www.nasa.gov

Data Management:

First step in

Go for

IT Talk

July - September 2015 Volume 5 • Issue 3

National Aeronautics and Space Administration
IT Talk

Jul - Sept 2015 Volume 5 • Issue 3

Office of the CIO

NASA Headquarters

300 E Street, SW

Washington, D.C. 20546

Chief Information Officer

Larry Sweet

Editor and Publication Manager

Eldora Valentine

Graphic and Web Design

Rahsaan Williams

IT Talk is an official publication of the 

Office of the Chief Information Officer 

of the National Aeronautics and 

Space Administration, Headquarters, 

Washington, D.C. It is published 

by the OCIO office for all NASA 

employees and external audiences.

For distribution questions or to 

suggest a story idea, email:

eldora.valentine-1@nasa.gov

To read IT Talk online visit:

www.nasa.gov/offices/ocio/ittalk

For more info on the OCIO:

v www.nasa.gov/ocio

v inside.nasa.gov/ocio

 (Internal NASA network only)

v www.nasa.gov/open/

www.facebook.com/NASAcio

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6

9

5

10

Message from

the CIO

Data Management: First 

Step in Go for EVA

ITSD Launches the 

Assistive Technology 

Demonstration Lab and 

Website

Managing Electronic 

Data Starts with Data 

Deliverables

I3P Update

In this Issue
Message from the NASA CIO

Reneé Wynn has been selected 

as the new NASA Deputy Chief 

Information Officer. Wynn joins NASA 

from the Environmental Protection 

Agency where she has served as the 

Acting Assistant Administrator for the 

Office of Environmental Information 

since July 2013. She starts her new 

assignment with NASA in mid-July.

Ms. Wynn has a long career in 

the federal government. She has 

been with EPA for more than 24 

years, and joined the Office of 

Environmental Information in April 

2011. Beyond the experience she 

gained since joining the information 

management and technology 

arm of the Agency, Ms. Wynn has 

served in EPA’s Office of Solid 

Waste and Emergency Response 

and the Office of Enforcement 

and Compliance Assurance.

Ms. Wynn has managed program 

administration for science, 

information management, and 

international programs; regulatory 

management; budget formulation 

and execution; contracts, grants 

and interagency agreements; 

long term strategic planning and 

analyses; and environmental 

and administrative policy.

Ms. Wynn holds a Bachelor 

of Arts in Economics from 

DePauw University, Indiana.

NASA Deputy Chief Information 

Officer Named

~Larry

Sean E. 

McMorrow 

is director 

of Mission 

Information and 

Test Systems 

and Chief 

Information 

Officer at 

NASA's 

Armstrong 

Flight Research 

Center, Edwards, CA. He is responsible 

for development, acquisition, and 

utilization of the Center's information 

technology systems, including those 

devoted to desktop use, security, flight 

test range operations, research aircraft 

telemetry, mission control rooms, airto-ground communications, ground 

communications, flight data processing, 

and advanced flight simulations.

Prior to joining NASA in early 2011, 

McMorrow was director of the 

Plans and Programs Directorate at 

Edwards Air Force Base where he 

led a staff of more than 40 personnel. 

Other assignments included Deputy 

Chief Information Officer and 

deputy director of the Information 

Technology Directorate, later the 

95th Communications Group.

McMorrow began his career in 1985 

as a software developer with industry. 

He entered federal civil service in 1988 

as an avionics flight test engineer, 

then later became an operations 

engineer and test conductor for the 

B-2 Combined Test Force at Edwards. 

McMorrow concluded this phase of 

civil service with the Defense Evaluation 

Support Activity on Kirtland Air Force 

Base, NM where he was program 

manager for Technology Integration.

McMorrow holds a Bachelor of Science 

degree in Information Systems from 

California Polytechnic University, 

Pomona, and a Master of Science 

in Management from Golden Gate 

University. McMorrow is the recipient 

of numerous performance awards, a 

member of the International Test and 

Evaluation Association, the Society 

of Flight Test Engineers, the Air Force 

Association, and the Flight Test 

Historical Foundation at Edwards.

ARMSTRONG HAS 

A NEW CIO

At NASA we continue to look for 

new ways to keep up with the times. 

Every day this Agency is becoming 

a more innovative place to work. 

In fact, Information Technology 

is soaring to new heights. 

In this issue we’ll take a closer look 

at how NASA and Microsoft have 

teamed up to develop software called 

OnSight. It’s a new technology that 

will enable scientists to work virtually 

on Mars using wearable technology 

called Microsoft HoloLens. The 

story is sure to amaze you.

We’ll also explore how the Office of 

the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) 

is helping to solve spacewalking or 

Extravehicular Activity’s (EVA) data 

integration challenges. A new approach 

leverages OCIO’s cloud computing 

and data architecture initiatives.

And Johnson Space Center has a new 

virtual lab that is dedicated to exploring 

an “Internet of Things” (IoT). The lab 

will investigate strategies that allow a 

huge variety of untrusted connected 

devices to securely co-exist on NASA’s 

networks while protecting NASA’s data.

Finally, a special recognition goes 

out to the Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL) 

IT Directorate. The team was 

recently recognized with three 

prestigious industry honors.

We have a great line up this 

issue, so I hope you enjoy what 

we have in store for you.

NASA OCIO IT Talk Jul - Sept 2015 3
A screen view from OnSight, 

a software tool developed by 

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory 

in collaboration with Microsoft. 

OnSight uses real rover data 

to create a 3-D simulation of 

the Martian environment where 

mission scientists can "meet" to 

discuss rover operations. 

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASA and Microsoft have teamed 

up to develop software called 

OnSight, a new technology that will 

enable scientists to work virtually 

on Mars using wearable technology 

called Microsoft HoloLens.

Developed by NASA's Jet 

Propulsion Laboratory in 

Pasadena, California, OnSight 

will give scientists a means to 

plan and, along with the Mars 

Curiosity rover, conduct science 

operations on the Red Planet.

"OnSight gives our rover scientists 

the ability to walk around and 

explore Mars right from their offices," 

said Dave Lavery, program executive 

for the Mars Science Laboratory 

mission at NASA Headquarters 

in Washington. "It fundamentally 

changes our perception of Mars, 

and how we understand the Mars 

environment surrounding the rover." 

OnSight will use real rover data 

and extend the Curiosity mission's 

existing planning tools by creating 

a 3-D simulation of the Martian 

environment where scientists 

around the world can meet. 

Program scientists will be able to 

examine the rover's worksite from 

a first-person perspective, plan 

new activities and preview the 

results of their work firsthand.

"We believe OnSight will enhance 

the ways in which we explore Mars 

and share that journey of exploration 

with the world," said Jeff Norris, 

JPL's OnSight project manager.

Until now, rover operations required 

scientists to examine Mars imagery 

on a computer screen, and make 

inferences about what they are 

seeing. But images, even 3-D 

stereo views, lack a natural sense 

of depth that human vision employs 

to understand spatial relationships.

The OnSight system uses 

holographic computing to overlay 

visual information and rover 

data into the user's field of view. 

Holographic computing blends 

a view of the physical world with 

computer-generated imagery to 

create a hybrid of real and virtual. 

To view this holographic realm, 

members of the Curiosity mission 

team don a Microsoft HoloLens 

device, which surrounds them with 

images from the rover's Martian field 

site. They then can stroll around 

the rocky surface or crouch down 

to examine rocky outcrops from 

different angles. The tool provides 

access to scientists and engineers 

looking to interact with Mars in 

a more natural, human way.

"Previously, our Mars explorers 

have been stuck on one side of a 

computer screen. This tool gives 

them the ability to explore the 

rover's surroundings much as an 

Earth geologist would do field work 

here on our planet," said Norris.

The OnSight tool also will be useful 

for planning rover operations. For 

example, scientists can program 

activities for many of the rover's 

science instruments by looking 

at a target and using gestures 

to select menu commands.

The joint effort to develop 

OnSight with Microsoft grew 

from an ongoing partnership to 

investigate advances in humanrobot interaction. The JPL team 

responsible for OnSight specializes 

in systems to control robots and 

spacecraft. The tool will assist 

researchers in better understanding 

the environment and workspace 

of robotic spacecraft -- something 

that can be quite challenging with 

their traditional suite of tools.

JPL plans to begin testing OnSight 

in Curiosity mission operations later 

this year. Future applications may 

include Mars 2020 rover mission 

operations, and other applications in 

support of NASA's journey to Mars.

JPL manages the Mars Science 

Laboratory Project for NASA's 

Science Mission Directorate 

in Washington, and built the 

project's Curiosity rover.

Learn more about NASA's 

journey to Mars at:

http://www.nasa.gov/mars

4 www.nasa.gov

NASA, MICROSOFT COLLABORATION WILL ALLOW 

SCIENTISTS TO 'WORK ON MARS'
Managing Electronic 

Data starts with 

Data Deliverables

By Sandeep D. Shetye, David G. Bell, 

OCIO Technology & Innovation Division

NASA obtains large amounts of 

work through outside sources 

including private industry and 

academia, and therefore, the 

origin of a lot of NASA data 

is obtained through contracts 

with these outside sources. 

Historically and overall, NASA 

procurements have included 

very little, if any, contract 

language to provide the 

Government access to electronic 

data produced during contract 

periods or when transferred 

after expiration of the Period 

of Performance (PoP). This has 

forced NASA organizations 

to negotiate with contractors 

for access to electronic data 

during the contract period 

and for transfer of electronic 

data at contract end. When 

electronic data deliverables are 

not required up-front at the start 

of a contract, contractors have 

often ended up having to spend 

considerable time and money 

to convert paper-based data 

into electronic data and to pass 

those costs on to NASA. Also, 

when it is not made clear at the 

start of a contract who owns 

the delivered data, significant 

time and money often needs to 

be expended to figure out the 

data ownership during or at the 

end of a contract. These issues 

reduce the ability for NASA to 

make informed decisions with 

ready access to the data it has 

paid contractors to produce, 

which can have significant 

impact on the ability of NASA 

to accomplish its mission 

safely and efficiently. Getting 

the right contract language for 

electronic data deliverables 

is essential for NASA’s overall 

data management. The T&I Data 

Management team was created 

to promote agency wide data 

strategy and data management 

techniques that will enable the 

ready access and use of the data 

NASA generates. In an effort 

to put together the appropriate 

contract language to ensure 

electronic data is protected 

throughout the contract and 

transferred as required at 

contract end, the team met 

with both contractors and Civil 

Servant Subject Matter Experts 

(SME’s) from many previous 

and existing NASA Programs, 

institutional and engineering/

science organizations. As a 

result, the lessons learned, 

needs assessment and 

contract clauses including 

standard data management 

plan was documented.

In this effort, the team reviewed 

a considerable amount of 

previously developed white 

papers and documentation. 

The team also researched 

NASA wide for other material 

and found a significant amount 

of information concerning 

data and information available 

from the NASA Earth Science 

program, which provided the 

team valuable information and 

associated contract language. 

Introduction of such contract 

language can ensure that data 

acquisitions are appropriately 

included into NASA contracts, 

guaranteeing the government 

does not lose data, information, 

or knowledge that has been 

produced during the contract 

and, ultimately, lowering cost 

and effort for both parties. 

Data standards need to be in 

place to prepare for ease of 

transfer at contract end. For 

new awards, contracts must 

ensure the Government treats 

data as a valuable asset, and 

structures and data-related 

deliverables to collect such 

data in formats that can be 

shared, regardless of whether 

a determination has been 

made to share the information 

publically. Specific language 

needs to be implemented within 

several sections of the Request 

For Proposal to enable this 

level of data integrity, control 

and access during and after 

the contract is put in place. 

The proposed approach is to 

provide a sort of “expert in a 

box”. This avoids the need for 

data management experts at 

each Center for procurements. 

These types of programs guide 

a non-data expert through the 

different steps required to create 

a data deliverables contracts.

NASA OCIO IT Talk Jul - Sept 2015 5
Data Management: 

First step in Go for EVA

By Sandeep D. Shetye, David G. Bell and Cuong Q. Nguyen, OCIO Technology & Innovation Division 

and David Foltz (EVA Office)

Stepping outside of a 

spacecraft in a pressurized 

space suit to perform a 

spacewalk may be the most 

risky task an astronaut will ever 

perform. On July 16, 2013, 

there was a near catastrophic 

incident during NASA’s 224th 

spacewalk (EVA). A Mishap 

Investigation Board (MIB) 

identified the EVA data and data 

systems as one of the rootcauses requiring correction. 

Inability to quickly access a 

previous failure mode resulted 

in the team relying on data from 

their memory. Development 

and preparation of space 

suits and EVA tools is a data 

intensive task, with numerous 

data systems for processing 

EVA hardware. Accessing EVA 

data was found to be resource 

intensive and cumbersome. The 

MIB made a recommendation 

to integrate EVA data systems 

that would provide EVA users 

with easy access to complete, 

accurate, and up-to-date data.

The wakeup call was clearly 

sounded; too much was at 

risk not to act on the MIB’s 

recommendation and the 

EVA Data Integration (EDI) 

project was initiated. The EVA 

Management Office then turned 

to the OCIO for help in solving 

EVA’s data integration challenge. 

The EVA community quickly 

learned that the OCIO is so 

much more than just a supplier 

of desktop computers and a 

network connections provider. 

Through this collaboration, the 

EDI project has developed a 

vision and an integration plan 

to solve the problems of the 

traditional stove-piped data 

systems, and communicated 

this vision to EVA stakeholders. 

The approach leverages 

OCIO’s cloud computing and 

data architecture initiatives.

The problems associated with 

the state of EVA data can be 

summarized as follows:

• Access to a complete

data view is proven to be

endemic and problematic.

• Timely and accurate

anomaly resolution proves

extremely difficult, due to:

» State of Data – Largely

paper-based.

» Data Accessibility – 

Multiple data systems are 

operated by contractors 

and in most cases, NASA 

lacks direct access to 

contractor data systems. 

» Data Systems – Data is 

not integrated across 

systems resulting in 

overlap and inconsistency.

• Inability to consolidate and

modernize data systems.

6 www.nasa.gov
The OCIO Data Architecture 

team views data integration as 

a mission-critical need, not a 

'nice-to-have' luxury. The goal 

is to break down barriers, make 

reliable information and analysis 

quickly available, and transform 

the EVA Management Office into 

an information and knowledgebased enterprise. Ultimately, 

the EDI project aims to achieve 

consistent access to multiple 

data systems allowing for the 

ability to link and integrate data 

for easy and quick access to 

significant information. This 

allows for managed access to 

data by type and classification, 

with multiple modes for finding 

information (e.g. keyword 

search, advanced search, 

graphical navigation, linking 

of information, and combined 

query). The desired end 

state will enable confidence 

in the data by providing a 

high reliability of trust in data 

lineage; flexibility in data 

to support different data 

systems; and the ability to 

expand and evolve over time. 

The EDI project reduces data 

complexity, increases value of 

data through unified systems, 

improves timely availability of 

data, makes data collaboration 

easier, and allows for smarter 

mission decisions. The 

successes being realized by 

this lean, agile and incremental 

approach to implementing the 

EVA data integration solution 

should be the wakeup call for 

other NASA organizations with 

similar data problems. Access 

to data is critical in assuring 

NASA mission safety. The EVA 

community narrowly missed a 

catastrophic incident involving an 

European Space Agency (ESA) 

astronaut. Other organizations 

should consider the state of 

their data before an unfortunate 

event becomes the driver for 

data management reform.

NASA OCIO IT Talk Jul - Sept 2015 7
NASA Datanauts Founding Class with NASA Deputy Dava Newman, 

CTO-IT Deborah Diaz, Astronaut Cady Coleman, Open Innovation 

Manager Beth Beck, and Datanaut Community Manager Ali Lewellyn.

Graphic Notetaking by Sarah Dewitt 

of NASA’s Office of Chief Scientist 

Datanaut 

Corps

By Beth Beck, OCIO Open 

Innovation Program Manager

After the 2014 International 

Space Apps Challenge, the 

OCIO Technology and Innovation 

team saw the need to engage 

more women in the data space. 

So the team reached out to 

experts and organizations 

leading the data, and startup 

communities to better 

understand the gaps, needs, and 

desires of the front line problem 

solvers, who are carving out 

a new pathway for others to 

follow. After conducting more 

than two-dozen interviews and 

additional research on women in 

these emerging fields, the team 

focused on ways to empower, 

equip and honor Women in Data.

The Datanaut Corps was 

born. The founding class is 

comprised of female leaders 

from across the data/maker/

tech communities with diverse 

skills who can help design 

creative ways to problem-solve 

with NASA data. The purpose 

is engage citizens with NASA’s 

open data and open data tools, 

discover new citizen-generated 

insights from the data, and 

increase digital literacy among 

women and underserved 

communities. In essence, 

NASA’s open data is now in 

more hands to generate more 

value (and, in turn, generate 

more demand for NASA’s data 

as a valued commodity). As 

the Datanaut Corps concept 

matures, it will be open up 

to the broader community to 

problem-solve with NASA’s data. 

To kickoff the Datanaut program, 

the Technology and Innovation 

team hosted the founding class at 

NASA Headquarters. Datanauts 

met with NASA executives: Chief 

Scientist Ellen Stofan, Astronaut 

Cady Coleman, Deputy Chief 

Engineer Dawn Schaible, Deputy 

Chief Scientist Gale Allen, Chief 

Technology Officer for IT Deborah 

Diaz, and Johnson Space Center 

Chief Financial Officer Dot Rasco. 

NASA Administrator Charlie 

Bolden, Deputy Administrator 

Dava Newman, and Deputy 

Associate Administrator Lesa Roe 

also dropped by during the day to 

visit with the Datanauts. Facilitated 

brainstorming sessions resulted 

in several design tracks for the 

Datanauts to engage in novel 

ways with NASA’s open data. 

The work has only just begun!

The founding class includes 

Hilary Mason, founder of Fast 

Forward Labs, a machine 

intelligence research company; 

Sasha Laundy, Women Who 

Code founder and Polynumeral 

data scientist; Betsy Langowski, 

Apple Software Engineer; Leah 

Gilliam, Director of Mozilla 

Foundation’s Hive NYC Learning 

Network; Ariel Waldman, 

founder of SpaceHack.org; 

Marianne Mader, Co-Founder 

of STEAMLabs; Vanessa 

Hurst, founder and CEO of 

CodeMontage; four Presidential 

Innovation Fellows Rachel 

Gordon, Maia Hansen, Julia Kim, 

and Lea Shanley; and others. 

You can find their profiles on 

https://open.nasa.gov/

nasadatanauts.

8 www.nasa.gov
Pictured from left to right are: 

Veronica Hill (Chief of EOPO), 

Dennis VanderTuig (CIO/

Director of ITCD), Cheri Ward 

(Former Program Manager), 

Denna Lambert (GSFC Disability 

Manager), Back row from left to 

right is: John Donohue (Deputy 

CIO/ Deputy Director of ITCD, 

Matthew Zipper (Technical 

Lead), and John MacDonald.

For nine months, the Goddard 

Information Technology and 

Communications Directorate’s 

Assistive Technology Program has 

been up and running. It features 

the Assistive Technology (AT) 

Demonstration Lab which is a 

collaborative effort between Goddard 

Space Flight Center’s Information 

Technology and Communications 

Directorate (ITCD) and the Equal 

Opportunities Program Office’s (EOPO). 

The AT Lab provides Goddard an 

onsite facility for testing, analyzing 

and showcasing various assistive 

technologies. The Lab’s functions and 

services include device demonstration 

and loan program, assistive technology 

training, and assistive technology 

assessments in connection with 

reasonable accommodation requests 

that are processed through the 

Equal Opportunity Programs Office 

(EOPO) Disability Program.

The purpose of the Assistive 

Technology Demonstration Lab is to 

increase the availability and utilization 

of assistive technology at GSFC 

and efficiently advance the ability of 

GSFC staff with disabilities. Thereby, it 

increases the likelihood that assistive 

technology devices and services will be 

utilized as workplace accommodations 

to recruit, hire, retain, and advance 

GSFC staff with disabilities. 

For more information about the AT 

Lab, to view our online catalogue, 

or to schedule a tour of the AT Lab, 

please visit the ITCD AT Lab webpage 

http://itcd.gsfc.nasa.gov/AT-Lab

ITCD LAUNCHES THE ASSISTIVE 

TECHNOLOGY DEMONSTRATION 

LAB and WEBSITE

Internet of Things at NASA

By John Sprague Deputy CTO for IT, James McClellan Tech Infusion Chief, and David Kelldorf CTO for 

Johnson Space Center.

The Internet of Things (IoT) is defined in Wikipedia as “the network of 

physical objects or "things" embedded with electronics, software, sensors and connectivity to enable it to 

achieve greater value and service by 

exchanging data with... other connected devices.” The IoT is expected 

to generate large amounts of device 

data from multiple network protocols. 

The Technology Infusion Team at 

NASA is leading the effort to assess 

and integrate this emerging ecosystem 

of networking and low energy wireless devices into the target Enterprise 

Architecture.

NASA is setting up a new virtual lab 

to explore the IoT at Johnson Space 

Center. Located in JSC buildings 

56 and 57, the lab will investigate 

strategies to allow various devices 

to connect and securely co-exist on 

NASA’s networks. The Center Technology Officers at Ames Research Center 

(Ray Gilstrap) and Armstrong Flight 

Research Center (Emil Machac) are 

coordinating the investigation with IoT 

labs at their centers. The labs at JSC, 

ARC and AFRC will remotely interact 

with other IoT labs across the agency 

to build a knowledge base which will 

contribute to future decisions.

NASA is combining forces with other 

federal agencies and industry to 

develop standards and approaches to 

maximize the benefit of the IoT. The 

NASA labs exploring IoT is one small 

step toward embracing the future of 

connected devices!

NASA OCIO IT Talk Jul - Sept 2015 9
IT Infrastructure Integration Program (I3P) Update

Communications Service 

Office (CSO)

The Communications Service Office 

sponsored the first Enterprise 

Engineering Face-to-Face meeting 

May 27-29, 2015. This was the 

first time Center engineers had 

an opportunity to meet face-toface. The team accomplished 

several goals. They included 

solidifying relationships and 

teamwork within the matrixed 

Enterprise Engineering organization, 

establishing a common focus 

on network transformation, and 

moving forward with a framework 

for establishing Corporate Network 

Target Architectures, Approved 

Product Lists, and Corporate 

Architecture Planning Processes. 

This Enterprise Engineering team 

is key to accomplishing Agency 

goals, CSO Tenets, and OCIO Top 

Priorities including standardization, 

efficiencies, and enhanced security. 

The Enterprise Engineering as well 

as Operations theme continued 

the next week in the CSO Subject 

Matter Experts (COMM SMEs) 

Face to Face June 2-5th. The 

meeting was held at Marshall 

Space Flight Center and featured 

special addresses from NASA CIO, 

Larry Sweet; NASA IT Security 

Operations Executive, Howard 

Whyte; and Manager of the I3P 

Enterprise Integration Office, Neil 

Rodgers. The meeting focused 

on the upcoming change in the 

NICS contract to a Cost Plus 

Incentive Fee, effective June 1, 

2016. In addition, the presentations 

and discussion focused on how 

CSO will conduct business in 

an Enterprise environment with 

focus on Governance, Agency 

Perimeter Security, Enterprise 

Operations and Communications, 

and Enterprise Engineering. 

End-User Services Office 

(ACES)

Like for Like Mobile and iPad 

Refreshes: Like-for-Like mobile 

and iPad refreshes are continuing 

on a rolling deployment schedule 

across NASA Centers. Like-forLike refreshes are for end users 

who will be replacing their mobile 

device or iPad with the same device 

type they currently have (e.g., 

iPhone to iPhone or cell phone to 

cell phone or iPad to iPad), the 

same carrier, the same services 

and the same phone number. 

Both iPhone and iPad refreshes 

are included as part of the monthly 

service fee for ACES seats and 

are not an additional cost. Users 

scheduled to receive any refreshes 

will receive email notifications 

prior to deployment with details 

on schedule and actions required 

for refresh, including backing up 

data from their original device. 

Mobile Device Management 

Implementation Update

NASA is implementing Mobile 

Device Management (MDM) to 

better protect NASA-related 

information and assets and 

reduce potential risks to NASA 

systems. MDM provides for the 

administration of NASA’s mobile 

devices to allow for better data 

protection, deployment of mobile 

applications and asset tracking. 

MDM will also help support future 

personal device activities.

NASA’s implementation of MDM 

will later include encrypted email 

capabilities on iPhones and Android 

devices and ease of access to 

NASA systems and applications, 

including password simplification. 

While not all of these benefits will 

be available immediately, they 

will be rolled out as phases of 

NASA's MDM implementation.

MDM implementation will occur on 

ACES-managed iPhones, Androids 

and iPads first. Limited deployment 

to Center CIO organizations began 

in May with targeted messages 

to affected end users with 

enrollment instructions. Information 

on general deployment will be 

provided in the coming months. 

Going forward, end users receiving 

a new or refreshed iPhone, Android 

or iPad device will be required 

to complete MDM enrollment 

upon receipt of the new device. 

Enterprise Applications 

Service Office/NASA 

Enterprise Applications 

Competency Center 

(EASO/NEACC)

The NEACC will transition from the 

Integrated Service Request System 

(ISRS) to the NASA Integrated 

Service Management System 

(NISM), allowing the NEACC to 

better manage upgrades and 

configurations, and reduce costs 

associated with managing Service 

Requests (SRs). The functionality of 

the new SR system will be similar to 

that of the existing system, however 

there will be some changes, such 

as a new user interface. A decision 

memorandum for the Joint PDR/

CDR is currently in signature cycle. 

A two-day offsite was completed 

to finalize the Identity, Credential, 

and Access ManagementModernization (ICAM-M) IdM 3.0 

Critical Design Review materials. 

A project status review was 

presented to the Office of 

Protective Services (OPS) and 

OCIO executives, resulting in 

approval to proceed using a 

customized PIV token solution 

for Macintosh systems. 

Meetings have begun with 

individual Center representatives 

to discuss the "general access" 

10 www.nasa.gov
for NASA travelers. The current 

"Travel Center" tool will be 

decommissioned as part of this 

process and replaced with a 

NAMS workflow that will add 

the traveler to the travel Center 

database, as well as give the 

traveler any physical Basic Level 

of Access (BLA) to the Center.

MSFC Computer Information 

Security Official (CISO), the NASA 

PLM Product lead, and the PLM 

Designating Official have all 

signed the Acceptable Risk Forms 

(ARFs) required for managing 

the timeouts for Integrated 

Collaborative Environment (ICE) 

users due to inactivity to improve 

user productivity. The Product 

Lifecycle Manager Agency Business 

Process Lead (PLM ABPL) and 

the Product Lead attended a 

Customer Forum in Washington 

D.C., sponsored by Sword/Active 

Risk. The meeting highlighted 

the vendor’s roadmap and 

improvements for products in future 

versions of software, provided 

customer presentations, and 

offered two hands-on workshops.

An IT Projects Lab submission 

for Kennedy Space Center (KSC) 

to work with the ICE Team on 

automated methods to load 

Ground Systems, Development, 

and Operations (GSDO) data into 

ICE has been approved and will be 

initiated beginning July 1, 2015.

Enterprise Service Desk 

(ESD)

Enterprise Service Request 

System Upgrades to the Cloud! 

The Enterprise Service Request 

System (ESRS) has upgraded to a 

Cloud technology environment with 

new capabilities in ServiceNow, 

making searching and requesting 

services easier and offering 

the opportunity to request 

Technology Refreshes for ACES 

seats for NASA customers. 

As a part of this upgrade, the 

Enterprise Service Desk (ESD) 

was able to implement a number 

of services that were previously 

offered as stand-alone offerings; 

now consolidated to facilitate 

ease of use for our customers. For 

ACES, users will note changes 

to “S” and “M” compute seats. 

These were previously offered as 

separate services but now the “S” 

or “M” options are selected while 

ordering the type of equipment. 

Users now can just browse Wintel 

Laptop, for example, and select all 

relevant options in one place. The 

same is true for mobile seats. 

An additional new enhancement for 

users was Early Tech Refresh (ETR) 

and Tech Refresh (TR) options. ETR 

may be requested when a user wants 

to replace an active ACES seat with 

another type of equipment (e.g., 

Wintel to Mac, or iPhone 5 to iPhone 

6). ETR is an out-of-cycle request to 

refresh your ACES equipment that 

includes an additional cost (Asset 

Transition Value [ATV]) to the user.* 

Tech Refresh (TR), also referred to 

as a “Like for Unlike” refresh, is used 

when a user is in their refresh cycle 

and wishes to request a different type 

of equipment. ACES will continue to 

notify users when their refresh cycle 

begins. These can occur from two 

to four years apart, depending on 

the type of ACES seat you have. No 

notice is needed to begin an ETR.

Lastly, a new category called My 

Services replaced the current 

category known as Service & 

Configuration Modifications. ACES 

users can use this category to 

change device configurations, 

de-subscribe from ACES seats, 

and defer scheduled refreshes. 

Note that these services use the 

Show My Services capabilities 

to display eligible ACES assets, 

as do the Tech Refresh and 

Early Tech Refresh services.

For NICS, users will note changes to 

LAN Connection Services. A number 

of options have been combined into 

a single service, with radio buttons 

to select the desired service.

*Before requesting ETR, please 

familiarize yourself with your 

Center policy regarding ETR and/

or contact your Center ESD SME 

for additional guidance/info.

Web Services (Web 

Enterprise Systems 

and Technology, or 

WESTPrime)

The much anticipated, newly 

redesigned NASA.gov was 

launched in April. The new look 

and feel is sleek, modern and easy 

to navigate. Congratulations to the 

NASA.gov and WESTPrime teams 

for making the site a success! 

The NASA Image and Video 

Library (aka images.nasa.gov), will 

be launching in early September 

2015. Thank you to all the centers 

that have sent gigabytes of media 

and metadata for the initial launch.

WESTPrime is now providing 

Drupal-As-A-Service (DaaS) for 

both NASA internal and external 

sites. NASA WESTPrime DaaS is 

a turnkey solution that allows you 

to get a website up and running in 

a few days. The DaaS framework 

is built on Drupal, a proven open 

source content management 

system, and has hundreds of 

add-on modules pre-installed. 

It is security tested, Section 

508 compliant, and integrated 

into the NASA Enterprise. 

For more information about 

WESTPrime, please visit us at 

http://inside.nasa.gov/

webservicesv

NASA OCIO IT Talk Jul - Sept 2015 11
IT Talk

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Office of the Chief Information Officer

300 E Street, SW

Washington, DC 20546

www.nasa.gov

Engineering Communities Can 

Share Videos Easily using New 

NEN Capability

By Ann Bernath and Daria Topousis, Jet Propulsion 

Laboratory, California Institute of Technology

JPL IT Receives Industry Honors

By Tom Soderstrom, Chief Technology and Innovation 

Officer, and Whitney Haggins, IT Communication 

Specialist, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California 

Institute of Technology

NASA engineers can now easily share videos on the 

NASA Engineering Network (NEN) using a new capability 

released in March. Sharing is simple: the user navigates 

to the videos page in their community of practice site on 

NEN, selects to add, provides a URL, and submits. Once 

approved, the embedded video is displayed on the videos 

page complete with title, thumbnail, and other metadata. 

The new capability uses the oEmbed protocol to pull the 

title, thumbnail, and embed code from the hosting site to the 

engineering community’s page automatically. Although a 

video hosted on any site can be added, sites that support the 

oEmbed protocol such as YouTube and Vimeo, and soon NASA 

Tube and the NESC Academy, allow the capability to do the 

hard work instead of asking the user to find, copy and paste 

embed codes, and find, download, then upload a thumbnail.

Engineering communities of practice on NEN have already 

established pages on their sites and are sharing videos of 

interest with their colleagues. This list includes Guidance, 

Navigation, and Control, Fault Management, Life Support/

Active Thermal, Loads and Dynamics, and Software 

Engineering. Topics include space station tours, conceptual 

animations, demonstrations, test firings, and launch videos.

As with other assets on NEN, such as events, webcasts, and 

links, anyone behind the NASA firewall can add videos using 

their browser. All they have to do is sign in, click Add from 

any video page, and paste the video’s URL into the form. 

NEN users can also add comments, share the video’s link 

with others, and subscribe to be notified of new postings. 

The NASA Engineering Network can be accessed 

within the NASA firewall at http://nen.nasa.gov. NEN 

is sponsored by NASA’s Office of the Chief Engineer 

and managed by a team within JPL’s OCIO.

The JPL IT Directorate was recently recognized 

with three prestigious industry honors.

In April, JPL IT was awarded third place on the 

annual InformationWeek Elite 100. The award, 

currently in its 27th year, ranks and honors the 100 

most innovative users of business technology in the 

United States. NASA’s Ames Research Center was 

also ranked among the top 15 organizations.

On June 1, CIO Magazine named JPL a 2015 CIO 100 

Honoree. The award recognizes the top “100 most 

innovative organizations that uses IT effectively to 

create business value.” This is JPL’s fourth consecutive 

appearance on the CIO 100. The award recognized the JPL 

IT Streams Interactive Analytics tool and its use of cloud 

computing and rapid prototyping for infusion into existing 

flight programs. JPL IT will be profiled along with other 

winning companies in the August issue of CIO magazine. 

On June 22, Computerworld named JPL as one of the 100 

Best Places to Work in IT 2015. This is the third consecutive 

time JPL has been honored with inclusion on the list, an annual 

ranking of the top 100 work environments for information 

technology professionals by Computerworld Magazine. 

The Best Places to Work in IT is compiled based on a 

comprehensive questionnaire regarding company offerings 

in categories such as benefits, diversity, career development, 

training and retention. In addition, Computerworld 

conducts extensive surveys of the IT employees, and their 

responses factor heavily in determining the rankings. 

JPL CIO Jim Rinaldi said: “I’m very proud and happy that the 

innovation, excellence and hard work of all JPL’s IT employees 

are again recognized by these industry organizations.”