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**Office of Aero-Space Technology**

**Office Work Instruction**

**NASA SOFTWARE OF THE YEAR COMPETITION OPERATIONS AND** **PROCEDURES**

Approved by: \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_

John D. Schumacher

Associate Administrator for

> External Relations

# DOCUMENT HISTORY LOG

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| aseline |        | /11/00 |                                         |
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| R       | A      | 4      | Revisions reflect review of HQOWI to    |
| evision |        | /26/00 | address Pre-Assessment Audit of Feb     |
|         |        |        | 2000, as follows: (1) editorial         |
|         |        |        | updates, (2) flow chart modifications.  |
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| Admin   | A      | 8/2/00 | Administrative Update to change the     |
| Update  |        |        | responsible office from Code I to Code  |
|         |        |        | R due to this function being            |
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**1.** **Purpose**

> The purpose of this HQOWI is to document the process performed by the
> Inventions and Contributions Board (ICB) staff for the NASA Software
> of the Year competition.

**2. Scope and Applicability**

2.1 This HQOWI covers NASA Software of the Year (SOY) competition
operations and procedures performed by the ICB staff.

2.2 The NASA SOY competition is co-sponsored by the Office of the NASA
Chief Information Officer (CIO) and the ICB under the auspices of the
NASA Chief Engineer, who chairs the ICB. This competition is a process
that is supported by the ICB staff and selects one or more software
packages that have been developed by NASA for a special Space Act award.
All Centers and JPL are eligible to participate in this competition.
These procedures outline the NASA SOY competition\'s operations,
process, and guidelines. In addition, these procedures provide the event
timeline, including responsible organization and a description of the
activities (see Appendix A).

**3. Definitions**

3.1 [ALO]{.underline}. Awards Liaison Officer; the ALO at the Center/JPL
processes all

Space Act Awards.

2.  [Center Review Panel]{.underline}. A team of software developers
    selected by the

> Chief Information Officer at each Center and JPL review and select
> software to be submitted as nominees for the Software of the Year
> competition.

3.3 [CIO]{.underline}. Chief Information Officer

3.4 [ICB Staff]{.underline}. Inventions and Contributions Board staff
supports the

Inventions and Contributions Board, chaired by the Chief Engineer. The

Staff also supports the CIO for NASA Software of the Year competition.

5.  [NASA Software Advisory Panel]{.underline}. The panel is a team of
    software experts with representation from each Center and JPL who
    are assembled to select the winner of the Software of the Year
    competition.

3.6 [NASA Software of the Year Evaluation Sheet]{.underline}. A form
used by the NASA Software Advisory Panel to select the winner(s) of the
SOY competition.

3.7 [NF 1329]{.underline}. Space Act Award Application

8.  [Nomination Summary Spreadsheet.]{.underline} This is a spreadsheet
    created for NASA SOY competition which includes the NASA case
    number, case title, a listing of the contributors for the case,
    their employers, a concise summary describing the case features, and
    a summary of case attributes relating to each of the primary
    categories of evaluation: Impact, Innovation, and Usability, for
    each of the of NASA SOY nominations.

9.  [OER]{.underline}. Office of External Relations

3.10 [SOY]{.underline}. Software of the Year competition

**4. References**

4.1 NPD-2210.1 External Release of NASA Software

4.2 NPD-2820.1 NASA Software Policies

4.3 NPG- 2210.1 External Release of NASA Software

5.  ![](media/image2.wmf)**Flowcharts**

**6. Procedure**

The selection process for the Software of the Year competition is a
highly structured process and is outlined below:

+-----+---------------+------------------------------------------------+
| ##  | ## Actionee   | ## Action                                      |
|  St |               |                                                |
| ep  |               |                                                |
+-----+---------------+------------------------------------------------+
| 6.1 | Inventions    | The Director will draft a NASA SOY competition |
|     | and           | call                                           |
|     | Contributions |                                                |
|     | Board Staff   | letter for the NASA CIO (Code AO) and NASA     |
|     | Director      | Chief Engineer\'s (Code AE) signatures. The    |
|     |               | letters will be sent to the Center Directors   |
|     |               | and the Director for JPL. The call letter will |
|     |               | have enclosures identifying criteria,          |
|     |               | guidelines, procedures, and Competition        |
|     |               | Timeline and Roles/Responsibilities (Appendix  |
|     |               | A). The basic criteria will consist of four    |
|     |               | basic items: (a) the software submitted shall  |
|     |               | be software owned by NASA, (b) the software is |
|     |               | supported, adopted, or used by NASA, (c) the   |
|     |               | software is significant to the NASA mission,   |
|     |               | and (d) the software experimental phases must  |
|     |               | have been completed.                           |
+-----+---------------+------------------------------------------------+
| 6.2 | ICB Staff     | The SOY competition call letter will be        |
|     | Secretary     | forwarded to both the NASA Chief Engineer and  |
|     |               | NASA CIO for signatures, copied, and signed    |
|     |               | letter distributed to Center Directors and JPL |
|     |               | Director.                                      |
+-----+---------------+------------------------------------------------+
| 6.3 | ICB Senior    | The Senior Technologist will contact the       |
|     | Technologist  | Center CIO\'s and compile a current year       |
|     |               | listing of the members of the NASA Advisory    |
|     |               | Panel. The Senior Technologist will distribute |
|     |               | the list to all current year members.          |
+-----+---------------+------------------------------------------------+
| 6.4 | ICB Staff     | The Director will contact the Evaluation       |
|     | Director      | Facility Director to coordinate activities     |
|     |               | relative to dates and facility resource        |
|     |               | information requirements. The resources        |
|     |               | requirements will be forwarded to the Advisory |
|     |               | Panel members via e-mail.                      |
+-----+---------------+------------------------------------------------+
| 6.5 | ICB Staff     | The ALO\'s will forward all nomination         |
|     | Secretary     | packages to the ICB Staff Office consisting of |
|     |               | a completed NF 1329 Space Act Award            |
|     |               | Application and supporting documentation as    |
|     |               | required. All nomination packages received     |
|     |               | will be logged.                                |
+-----+---------------+------------------------------------------------+
| 6.6 | ICB Senior    | The Senior Technologist will review all        |
|     | Technologist  | nomination packages submitted to ensure they   |
|     |               | meet the requirements specified in the call    |
|     |               | letter and prepare a nomination summary        |
|     |               | spreadsheet.                                   |
+-----+---------------+------------------------------------------------+
| 6.7 | ICB Staff     | The ICB Staff Secretary will distribute all    |
|     | Secretary     | software nominations to the NASA Software      |
|     |               | Advisory Panel. The package will also contain  |
|     |               | the nomination summary spreadsheet.            |
+-----+---------------+------------------------------------------------+
| 6.8 | ICB Technical | The NASA Software Advisory Panel will meet at  |
|     | Staff         | the Evaluation Facility in late June to select |
|     |               | the winner(s) for the NASA SOY competition.    |
|     |               | The CIO or designee will chair the NASA        |
|     |               | Software Advisory Panel deliberation and the   |
|     |               | ICB Technical Staff will facilitate and        |
|     |               | support the selection process. The NASA        |
|     |               | Software Advisory Panel members or the         |
|     |               | inventor will be required to demonstrate the   |
|     |               | software from their respective centers. During |
|     |               | the first two days at the Evaluation Facility, |
|     |               | each NASA Software Advisory Panel member will  |
|     |               | analyze and rank order each case in three      |
|     |               | tiers or groups: (a) innovation - 40%, (b)     |
|     |               | impact - 40%, and (c) usability -20%. Panel    |
|     |               | members will rank the cases or groups as I,    |
|     |               | II, or III, with I as the highest group. They  |
|     |               | will try to cull down Groups I, II, and III to |
|     |               | approximately five in each category. Next the  |
|     |               | panel members will complete a NASA SOY         |
|     |               | evaluation sheet for each case. The NASA SOY   |
|     |               | evaluation sheet documents the winner(s) of    |
|     |               | the NASA SOY competition.                      |
+-----+---------------+------------------------------------------------+
| 6.9 | ICB Staff     | Based upon the NASA Software Advisory Panel    |
|     | Director      | decision, the Director will draft letters to   |
|     |               | be signed by both the CIO and Chief Engineer   |
|     |               | to be sent to all Center Directors and JPL     |
|     |               | Director thanking everyone for their           |
|     |               | participation and also announcing the          |
|     |               | winner(s) of the competition. The nominations  |
|     |               | from the NASA SOY competition will be          |
|     |               | scheduled for the next ICB meeting.            |
+-----+---------------+------------------------------------------------+
| 6   | ICB Staff     | Letters announcing the winner(s) of the NASA   |
| .10 | Secretary     | SOY competition will be forwarded to the Chief |
|     |               | Engineer and CIO for signatures. The signed    |
|     |               | letters will be copied and sent to the Center  |
|     |               | Directors and JPL Director.                    |
+-----+---------------+------------------------------------------------+
| 6   | ICB Senior    | The ICB Web Page will be updated to reflect    |
| .11 | Technologist  | the current year's winner(s) of the SOY        |
|     |               | competition.                                   |
+-----+---------------+------------------------------------------------+
| 6   | ICB Staff     | The presentation ceremony will be coordinated  |
| .12 | Director      | with the Chief Engineer, CIO, and Center/JPL   |
|     |               | relative to date and place of ceremony for the |
|     |               | presentation of the award to winner(s) of the  |
|     |               | competition.                                   |
+-----+---------------+------------------------------------------------+

**7. Quality Records**

  ---------------- ---------- ---------- ------------ -------------- -----------------------
  Record           Owner      Location   Record       Schedule       Retention/Disposition
  Identification                         Media:       Number and     
                                         Electronic   Item Number    
                                         or Hard Copy (NPG 1441.1)   

  Call Letter      ICB        ICB        Hard Copy    Schedule 10,   Destroy when one year
                   Director                           Item 4A        old

  Nomination       ICB        ICB        Hard Copy    Schedule 1,    Retire to the Federal
  Packages         Director                           Item 16D       Records Center when 3
                                                                     years old. Destroy when
                                                                     22 years old.

  Nomination       ICB        ICB        Hard Copy    Schedule 1,    Retire to the Federal
  Summary          Director                           Item 16D       Records Center when 3
  Spreadsheet                                                        years old. Destroy when
                                                                     22 years old.

  NASA SOY         ICB        ICB        Hard Copy    Schedule 1,    Retire to the Federal
  Evaluation Sheet Director                           Item 16D       Records Center when 3
                                                                     years old. Destroy when
                                                                     22 years old.

  Winning          ICB        ICB        Hard Copy    Schedule 10,   Destroy when one year
  Announce-ment    Director                           Item 4A        old.
  Letter                                                             
  ---------------- ---------- ---------- ------------ -------------- -----------------------

**APPENDIX A: NASA Software of the Year Competition Timeline and
Roles/Responsibilities**

+--------------------------+--------------------+----------+----------+
| **Activity**             | **Responsibility** | **In     | **Co     |
|                          |                    | itiate** | mplete** |
+--------------------------+--------------------+----------+----------+
| Establish submission     | ICB Staff          | mid      | January  |
| dates                    |                    | January  |          |
|                          |                    |          |          |
| and criteria             |                    |          |          |
+--------------------------+--------------------+----------+----------+
| Coordinate Call Letter   | Chief Engineer,    | mid      | February |
| and announcement         | Chief Information  | January  |          |
|                          | Officer, ICB Staff |          |          |
+--------------------------+--------------------+----------+----------+
| Develop and issue        | Chief Engineer,    | late     | February |
| software evaluation      | Chief Information  | January  |          |
| criteria                 | Officer, ICB Staff |          |          |
+--------------------------+--------------------+----------+----------+
| Identify software        | Center Chief       | mid      | April    |
| evaluators at Centers    | Information        | April    |          |
|                          | Officer            |          |          |
+--------------------------+--------------------+----------+----------+
| Cases due into Centers   | Award Liaison      | mid      | April    |
|                          | Officer\'s         | April    |          |
+--------------------------+--------------------+----------+----------+
| Centers review           | Center Review      | mid      | May      |
| submissions              | Panel              | April    |          |
+--------------------------+--------------------+----------+----------+
| Collect Centers\'        | ICB Staff          | mid May  | May      |
| submissions and          |                    |          |          |
| distribute to Software   |                    |          |          |
| Advisory Panel           |                    |          |          |
+--------------------------+--------------------+----------+----------+
| Notify Evaluation        | Chief Information  | mid May  | May      |
| Facility Director of     | Office             |          |          |
| computer requirements    | Representative,    |          |          |
|                          | Software Advisory  |          |          |
|                          | Panel, ICB Staff   |          |          |
+--------------------------+--------------------+----------+----------+
| Prepare software         | Chief Information  | late May | June     |
| demonstrations and       | Office             |          |          |
| computers at the         | Representative,    |          |          |
| Evaluation Facility      | Evaluation         |          |          |
|                          | Facility Director  |          |          |
+--------------------------+--------------------+----------+----------+
| Meeting at Evaluation    | ICB Technical      | June     | June     |
| Facility to select       | Staff Center and   |          |          |
| winner(s)                | CIO                |          |          |
|                          | Representatives    |          |          |
+--------------------------+--------------------+----------+----------+
| Update Web page on       | Headquarters       | July     | July     |
| winner(s)                | Information        |          |          |
|                          | Technology &       |          |          |
|                          | Communication      |          |          |
|                          | Division, ICB      |          |          |
|                          | Staff              |          |          |
+--------------------------+--------------------+----------+----------+
| Establish monetary       | Inventions and     | July     | July     |
| awards to top cases      | Contributions      | Meeting  |          |
|                          | Board, ICB Staff   |          |          |
+--------------------------+--------------------+----------+----------+
| Coordinate award         | ICB Staff ,Winning | S        | October  |
| presentation             | Center(s) ALO,     | eptember |          |
|                          | CIO, NASA Chief    |          |          |
|                          | Engineer           |          |          |
+--------------------------+--------------------+----------+----------+

+--------------------------+--------------------+----------+----------+
| Award Ceremony           | Administrator/     | October  | October  |
|                          |                    |          |          |
|                          | Designee, Chief    |          |          |
|                          | Information        |          |          |
|                          | Officer (plaques), |          |          |
|                          | Centers {travel    |          |          |
|                          | for winners}, ICB  |          |          |
|                          | Staff (checks/     |          |          |
|                          |                    |          |          |
|                          | Certificates)      |          |          |
+--------------------------+--------------------+----------+----------+