Connecting Anywhere, Anytime

12 Pages·2013·2.3 MB·English

National Aeronautics and Space Administration
IT Talk
January - March 2013 Volume 3 • Issue 1
Connecting Anywhere, Anytime
www.nasa.gov
In this Issue
IT Talk
Jan - Mar 2013 Volume 3 • Issue 1
3
Office of the CIO
NASA Headquarters
Message from
300 E Street, SW
Washington, D.C. 20546
the CIO
Chief Information Officer
Linda Y. Cureton
Editor and Publication Manager
Eldora Valentine 4
AMES IT Security Lab
Editor and Writer
Sarah Rigdon and NASA FedScoop
Graphic and Web Design
Awards
Michael Porterfield
IT Talk is an official publication of the
Office of the Chief Information Officer Connecting
of the National Aeronautics and
Space Administration, Headquarters, Anywhere, Anytime:
Washington, D.C. It is published
6 NASA’s Virtual
by the OCIO office for all NASA
employees and external audiences. Executive Summit
For distribution questions or to
suggest a story idea, email:
[email protected] NEACC Support for
To read IT Talk online visit: NASA’s 2012 Virtual
8
nasa.gov/offices/ocio/ittalk
Executive Summit
For more info on the OCIO:
www.nasa.gov/ocio
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insidenasa.nasa.gov/ocio
v
(Internal NASA network only) 12
Enterprise Licensing
www.nasa.gov/open/
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Management Team
facebook.com/NASAcio

twitter.com/NASAcio
(ELMT) Is There for You!
Cybersecurity Begins
and Ends with You!
Message
from the By Meredith Mengel, OCIO IT Security Division
“Laptop with NASA workers’ personal
CIO
data is stolen”—NBC News
Stories alerting the public to NASA’s most recent security
By Linda Cureton
breach dominated headlines over the last several weeks.
All civil servants and contractors play a major role in
NASA’s ability to safeguard IT assets from cybercriminals,
hackers, and other groups. By creating a united front,
As we flip our calendars and embrace 2013, I think about the NASA employees can protect, prevent, and preserve
challenges ahead and the rapidly evolving pace of technology. NASA data and information systems—the key to
beginning the cybersecurity transformation at NASA.
One of the greatest challenges I face as NASA’s Chief Information
Officer (CIO) is how to empower the NASA community’s use How well are you protecting the information you use on a
of emerging technologies while ensuring that use does not daily basis? Here are some tips for keeping your identity
compromise NASA’s mission. This balancing act is a critical part and data safe—and the world’s focus on NASA’s good work.
of the decisions I make in leading the organization forward. Complete NASA’s Annual IT Security Awareness
҆
Training. This training is required for all Federal and
So with this in mind, this year, just like all the rest, I have some proposed
contractor employees, and for good reason. It covers
key goals. Here are several of my 2013 New Year’s resolutions:
the protection of your desktop and home computers,
1. IT Security is our top priority. Ensuring that NASA data is more
safeguarding your identity and data, and privacy
secure is critical for our Agency. Our equipment and information
best practices. Be sure to complete this training as
must be protected against vulnerabilities and breaches.
soon as you can; it’s an important first step toward
2. Embrace mobile technologies. learning how to protect and safeguard information.
3. Firm up policies on bring-your-own-device (BYOD). Know how to protect your laptop and the
҆
4. Remove the stigma out of “remote” and encourage more Centers information on it in case a loss or theft occurs:
to feel comfortable in embracing the concept of telework. 1. Lock your laptop when you’re not using it.
5. Use collaborative technologies more. Recently, we launched a 2. When transporting your laptop,
Virtual Executive Summit that had over 600 executives Agency- keep it with you at all times.
wide gather remotely using collaborative technologies. This helped
3. Laptops should be taken into your home
put us one giant leap closer to implementing Administrator Charlie
or office, immediately. Do not leave them
Bolden’s vision of an anywhere, anyplace, anytime organization.
in the trunk or back seat of your car.
6. Improve service delivery.
4. Laptops are required to be updated with Data-At-Rest
We will no doubt face challenges in meeting some of these goals. (DAR) encryption before leaving Government facilities.
We must all learn to do more with less and live with it. Budget cuts
5. Use strong passwords that are not easy to guess,
are here to stay! But if we work smarter and more strategically,
and store them separately from your laptop.
I believe there is nothing we as a team cannot accomplish.
Avoid clicking on unfamiliar links or downloading
҆
—Linda files from email, Facebook, or other popular
communication tools, regardless of who sent them.
Destructive malware uses these environments to
spread and weaken your computer’s security.
NASA is depending on all employees to help keep all data
and systems safe! If you have questions, suggestions,
or tips for improving cybersecurity at NASA, please
send them to [email protected].
v
NASA OCIO IT Talk January-March 2013 3
Happy New Year from the staff in the NASA OCIO
Ames’s IT Security NASA FedScoop
Innovation Lab Team
Award Winners
Wins 2012 U.S.
National Cybersecurity FedScoop recently honored Federal Congratulations to all our NASA winners.
technology leaders, innovators, and
Innovation Award rising stars at the first annual FedScoop ҆ Golden Gov—Federal Executives
of the Year: Linda Cureton
50 Awards on November 28, 2012,
The IT Security Innovation Lab team developed in Washington, DC. More than 150 Federal IT Program of the
҆
and implemented a tool that identifies, attendees from the White House, U.S.
Year: NASA IT Labs
monitors, and raises the visibility of IT Security Department of Defense, civilian agencies,
vulnerabilities at a very low cost across multiple and industry were in attendance.The ҆ FedMentors of the Year: Emma
NASA Centers. Team members Matt Linton (IT
50 awardees were nominated by their Antunes, Web Manager, NASA; and
security operations lead) and Chris and Matt
peers throughout Government and Nicholas Skytland, Program Manager,
Antoun (Web developers) developed, tested,
then voted on by FedScoop’s readers. Open Innovation Program, NASA
and launched the tool quickly and efficiently.
More than 8,000 votes were cast
The team modified Ames’s vulnerability For more information, visit
for the awards that honored Federal
detection program to bring responsibility directly executives, Federal leaders, industry http://fedscoop.com/fedscoop-
to system administrators and technical staff—
leaders, Federal IT programs, Federal 50-awards-honor-top-federal-
those who can fix the problems. By normalizing
innovations, mentors, and up-and-comers. it-innovators-of-2012/
and tabulating Common Vulnerability Scoring v
System values for each host and cross-
referencing hosts to our asset inventory,
Centers are now able to produce a “scoreboard”
showing which hosts are security heroes
and which are security problems. The scores
are further modified by constantly scanning
the Center from a truly external server and
adjusting scores upward when vulnerable hosts
have services exposed beyond Agency firewalls.
This win would not have been possible
without an Agency-wide team effort that
includes Jon Davis at Goddard Space Flight
Center, Howard Whyte at Headquarters,
and many Ames Research Center systems
administrators and IT security personnel
who tested and provided input on the tool.
To view the full details of the innovation
award, visit the NASA Ames News and
Events site at: http://www.nasa.gov/
centers/ames/news/releases/2012/
rel_cybersecurity-innovation-award.html.
v
Ames’s IT Security Innovation Lab Team: (l–r) Allison Wolff, Linda Cureton, and Nick Skytland.
Chris Antoun, Matt Linton, Matt Antoun. Photo
by Nicholas Theodore
4 www.nasa.gov
NASA OCIO and JAXA Representatives Meet in Maryland
By Lynn Heimerl, STI Program Manager
The NASA Office of the Chief Information achieve its nation’s policy objectives. A large JAXA harvests the metadata via the Open
Officer (OCIO); the Agency-wide Scientific portion of the JAXA Aerospace Information Archives Initiative (OAI) from the public
and Technical Information (STI) Program; and Reports Exchange (AIREX) System is interface to the NASA STI repository, which
and its contractor, the NASA Center for composed of NASA STI information. is called the NASA Technical Reports Server.
AeroSpace Information (CASI), recently The OAI is an initiative funded by the
The NASA STI Program, which has been in
hosted personnel from the Japan Aerospace Andrew Mellon Foundation, the Coalition for
existence since the 1960s, is chartered to
Exploration Agency (JAXA). The meeting took Networked Information, the Digital Library
collect, organize, disseminate, and preserve
place at the CASI facility in Hanover, MD. Federation, Microsoft, and the National
NASA’s published research and development
Science Foundation. For more information,
STI and JAXA have an information exchange information defined as STI. The STI Database
visit http://www.openarchives.org.
agreement. This exchange has been (“Organize STI”) has the NASA Technical
extremely beneficial for both organizations Reports Server (NTRS) for public use and the STI ensures dissemination to mandatory
in helping to expand aerospace research and NASA Aeronautics and Space Database (NA&SD) Federal organizations and to commercial
development information for their personnel. for internal NASA use. The program is also search engines. STI also disseminates
chartered to provide the Agency with technical information to Google Scholar, which
Meeting participants included Deborah
publications policy and ensure that all STI is provides citation analysis for NASA
Diaz, NASA Deputy Chief Information Officer
reviewed and approved for technical quality authors and researchers.
(CIO); Karen Petraska, Associate Deputy,
and restrictions and limitations prior to release.
Tech Integration & SE Computing Services CASI is the STI Program contractor that
In addition, STI collects and makes available
at Headquarters; Lynn Heimerl, STI Program handles the day-to-day implementation
to NASA international STI from noncommercial
Manager; Gerald Steeman, STI Program of the NASA STI charter. CASI is currently
exchange partners. STI also produces the
Analyst; Laurie Johansen, STI Contracting managed by Chugach Federal Solutions, Inc.,
Spinoff publication through the CASI contract
Officer’s Technical Representative (COTR) and (CFSI) on a 5-year, fixed-price, indefinite-
for the NASA Office of the Chief Technologist.
Resources Manager; Ann Dixon, CASI Program delivery/indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract
Manager; and Eric Kamenitzer, CASI Deputy The NASA STI Program collects, organizes, through Langley Research Center.
Program Manager. JAXA participants included disseminates, and preserves NASA’s
For more information on NASA STI
Akiko Fujii, Administrator, Information Systems research and development results.
and CASI, see http://www.sti.nasa.
Department, Knowledge Management System
STI produces Spinoff for the Office gov. For information on JAXA, see http://
Expert; Nobuto Yoshioka, Associate Senior
of the Chief Technologist. www.jaxa.jp/index_e.html.
Engineer, Engineering Digital Innovation Center, v
Information/Aerospace System Specialist; and
Norimitsu Kamimori, Director, JAXA Washington,
DC, Office. Also included were Tony Anania
and Grant Stoddard of the NASA data center
consolidation initiative. Michael Genuardi of CASI
helped with day-to-day activities associated
with fulfillment of the exchange agreement.
Discussions centered on background
information on the NASA STI Program and
CASI, JAXA activities and organization, new
developments in information management,
and a discussion of possible improvements in
the joint NASA-JAXA exchange agreement.
On October 1, 2003, the Institute of Space
and Astronautical Science (ISAS), the National
Aerospace Laboratory of Japan (NAL), and
the National Space Development Agency
of Japan (NASDA) were merged into one
independent administrative institution to
perform all of Japan’s aerospace activities
as one organization, from basic research and
development to utilization. The independent
administrative institution is the Japan
Aerospace Exploration Agency. Per JAXA,
space development and utilization and aviation
From left to right: Tony Anania (NASA), Norimitsu Kamimori (JAXA), Deborah Diaz (NASA), Eric Kamenitzer
research and development are steps to (CASI), Laurie Johansen (NASA), Karen Petraska (NASA), Lynn Heimerl (NASA), Akiko Fujii (JAXA), and Nobuto
Yoshioka (JAXA). Not pictured: Ann Dixon (CASI), Gerald Steeman (NASA), and Grant Stoddard (NASA).
NASA OCIO IT Talk January-March 2013 5
Connecting Anywhere, Anytime:
NASA’s Virtual Executive Summit
NASA conducted its annual Executive viewing and commenting on videos,
Summit the entire month of October participating in live sessions using
2012. The Executive Summit provided a Adobe Connect and by attending
forum whereby NASA executives could the one-day onsite at their Center.
collaborate with each other, attend learning Executives could network with peers,
sessions, and have the opportunity pose questions to the knowledgeable
to hear from NASA leadership on key virtual community, share ideas, and
strategic issues. In the spirit of NASA’s interact with senior leadership on
commitment to discovery, protection of challenging issues. Just as important
our environment, and utilization of the as the exchange of information, the
latest technology, this year’s Executive Virtual Executive Summit provided
Summit was entirely virtual, and by an opportunity for executives to
all accounts, a resounding success. become more knowledgeable about
the technology they were using and
This experiment incorporated suggestions
its potential for use in facilitating
from last year’s participants, while taking
future meetings and events.
the summit in a new, uncertain direction.
presentations, and technical support.
Its success depended on everyone’s Carol Carroll, Deputy Director for Science,
Because the format was different this year,
willingness to take that step and commit NASA Ames Research Center, is optimistic
planners incorporated pre recorded how-
to the potential of a virtual summit. about the use of virtual technology at
to sessions describing Adobe Connect,
Ultimately, considerable planning and NASA. “This has been a terrific way
and live session content guidance to
coordination resulted in a collaborative to communicate with the NASA SES
ensure that everyone was comfortable.
and interactive summit that engaged [Senior Executive Service] corps. It was
approximately 570 executives, 80 percent easy to use and informative. I think The online environment allowed flexibility
of whom participated in the virtual events. this could and should be used more in how, where, and when executives
Greg Schmidt, Deputy Director of the often, for example, after the election in participated. For example, during the
NASA Lunar Science Institute, shared his November and after the budget rollout in first two weeks in October, executives
appreciation of the new format. “Hearty February. The corporate world regularly completed activities independently
congratulations to you and everyone has video chats with their senior leaders from anywhere and on their own time.
on this team who accomplished such to share information about important When Administrator Bolden addressed
a great task! This is very much in line and timely topics throughout the year. executives on October 30, it was an
with Obama's executive order 13589, I would encourage NASA to have these interactive session using Adobe Connect.
November 9, 2011 (http://www.gpo.gov/ SES virtual meetings several times a Each Center arranged a conference
fdsys/pkg/FR-2011-11-15/pdf/2011- year for specific topics of interest.” room that had a quality speakerphone,
29683.pdf), which says in part “agencies a computer with a quality Web camera,
One of the goals of the Virtual Summit was
are encouraged to devise strategic and projection equipment so that
to take advantage of the technology that
alternatives to Government travel, including everyone could participate. One of
allowed for distance learning, messaging,
local or technological alternatives, such as the unexpected benefits of the virtual
and virtual interaction without it actually
teleconferencing and videoconferencing.” summit was realized during Hurricane
being the focus. Planners designed the
Sandy when Headquarters was closed.
Some of the immediate benefits of the websites for ease of use and accessibility
The summit continued, and Assistant
virtual summit include tremendous in order to encourage participation and
Administrator Lori Garver presented as
cost savings. Because executives did ensure that users have a good experience.
scheduled from the safety of her home.
not travel to the summit, NASA saved Another consideration for designers is
about $750,000 in travel expenses. The that technology in all its forms should Planners credit the success of the Virtual
summit also exposed executives to new be transparent so that participants can Executive Summit to the concerted
technologies. During the month of October, concentrate on the subject matter of the effort across Centers: The summit
executives could access the 2012 Virtual presentation without distractions. The was successful to a large degree
Executive Summit from a single launch Executive Summit website addressed because both planners and executives
page on the HR portal. In addition to the these requirements by providing users embraced change and had the desire
website, executives could participate by with a home base for schedules, to learn and use new technology.
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6 www.nasa.gov
Virtualization Evolves at JSC
By Neesha Hosein, Public Relations Specialist
As teleworking becomes more common sharing capabilities to NASA employees and of updating many of its telephone systems to
across the Agency, wishing to be in partners. Other applications in the prototype move from old analog phones to digital ones that
two places at once isn’t just a saying are Vidyo, Adobe Connect, and Blue Jeans. use computer Internet Protocol (IP) networks.
anymore; it’s an option. The Johnson This will enable the availability of a new
“The CTO community is ready to report the
Space Center (JSC) piloted the LifeSize productivity suite called Unified Communications
prototype out to the ITMB for an extended
telepresence systems, now available and Collaboration (UCC), which allows email,
prototype/pilot with many more customers
throughout the Agency. This technology voicemail, instant messaging, texting, video,
participating,” said James McClellan, JSC CTO.
provides a high-definition (HD), life-like “Google Docs was an IT Labs pilot that is about to and other rich media to be integrated in a
video feed with presentation capabilities. become a production system and will be available way that allows users to control them as a
for purchase soon from ACES. These tools will whole and create what is called “presence.”
JSC is also participating in the Chief
enable the ‘work from anywhere’ directive along
Technology Officer (CTO) Community Desktop At JSC, several prototypes are under the
with tools we already have, like WebEx.”
Videoconferencing prototype, sponsoring the Office of the Future initiative including a Virtual
VSee application. This is a cloud-based public We’re seeing rapid evolution of collaboration Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) prototype for both
application that allows video, audio, and tools with the blast of apps in iTunes and office automation (desktop)-type computers and
presentation as well as drag-and-drop, file- Google Play, and NASA is also in the process one for high-power engineering workstations.
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The Next Best Thing to Being There: The JPL/Goddard Presentation Experiment
By Tom Soderstrom, CTO, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology; Paul Hunter, CTO, NASA Goddard Space Flight
Center; Gabriel Rangel, Solutions Engineer, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology
Since 2008, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) with anything new, there were a few technical There were lessons learned from the experience
Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) issues at the start as several technologies were and some fine-tuning needed. This experiment
has investigated new avenues for collaboration involved. Using high-definition video conferencing could possibly greatly assist in attracting world-
through high-definition (HD) video conferencing. (LifeSize, ViTS, H.323), the talk was successful. class speakers to present at NASA Centers,
JPL was one of the first Centers to use LifeSize, JPL gave the presentation using Prezi directly saving time and money and enabling future
now available at several NASA Centers and over the Internet, enabling the sharing of videos coengineering opportunities that leverage
Headquarters. So when Tom Soderstrom and and animations locally. Next was the interactive remote augmented reality. The willingness to try
Gabriel Rangel were invited by Paul Hunter to demonstration of the Spacecraft 3D augmented something new and make it work by the GSFC/
give a talk to the Goddard Information Science reality app. Using AirPlay and Adobe Connect, JPL team made this effort a success.
v
and Technology Colloquium about innovating
the audience was able to see through the lens
together, they decided to try something new:
of the iPhone camera at JPL; acquire the “target
How to enable a multimedia-rich presentation
image” held by an audience member at Goddard;
with an engaging interactive demonstration
and experience augmented reality through video
without being there in person.
conference screens separated by 3,000 miles.
The talk was held at Goddard Space Flight Center The talk concluded with an interactive Q&A
(GSFC) November 14, 2012. Tom and Gabriel session. When asked, audience members were
“presented” from the OCIO offices at JPL to very positive about the experience and found it to
an audience in a large auditorium at GSFC. As be highly effective, interactive, and fun.
Virtual Is Reality at Glenn
By Kristin Ratino, Communications Lead, Glenn Research Center
Use of virtual technology is a widely accepted to videoconferencing to fill that gap. Meeting technology, participants are no longer
practice with leadership and project teams virtually can generate thousands of dollars in restricted to conference rooms or offices:
at the Glenn Research Center. In response savings each year when you look at just the videoconferencing tools available on laptops,
to the challenge of limited travel budgets, costs associated with travel: airfare, hotel, tablets, and smartphones have enabled team
use of videoconferencing technology has meals, car rentals/taxi service. But teams
members to participate from nearly anywhere
grown throughout organizations across the aren’t just realizing a monetary savings.
an Internet connection is available. While
Center. Teams are strategically assessing the Reducing travel also equates to a reduced
many users of videoconferencing agree that
way they work and looking for opportunities carbon footprint—less energy and fuel used
the technology may not replace the personal
to conserve and utilize travel budgets for transportation. Additionally, virtual meetings
engagement associated with face-to-face
efficiently. Cross-Center and external partner often result in increased participation. Team
meetings, teams recognize the value and
collaboration is on the rise, and when members can participate in a virtual meeting
teams were challenged with reduced travel across the country as easily as if they were benefits of virtual technology. They continue
allocations, they sought out alternatives to meeting with a colleague who is colocated, to identify opportunities to engage colleagues
group meetings to effectively work together. without any of the associated travel costs. and customers utilizing videoconferencing in
Managers and project teams alike are turning Moreover, with the continued growth in lieu of face-to-face meetings.
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NASA OCIO IT Talk January-March 2013 7
NEACC Support for NASA’s 2012 MSFC Virtual
Virtual Executive Summit Meetings
Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) has
Teams across the Agency collaborated and tracking for reporting daily statistics.
been leveraging technology to work smarter
to successfully produce the 2012 Virtual Adobe Connect was used for user acceptance
for many years. With shrinking budgets in
Executive Summit (VES). The NASA Enterprise testing to view demonstrations of the new
all areas, including travel, the Center has
Applications Competency Center (NEACC) functionality and provide test results instantly.
seen an increase in use of NASA’s Video
was an integral contributor for the event.
Three live two-hour training sessions were
Teleconferencing Services (ViTS) and WebEx
The NEACC engineering group provided conducted with the Center IT point-of-contact
to meet virtually in support of accomplishing
virtualized infrastructure and increased (POC) community on the functionality of the
its critical business objectives.
central processor unit (CPU) and random VES storefront. The IT POCs were the first
access memory (RAM) dynamically with no line of support at each Center for members In the last three years, Marshall has
impact to the customers and without requiring of the SES community. Usage statistics averaged almost 70 ViTS per month. Many
any outages. Through the use of NEACC were reporting daily to the product owners, of these ViTS connect Marshall senior
tools, test scenarios and automated test evolving from basic usage counts to more leaders with the Agency, including NASA
scripts were quickly developed for verifying comprehensive reporting (key stats: 566 Headquarters and all other Centers. This
that the environment could support the unique users, 31,619 page views). The content includes a weekly senior management ViTS,
expected user load. Application monitoring of the storefront portlets was a collaborative where Marshall’s Center Director shares
helped to prevent any user impacts. development effort involving the Johnson insights into Marshall and hears how issues
Space Center (JSC) and NEACC resources.
are impacting other Centers. There are
The NEACC Enterprise Service Bus (ESB)
Constant brainstorming sessions resulted
also weekly or monthly calls within most
line of business oversaw the temporary
in many new components for VES. To quote
directorates and institutional support offices,
infrastructure augmentations on both
the NEACC lead for the human capital and
such as weekly chief information officer
the portal and appstack infrastructure
workforce line of business: “The NEACC
to ensure support for 500–600 potential development team was presented with the (CIO) meetings, monthly human capital
concurrent users. Solid performance task of pulling this off without much in the meetings, legal Agency-wide meetings,
was delivered throughout the event. way of requirements—they definitely proved and periodic procurement ViTS. The Center
operations group discusses facilities through
their ability to be agile, flexible, and innovative
The NEACC was able to secure the
monthly Master Planning ViTS, and the
and adjust quickly to pressing timelines.”
executivesummit.nasa.gov URL/DNS entry.
public affairs officers (PAOs) at Marshall
A new portal “storefront” was created and The entire project was turned around
participate in a monthly ViTS with PAOs from
deployed on the NEACC’s portal framework, in less than five work weeks from the
all Centers. Marshall also frequently uses
featuring an “event week” calendar showing authority to proceed with development.
ViTS to connect with the Michoud Assembly
daily offerings with links to those sessions. Much of the functionality can be reused,
Facility (MAF) and to work remotely with
A chat room portlet was made available not only with future summits, but also
MAF management on important issues.
24/7 during the month of the summit, and with other NEACC storefronts such as the
a registration portlet was deployed for HR portal and bReady. Because of this The Space Launch System Program Office
live sessions, including a user itinerary. project, nearly 600 executives were able leverages ViTS as a cost-effective way
A threaded message-board forum was to participate in the monthlong event from to communicate as it builds the nation’s
provided for in-depth topics, questions, and their workspace or wherever they may have new heavy-lift rocket. This includes
answers. Support for the portal included 508 been at any given time, saving the Agency a
connecting with the Human Exploration and
compliance adjustments as well as analytics considerable amount of travel expense.
v Operations Mission Directorate (HEOMD)
and integrating with other groups across the
Center, such as having monthly meetings
with Langley to discuss the Orion Launch
Abort System. The Marshall Science and
Technology Office also leverages ViTS for
planning visible activities, such as the
MARS Curiosity Rover event this year.
Many of the ViTS meetings are accompanied
by WebEx, an online tool that allows
users to share materials and facilitate
productivity while cutting back on sharing
large files through email. Marshall
will continue to leverage both Video
Teleconferencing and WebEx technologies
to work more effectively and efficiently.
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8 www.nasa.gov
Desktop and Mobile Video
Conferencing Prototyping for NASA
By Ed McLarney, LaRC Chief Technology Officer
Innovators across the Agency have for low-bandwidth collaboration In the meantime, users interested
been busy prototyping desktop and with the International Space Station. in prototyping with emerging video
mobile video conferencing solutions The Astrobiology Institute at Ames collaboration systems should contact
for NASA users and are working Research Center has been a longtime one of the following POCs:
through the process of taking these advocate for collaboration and provides • Vidyo—CSO: Kathy Hatley/
products from prototypes to pilots and
Adobe Connect for its users. Adobe Bobby Collins (both at Marshall).
eventually to production capabilities.
Connect was used by senior executives LaRC user: Ed McLarney
The Agency Communications Service
Agency-wide for the first-ever NASA • VSee—James McClellan at JSC
Office (CSO) and chief technology
Virtual Executive Summit in October • Adobe Connect—Estelle
officers (CTOs) for IT from several
2012. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory Dodson/Marco Boldt
Centers divided the problem set to look
at several leading solutions. The CSO (JPL) experimented with a number of • Blue Jeans/Cloud video
cloud-based collaboration solutions to collaboration—Tom Soderstrom/
and Langley Research Center (LaRC)
include Blue Jeans, which can act as Gabriel Rangel at JPL
worked together with a product called
a bridge between multiple solutions.
Vidyo, which links existing ViTS systems Chief technology officers and IT
with desktop and mobile collaboration. Each of these products has pros and innovators across the Agency have
The CSO currently has Vidyo available cons, and the CSO and CTO community participated in testing these solutions.
for prototype users across the Agency. are working through experimentation If you’re interested, please contact your
Johnson Space Center worked with and analysis, with additional briefings Center CTO for IT or one of the POCs
a product called VSee, which is used to IT leadership coming soon. listed above. Have fun collaborating!
v
How Ames Research Center (ARC) Meets Virtually
By Estelle Dodson, Collaboration Technologies Manager
As technological advances open up a The largest workshop thus far had 26 attendees from around the world. Eleven
globally connected world, NASA Ames speakers presenting from 19 locations of these lectures were presented remotely
Research Center (ARC) is using them to more than 400 participants. One by renowned scientists who would not
to improve communication and enable workshop participant stated, “Having have been able to participate without
greater collaboration across distances workshops like these, which are very the use of these virtual technologies.
interactive, and accessible to virtually
and disciplines. Building on the collective Whether it’s Workshops Without Walls,
anyone…encourages collaboration
expertise of NASA’s virtual institutes, ARC All-Access events, or Student Summer
and is a push towards new frontiers
is currently producing virtual programs programs, all of these activities are posted
of knowledge collectively.”
called “Workshops Without Walls.” online for attendees to reference and for
These multiday virtual conferences All-Access events are a similar approach. NASA to share with a broader audience.
The Kepler Science Conference recently
connect presenters with hundreds of
The success of these events and virtual
broadcast a well-attended in-person
participants without any travel required.
work depends on not only integrating
meeting to hundreds of online viewers.
These workshops combine a variety
Remote attendees of an All-Access multiple technologies, but also on an
of online resources, including high-
event interact with each other via chat innovative approach—combining the
definition videoconferencing, desktop
and have their questions answered best research from human factors
video, real-time meeting applications, real-time by the presenters over the and organizational management,
and social networking. The result is an video broadcast. A hybrid of these two while providing a rich, engaging,
optimal experience for remote and in- approaches was used recently, when and easy-to-use virtual experience.
person participants, from any location, students of a two-week Earth Sciences It’s another step to a future in which
using almost any device—even on program attended 29 broadcast lectures NASA employees can truly work from
the go via tablets and smartphones. at Ames along with hundreds of online anywhere, even other planets.
v
NASA OCIO IT Talk January-March 2013 9
IT Infrastructure Integration Program (I3P) Update
Communications Services most any device. Additional information information on what to do regarding lost,
Office (CSO)/NASA Integrated will be provided once the service becomes stolen and damaged devices, go to https://
Communications Services (NICS) available in the Enterprise Service Desk. aces.ndc.nasa.gov/subnav/lost.html.
The Communications Services Office The CSO has begun to update and iPhone 5 Status: The iPhone 5 is now
(CSO) completed the critical designs for expand the Enterprise Architecture (EA) available through the ACES contract
two key standardization projects that will for CSO/NICS services.  An initial review and is the standard seat for users
improve NASA Integrated Communications of the switched voice, collaboration, requesting an iPhone. Orders may be
Services (NICS) efficiencies: the Corporate and digital television services has been made through the Enterprise Service
Consolidated Network Operations Center conducted. The EA effort is gathering the Desk, with the choice of having AT&T
(C2NOC) (e.g., Network Management and information on current as-is architecture or Verizon as the carrier. The Standard
Monitoring) and the NICS Consolidated of the service, customer base, service delivery time for the iPhone 5 is five
Configuration Management System partners, and any plans for changes in business days from the date of request.
(NC2MS) Release 1 (LAN, Firewalls, the service. Once completed, the CSO
DNC, etc.). The CSO is on schedule EA will provide a base for our service Windows 8 Update: In October, Microsoft
to begin implementation of these two architectures and provide information released the newest version of its desktop
transformational initiatives in early 2013.  for supporting not only our future operating system (OS), Windows 8, which
service changes, but also any support uses a touch-based interface similar to
The CSO has also made significant
needed for other I3P service offices.  many popular mobile operating systems.
progress in the deployment of Internet
The Agency’s IT service providers are
Protocol version 6 (IPv6) network Agency Consolidated End-User Services
actively working to develop a timeline
infrastructure and access over the Office Deployments: The Agency is
for the best approach and timing for
past several months. IPv6 address making progress on transitioning its IT
NASA to adopt this new Windows OS
plans have been approved for most services to an enterprise-wide solution. As
environment. Until a plan is complete and
Centers, IPv6 routing and domain name part of the Agency Consolidated End-User
fully implemented, NASA and ACES will not
services have been enabled to the Services (ACES) contract, held by Hewlett
be able to adopt or provide support for any
Internet, and Centers are progressing Packard, the Agency has now deployed
aspect of this new operating system. As
to enable IPv6 routing locally. over 18,000 systems Agency-wide. All
a result, any Windows 8 installation
existing systems should be refreshed
The CSO is also working with the CIO that causes security considerations or
under the ACES contract by late 2014.
chief technologist on several endeavors: concerns may be removed from the
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and NASA DAR Update: The agency NASA network. Before the system can
Desktop Mobile Video Conferencing (DMV) deadline to complete Data At Rest (DAR) be placed back on the NASA network,
(an extension of the current CSO Video Encryption on each ACES machine was the system may require reloading of the
Teleconferencing Service [ViTS]). A VoIP late December. DAR protects the data on currently supported, NASA-approved
Identity Protection Technology (IPT) team your computer while it is powered off. ACES system software. Any NASA project
formed and met the week of December DAR protection prevents anyone except personnel intending to use Windows 8
3 to discuss requirements, available you from logging on to your computer functionality before NASA formally adopts
technologies, and current Center needs as and protects all data on your hard drive the new Windows environment should
well as plans to support implementation using hard drive encryption. Most laptops contact their local ACES subject matter
of an Agency-wide phone replacement now have DAR installed and active, expert (SME) to discuss requirements,
strategy. The DMV team has completed a ensuring the greatest level of security. intended use, and potential risks.
prototyping stage and is preparing a pilot All new machines will come pre-loaded
Enterprise Applications Service
for Agency-wide use. The DMV service, with DAR. For more information on
Office/NASA Enterprise Applications
based on the Vidyo product, will provide DAR, go to https://aces.ndc.nasa.gov/
Competency Center (EASO/NEACC):
video conferencing between Center subnav/dar.html. In the event a NASA
conference rooms (Polycom and LifeSize) IT device is lost or stolen, it is critical to A modification to the Enterprise
to desktop (MAC, Linux, and PC) and/ report the incident immediately. Proper Applications Service Technology (EAST)
or mobile (iPads, iPhones, and Androids) reporting procedures minimize security contract was targeted for late December
devices. The DMV service will expand the vulnerabilities and productivity loss, while 2012 to end stabilization and respond
ability to work from anywhere and with enabling faster return to service. For more to a significant budget cut. Three large
10 www.nasa.gov