Summary of Conference Events & Material

• Conference Speaker Summaries
• Letters of Support
• Conference Executive Report

Conference Speaker Summaries

The NIAC Data Architecture Conference featured several speakers including FAA officials, as well as technical and international experts. The following summaries capture the key themes of each presentation.

Conference Background & Overview - Felix Rausch, NIAC Co-Chair
Attendees were provided with an overview of the conference purpose and general background on NIAC. He encouraged support from all and stressed the importance of synergizing energies to forward the effort towards effective information sharing. Global information sharing is seen as a major component of modernizing and creating an effective NAS.

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Keynote Address - Dr. Anne Harlan, Director, William J. Hughes Technical Center
As the Keynote Speaker for the conference, Dr. Harlan spoke of the challenges creating interoperability will bring, yet stressed its importance to the future of the NAS and air travel. Also, she discussed how the different systems that comprise the NAS have been developed and enhanced over many years to be safe and work efficiently. However, all too often these systems acquire data independently, which results in a "stovepiping" effect. She identified evolving the NAS into a more integrated set of systems as a goal of FAA. A key step towards this is commonality among NAS Architecture components.

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FAA Presentation - Dr. John Scardina, Acting Director, Office of System Architecture and Investment Analysis (ASD)
The first general presentation of the conference was delivered by Dr. John Scardina, Acting Director of ASD. Dr. Scardina described the NAS Architecture as one of the essential elements of the overall NAS Modernization Plan. The NAS Architecture was described as a result of a collaborative effort involving intra-agency coordination, industry collaboration and international coordination. A seamless information flow was identified as essential for the NAS for modernization to be successful.

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FAA Presentation - Stan Rivers, Director, Airways Facilities (AAF)
Thomas Gassert, NAS Operations, presented in Stan Rivers' absence. He stressed that the necessity to address information exchange and interoperability affects more than just one organization or line of business. The conference was deemed as an excellent opportunity to identify the process of establishing an open system environment and promoting awareness. Several current Airway Facilities initiatives are already addressing their information standards needs, including NAS Infrastructure Management System (NIMS), NAS Interoperability and Information Standards (NIIS), and Telecommunications Information Management System (TIMS).

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An Overview of European Activities - Hartmut Koelman, Eurocontrol & Marc Bourgois, Eurocontrol
Both presenters stressed the ability to accomplish Europe's future Air Traffic Management (ATM) concept is dependent on improved information sharing. During the late 80's, Europe experienced escalating numbers in delays, causing an evaluation of the current system. It was found that a multitude of national systems exist without interoperability. The European Information Architecture is moving forward with common development and implementation projects, including addressing the System Wide Information Management (SWIM) principle. The European aviation community is working toward integrating the European ATM systems in the 2000-2015 timeframe.

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Selective Interoperability or Making Interoperability a Practical Reality - Dr. Eberhardt Rechtin, Systems Architect
Dr. Rechtin deemed the NAS as one of the most difficult architectural tasks ever attempted by the United States Government. The current system was described as a group of self-managing systems. The architecture is the key to the behavior of any system, and the centerpiece of all smart systems. Dr. Rechtin felt the solution to information sharing lay not in full interoperability, but selective interoperability. He stressed the need for individual systems to protect proprietary, secure or specialized information. The need for information sharing is great yet, he felt, must be controlled in a selective, not all inclusive manner.

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Letters of Support

Letters of support from the FAA Administrator Jane Garvey and Acting Associate Administrator for Air Traffic Services Ron Morgan were presented at the conference general session. Below are summaries of the letter content.

Jane Garvey, FAA Administrator
A letter was sent to conference organizers from the Administrator offering her support. The Administrator explained the current state of the NAS, with systems operating independently to distribute information. The importance of managing data and information to enhance communication within the NAS is stressed.

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Ron Morgan, Acting Associate Administrator for Air Traffic Services (ATS)
A letter was sent to conference organizers from Ron Morgan, Acting Associate Administrator for ATS, stressing the growing need for seamless data exchange. The Air Traffic community will increasingly depend on timely and consistent data sharing to assist decision makers, service providers, and aviation system users.

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Conference Proceedings Executive Report

The NIAC Data Architecture Conference Proceedings Executive Report is a comprehensive overview of conference events and outcomes. Summaries of speeches from the general session, work group presentations, and action plans are included in the report. General conference information, including goals, conference background, purpose, and a general overview are also provided.

Download the full Executive Report.