a number of actions to improve its ability to implement new technologies and increase partner agencies' and private sector participants' involvement in seeing the development of selected technologies through to successful implementation--including restructuring the organization responsible for implementing NextGen and linking the test facilities and improving their capabilities.
GAO-12-187T, Next Generation Air Transportation System: Linking Test Facilities Can Help Leverage Resources and Improve Technology Transfer Efforts
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United States Government Accountability Office:
GAO:
Testimony:
Before the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, House of
Representatives:
For Release on Delivery:
Expected at 10:00 a.m. EST:
Monday, November 7, 2011:
Next Generation Air Transportation System:
Linking Test Facilities Can Help Leverage Resources and Improve
Technology Transfer Efforts:
Statement of Gerald L. Dillingham, Ph.D.
Director, Physical Infrastructure Issues:
GAO-12-187T:
[End of section]
Chairman Mica, Ranking Member Rahall, and Members of the Committee:
I appreciate the opportunity to testify before you today on the use of
test facilities as a means of leveraging public, private, and academic
resources to deliver technologies for the Next Generation Air
Transportation System (NextGen). NextGen will affect nearly every
aspect of air transportation and will transform the way in which the
air transportation system operates today. It is a complex undertaking
that requires new technologies--including new integrated ground and
aircraft systems--as well as new procedures, processes, and supporting
infrastructure. The result will be an air transportation system that
relies on satellite-based surveillance and navigation, data
communications, and improved collaborative decision making.
Transforming the nation's air transportation system affects and
involves the activities and missions of several federal agencies,
[Footnote 1] though the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the
lead implementer. In addition, NextGen was designed and planned to be
developed in collaboration with aviation stakeholders--airlines and
other airspace users, air traffic controllers, and avionics, aircraft,
and automation systems manufacturers--in order to facilitate
coordinated research activities, transfer technologies from FAA and
partner agencies to the private sector, and take advantage of research
and technology developed by the private sector that could meet NextGen
needs, as appropriate. Three NextGen test facilities, collectively
referred to as the NextGen Test Bed, are designed to foster the
research and development of NextGen-related technologies and to
evaluate integrated technologies and procedures for nationwide NextGen
deployment. These test facilities provide access to the systems
currently used in the national air space (NAS) and house various types
of hardware, simulators, and other equipment to allow for
demonstrations of new technologies. They also provide opportunities
for stakeholders--public and private--to collaborate with FAA,
academia, and each other.
My statement today discusses (1) the role of the NextGen test
facilities in the development of NextGen technologies and how private
industry and partner agencies participate in projects at the NextGen
test facilities, and (2) our previous findings on NextGen technology
transfer and FAA's efforts to improve the transfer and implementation
of NextGen-related technologies. This statement is based on our prior
NextGen-related reports and testimonies,[Footnote 2] updated with
information we gathered from FAA and test facility officials in
October 2011. The GAO reports cited in this statement contain more
detailed explanations of the methods used to conduct our work, which
we performed in accordance with generally accepted government auditing
standards.
In summary, the role of the NextGen Test Bed is to demonstrate the
benefits of NextGen initiatives and to do so early in the technology
development process. While sharing a common purpose, each of the three
facilities that collectively make up the NextGen Test Bed offers
different testing capabilities and brings together different
participants from different communities. Across the test facilities
private and public sector stakeholders contribute personnel,
equipment, and funding to develop and integrate technologies. Linking
the test facilities to leverage the benefits of each is part of the
NextGen Test Bed concept and officials from the test facilities
indicated they have made some progress in doing so. In prior work on
technology transfer activities, we found that the success of test
facilities as a means to leverage private sector resources depends in
large part on the extent to which the private sector perceives
benefits to its participation. Similarly, collaboration among the
NextGen partner agencies depends in part on their seeing outcomes that
further their mission and on identifying a common purpose. FAA has
taken a number of actions to improve its ability to implement new
technologies and increase partner agencies' and private sector
participants' involvement in seeing the development of selected
technologies through to successful implementation--including
restructuring the organization responsible for implementing NextGen
and linking the test facilities and improving their capabilities.
NextGen Test Facilities Share a Purpose but Have Different
Capabilities and Participants:
The purpose of the NextGen Test Bed is to provide an environment in
which laboratory testing and real-world demonstrations help to show
the benefits of NextGen technologies. Furthermore, the Test Bed
provides access to the systems currently used in the NAS, which allows
for testing and evaluating the integration and interoperability of new
technologies. The Test Bed is also meant to bring together
stakeholders early in the technology development process so
participants can understand the benefits of operational improvements,
identify potential risks and integration and interoperability issues,
and foster partnerships between government and industry. Some test
facilities also serve as a forum in which private companies can learn
from and partner with each other and eventually enter into technology
acquisition agreements with FAA with reduced risk.
Each of the NextGen test facilities that compose the NextGen Test Bed
offers different testing capabilities and brings together different
participants. The test facilities include: (1) the Florida Test Bed at
Daytona Beach International Airport, supported by Embry-Riddle
Aeronautical University (Embry-Riddle); (2) the Texas Test Bed, a
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) facility near the
Dallas-Fort Worth Airport; and (3) the New Jersey Test Bed located at
FAA's William J. Hughes Technical Center near Atlantic City. (See fig.
1). According to FAA, while physically in different locations, the
facilities are united in their purpose and will eventually be
integrated to share capabilities and information.
Figure 1: Map of the Facilities That Compose the NextGen Test Bed:
[Refer to PDF for image: illustrated U.S. map]
Eastern Service Area:
New Jersey Test: Bed William J. Hughes Technical Center (Atlantic
City, NJ);
Florida Test Bed: Daytona Beach International Airport Facility
(Daytona Beach, Florida).
Central Service Area:
Texas Test Bed: NASA Facility (Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas).
Sources: FAA and Map Resources.
[End of figure]
While sharing a common purpose, each facility offers different testing
capabilities and brings together different participants from different
communities, as follows:
* The Florida Test Bed is located in a private facility at which
companies, including Lockheed Martin and Boeing, come together with
academia and FAA to test technologies that fit into the NextGen
vision. Private participants contribute financially to research and
demonstration projects and collaborate to test concepts and
technologies. These activities are guided by memorandums of
understanding among all the participants. Embry-Riddle is currently
working on a model agreement to govern the contributions of its
private partners that will help delineate which components (hardware,
software, and infrastructure) will be provided by the government and
which by private participants. The model is meant to provide a cost-
sharing method and also help engage participants and provide a means
for them to have a vested interest in seeing the development of the
technology all the way through to implementation. Currently, FAA pays
the operating costs of the Florida Test Bed while Embry-Riddle and
participating companies contribute technology and technical staff.
Private participants may invest directly in software or hardware
support. The facility--which has just undergone an expansion--provides
access to the systems currently used in the NAS and to some of the
major navigation, surveillance, communications, and weather
information programs that are under development. It also has a
dedicated area to support demonstrations and a separate space for the
participating companies to test integration--where a greater
contribution from the private sector is envisioned.
* The Texas Test Bed is a collaborative effort between NASA and FAA
built on the grounds of FAA's Fort Worth Air Route Traffic Control
Center. It supports NextGen research through field evaluations, shadow
testing, the evaluation of simulations, and data collection and
analysis.[Footnote 3] The researchers at the facility have agreements
to receive data feeds from the airlines operating at the Dallas-Fort
Worth airport, as well as various data feeds from airport and air
traffic control facilities.
* The New Jersey Test Bed, located at FAA's national scientific test
base, conducts research and development for new NextGen systems. In
June 2010, this facility opened the NextGen Integration and Evaluation
Capability area where scientists use real-time simulation to explore,
integrate, and evaluate NextGen concepts, such as area navigation,
trajectory-based operations, and unmanned aircraft system operations
in the NAS. In addition, in 2008, FAA entered into a lease to build
the Next Generation Research and Technology Park (the Park) adjacent
to the New Jersey Test Bed. The Park is a partnership intended to
engage industry in a broad spectrum of research projects, with access
to state-of-the-art federal laboratories. The Park's establishment is
meant to encourage the transfer of scientific and technical
information, data, and know-how to and from the private sector and is
consistent with FAA's technology transfer goals. (See table 1 for
examples of past and planned activities at NextGen test facilities.)
Table 1: Select Projects at NextGen Test Facilities:
Facility: Florida Test Bed;
Project: Flight Data Object (FDO) Preparation;
Description: A flight's unique characteristics, data elements
collected from disparate sources and merged into a cohesive picture,
are its "Flight Object." Identifying these characteristics throughout
the phases of flight in domestic and international automation systems
is part of the process of developing four-dimensional trajectory
planning that considers both space and time;
Purpose: Perform research, analysis, and demonstration of Flight Data
Object exchange as a means for capturing and sharing up-to-date
information on any flight;
Participants: Lockheed Martin, Harris Corporation, Sensis Corporation,
Mosaic ATM, Adacel, NavPortugal, NATS UK, and Embry-Riddle.
Facility: Florida Test Bed;
Project:4-Dimensional Weather Cube Demonstration;
Description: The 4-Dimensional Weather Cube is continuously updated
information on weather conditions, including convection, turbulence,
icing, wind, visibility, clouds, volcanic ash, and space weather. The
information is suitable for use by human or machine aviation decision-
making procedures and processes;
Purpose: Small demonstration of the 4-Dimensional weather cube;
Participants: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lincoln
Laboratory, NCAR, Embry-Riddle.
Facility: Florida Test Bed;
Project: Oceanic Conflict Advisory Trial (OCAT) Flight Trial;
Description: OCAT is a year-long FAA operational trial designed to
help airlines fly more of their preferred oceanic routings while
reducing air traffic controller and pilot workloads;
Purpose: Trial to allow airlines to access Advanced Technologies and
Oceanic Procedures (ATOP) conflict probe results. ATOP is an
integrated oceanic air traffic control automation system that includes
an enhanced probe to detect conflicts between aircraft;
Participants: Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Embry-Riddle.
Facility: Texas Test Bed;
Project: Precision Departure Release Capability (PDRC);
Description: PDRC is software that links Traffic Management Advisor to
other information to better plan flight departures by minimizing
delays once passengers have boarded. Traffic Management Advisor uses
graphical displays and alerts to increase situational awareness for
air traffic controllers and traffic management coordinators;
Purpose: Live-data, engineering shadow evaluation to verify integrated
performance, refine concept of operations, and develop plan for
operational evaluation;
Participants: NASA, FAA.
Facility: Texas Test Bed;
Project: Boeing Direct Routes;
Description: Boeing Direct Routes is a service that uses advanced
software algorithms developed by NASA to automatically alert an
airline's operations centers and flight crew when a simple, more fuel-
efficient path is available, permitting the operations center to
propose those routes to FAA controllers for approval;
Purpose: Evaluate the performance and operational utility of decision
support tool for air carrier use;
Participants: NASA, FAA, Boeing, Southwest Airlines, Continental
Airlines.
Facility: New Jersey Test Bed;
Project: Conflict Resolution Advisories Demonstration Project;
Description: Conflict Resolution Advisories is meant to ease en route
controller workload and eliminate controller tasks associated with
determining conflict resolution. Instead of the controller monitoring
the sector airspace display to predict potential problems and mentally
calculate problem resolutions, the technology will predict the problem
and determine the best solution;
Purpose: A series of experiments will assess the utility and
operational acceptability of the automated resolutions proposed. The
experiments will also provide data for the benefits and safety
assessments of the operational improvement;
Participants: MITRE-Center for Advanced Aviation System Development,
FAA.
Facility: New Jersey Test Bed;
Project: D-AIRWOLF: DataComm Weather Demonstration;
Description: The Automatic Identification of Risk Weather Objects in
Line of Flight (AIRWOLF) is a support tool that detects conflicts
between aircraft and hazardous weather, alerts the controller, and
generates automatic weather advisories. Data Communications (DataComm)
is the first phase in the transition from the current analog voice
systems to digital communication;
Purpose: Simulation examines the combination of DataComm and the
AIRWOLF weather advisory. Purpose is a demonstration of automated
weather advisories being sent from the controller workstation to the
pilot over a DataComm interface;
Participants: FAA.
Source: GAO analysis of FAA and NASA information.
[End of table]
According to officials from the test facilities, they have made some
progress in their plans to link the NextGen test facilities to
integrate capabilities and share information. Linking the test
facilities to leverage the benefits of each is part of the NextGen
Test Bed concept. According to an FAA official, in June 2011, the
Florida and New Jersey Test Beds established data integration
capabilities when they were connected with FAA's NextGen Research and
Development computer network. During the summer, they used the
integrated capabilities to participate in a demonstration of the
Oceanic Conflict Advisory Trial (OCAT) system.[Footnote 4] In
addition, the Texas Test Bed is in the final stages of being connected
to FAA's NextGen Research and Development computer network. According
to officials at the Texas Test Bed, in the past year, FAA and NASA
collaborated on a NextGen Test Bed capabilities analysis and developed
an interagency agreement to support NextGen Test Bed collaboration.
This increased level of coordination is expected to continue.
Stakeholders Must See Tangible Results to Participate in NextGen
Technology Development, and FAA Has Taken Steps to Improve Technology
Transfer and Implementation:
In prior work on technology transfer activities, we found that the
success of test facilities as a means to leverage private sector
resources depends in large part on the extent to which the private
sector perceives benefits to its participation.[Footnote 5]
Representatives of firms participating in test facility activities
told us that tangible results--that is, the implementation of
technologies they helped to develop--were important to maintain the
private sector's interest. However, they said it was not always clear
what happened to technologies that were successfully tested at these
sites. In some cases, it was not apparent whether the technology being
tested had a clear path to implementation, or whether that technology
had a clear place in FAA's NAS Enterprise Architecture Infrastructure
Roadmaps.[Footnote 6] As a result, a successfully tested technology
would not move to implementation in the NAS. We also found that FAA
has had difficulty advancing technologies that cut across programs and
offices at FAA, when there is no clear "home" or "champion" within FAA
for the technology.
FAA's expansion of the Test Bed concept--linking together its testing
facilities, expanding the Florida Test Bed, and building a Research
and Technology Park adjacent to the New Jersey Test Bed to complement
the capabilities at Embry-Riddle--is a positive step that should help
to address some of these issues, allowing private sector participants
to remain more involved throughout the process, with a vested interest
in seeing the development of selected technologies through to
successful implementation. In addition, to improve its ability to
implement new technologies, FAA has begun to restructure its Air
Traffic Organization (ATO), which is responsible for moving air
traffic safely and efficiently, as well as for implementing NextGen.
We have previously reported on problems with FAA's management
structure and oversight of NextGen acquisitions and implementation and
made recommendations designed to improve FAA's ability to manage
portfolios of capabilities across program offices. To address these
issues, FAA made the Deputy Administrator responsible for the NextGen
organization and created a new head of program management for NextGen-
related programs to ensure improved oversight of NextGen
implementation. Furthermore, the ATO is in the process of being
divided into two branches: operations and NextGen program management.
Operations will focus on the day-to-day management of the NAS and the
program management branch will be responsible for developing and
implementing programs while working with operations to ensure proper
integration. While a focus on accountability for NextGen
implementation is a positive step and can help address issues with
respect to finding the right "home" for technologies and creating a
clearer path to implementation, it is too early to tell whether this
reorganization will produce the desired results.
Collaboration among the NextGen partner agencies also depends, in
part, on their perceiving positive outcomes. NASA has historically
been FAA's primary source of long-term air traffic management research
and continues to lead research and development activities for many key
elements of NextGen. However, past technology transfer efforts between
NASA and FAA faced challenges at the transfer point between invention
and acquisition, referred to as the "valley of death." At this point
in the process, NASA has limited funding at times to continue beyond
fundamental research, but the technology was not matured to a level
for FAA to assume the risks of investing in a technology that had not
yet been demonstrated with a prototype or similar evidence. FAA and
NASA officials are both working to address this issue through
interagency agreements that specify a commitment to a more advanced
level of technological maturity of research that NASA has conducted in
the past. Using an interagency agreement, as well as test facility
demonstrations, NASA developed and successfully transferred the
Traffic Management Advisor--a program that uses graphical displays and
alerts to increase situational awareness for air traffic controllers
and traffic management coordinators--to FAA. Through the agreement,
the two agencies established the necessary data feeds and two-way
computer interfaces to support the program. NASA demonstrated the
system's capabilities at the Texas Test Bed, where it also conducted
operational evaluations and transferred the program to FAA, which,
after reengineering it for operational use, deployed it throughout the
United States.
FAA has also used research transition teams to coordinate research and
transfer technologies from NASA and overcome technology transfer
challenges.[Footnote 7] As we have previously reported, the design of
these teams is consistent with several key practices of interagency
coordination we have identified.[Footnote 8] These teams identify
common outcomes, establish a joint strategy to achieve that outcome,
and define each agency's role and responsibilities, allowing FAA and
NASA to overcome differences in agency missions, cultures, and
established ways of doing business.
Differences in mission priorities, however, particularly between FAA
and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and between FAA and the
Department of Defense (DOD), pose a challenge to coordination with
those agencies. DHS's diverse set of mission priorities, ranging from
aviation security to border protection, affects its level of
involvement in NextGen activities. Agency officials also have stated
that although different offices within DHS are involved in related
NextGen activities, such as security issues, the fact that NextGen
implementation is not a formalized mission in DHS can affect its level
of participation in NextGen activities. NextGen stakeholders reported
that FAA could more effectively engage partner agencies in long-term
planning by aligning implementation activities to agency mission
priorities and by obtaining agency buy-in for actions required to
transform the NAS.
In addition, we have reported that FAA's mechanisms for collaborating
on research and technology development efforts with DOD and DHS do not
ensure that resources are fully leveraged. For example, FAA and DOD
have yet to fully identify what DOD research, technology, or expertise
could support NextGen activities. DOD has not completed an inventory
of its research and development portfolio related to NextGen, impeding
FAA's ability to identify and leverage potentially useful research,
technology, or expertise from DOD. In addition, DHS's collaboration
with FAA and its NextGen planning unit, the Joint Planning and
Development Office has been limited in certain areas of NextGen
research, and the agencies have yet to fully determine what can be
leveraged. Lack of coordination between FAA and DOD and FAA and DHS
could result in duplicative research and inefficient use of resources
at both agencies. We previously recommended that these agencies
develop mechanisms to further clarify NextGen interagency
collaborative priorities and enhance technology transfer between the
agencies.
Chairman Mica, Ranking Member Rahall, and Members of the Committee,
this concludes my prepared statement. I would be pleased to answer any
questions that you may have at this time.
GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments:
For further information on this testimony, please contact Gerald L.
Dillingham, Ph.D., at (202) 512-2834 or dillinghamg@gao.gov. In
addition, contact points for our Offices of Congressional Relations
and Public Affairs may be found on the last page of this statement.
Individuals making key contributions to this testimony include Andrew
Von Ah (Assistant Director), Kevin Egan, Elizabeth Eisenstadt, Richard
Hung, Bert Japikse, Kieran McCarthy, and Jessica Wintfeld.
[End of section]
Footnotes:
[1] Federal partner agencies include the Federal Aviation
Administration; the Departments of Commerce, Defense and Homeland
Security; and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
[2] GAO, Next Generation Air Transportation System: FAA Has Made
Progress in Implementation, but Delays Threaten to Impact Costs and
Benefits, [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-12-141T]
(Washington, D.C.: Oct. 5, 2011); Transportation System: Mechanisms
for Collaboration and Technology Transfer Could be Enhanced to More
Fully Leverage Partner Agency and Industry Resources, [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-604] (Washington, D.C.: June 30,
2011); Integration of Current Implementation Efforts with Long-term
Planning for the Next Generation Air Transportation System,
[hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-132R] (Washington,
D.C.: Nov. 22, 2010); Next Generation Air Transportation System:
Status of Systems Acquisition and the Transition to the Next
Generation Air Transportation System, [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-08-1078] (Washington, D.C.: Sept. 11,
2008).
[3] Field evaluations include tests or trials in an operational (i.e.
field) environment, as opposed to a laboratory setting. Shadow testing
refers to evaluating a concept or technology using live data rather
than simulated or recorded data. It can be performed in a laboratory
or in the field.
[4] OCAT is a year-long FAA operational trial designed to help
airlines fly more of their preferred oceanic routings while reducing
air traffic controller and pilot workloads.
[5] [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-604].
[6] NAS Enterprise Architecture Infrastructure Roadmaps describe the
strategy for transitioning from the current NAS to the future NAS
environment.
[7] Research transition teams cover approximately half of all research
and development activities conducted by NASA's Airspace Systems
Program--a group assigned to directly address fundamental NextGen
needs. Each team addresses a specific issue area that (1) is
considered a high priority, (2) has defined projects and deliverables,
and (3) requires the coordination of multiple offices within FAA or
NASA.
[8] [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-604]. See also GAO,
Results Oriented Government: Practices That Can Enhance and Sustain
Collaboration among Federal Agencies, [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-06-15] (Washington, D.C.: Oct. 21,
2005).
[End of section]
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