Aviation, NextGen and Advanced Information Sharing
A new paradigm in information management

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The rapid sharing of digital information, much of it in a real time environment, is vital to the future success of what’s called the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen).  This is a capability that’s well understood in other areas of government and industry.  But in many respects it’s relatively new to the aviation community. 

NextGen represents nothing short of the total transformation of the nation’s air transportation system.   In 2007 America’s aviation system handled 63.1 million flights with some 750 million emplanements.  Aviation and aviation related industries account for over 5% of our nation’s gross domestic product and is responsible for the employment of 11 million Americans.  It’s a dynamic economic engine.

However, much of the current aviation system, though reliable and safe, is built on technologies developed as long ago as World War II.   These include radar, ground control (by voice) of aircraft, and point-to-point navigation beacons.  NextGen, through the application of new technologies, capabilities and procedures, will improve the efficiency, and most notably, the “scalability” of our nation’s aviation system.   This means that the system can grow and change to more comfortably meet increased demand and new aviation business models.   For all practical purposes this isn’t possible with our current system.

Some of the core technologies that will underpin the development of NextGen include satellite-based navigation of aircraft, advanced digital communications, and advanced automation of aircraft trajectories.  However, an inherent requirement to the application of these groundbreaking capabilities is the development of Net-Centric Operations.  Net-Centric Operations is the sharing of advanced digital information within an aviation based network environment.

How NextGen came to be…

In 2003 the Congress chartered the Joint Planning and Development Office (JPDO) to serve as the coordinator and planner for a new, one of a kind, multi-agency initiative, working closely with industry, to develop the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen).   NextGen, as noted above, is a large scale undertaking whose objective is nothing short of transforming our nation’s air transportation system.   Few initiatives undertaken by government have been so long term of massive in scope.

This transformation effort is highly unique in that it involves close coordination between the Departments of Transportation, Defense, Homeland Security, and Commerce, as well as NASA, the FAA, and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.   In addition, it also necessitates a full partnership, on a level unprecedented for any government sponsored initiative, with industry.  The idea is surprisingly simple.  Through coordinated planning, budgeting and leveraged research, the JPDO, is coordinating one of the most dramatic initiatives in the history of transportation.

A multi-industry challenge

Net-Centric Operations and Shared Information capabilities will provide the core capability necessary to make NextGen a success.   It will enable the real time exchange of digital information at all levels of system operations (air-to-air, air-to-ground, and ground-to-ground) as well as with crucial satellite-based information sources.  It involves the real time sharing of information and data among users, systems, and networks.  It only makes sense, as the aviation industry looks towards applying this kind of data sharing technology that it look towards the private sector for the new technological capabilities that will be required.

This kind of information sharing is not only a challenge for the aviation community.  It goes far beyond that, and includes a range of information technologies, from advanced networking to entirely new approaches to data tagging and cyber security.  To be successful, it requires an alliance between several different industries.  In many respects net-centric operations in the aviation community, on a scale such as that offered by NextGen, represents one of the most profound technical and operational challenges of the 21st century.

For More Information...

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