Esri Aids Space Agency to Provide DataNASA Seeks Tools to Share Science, Technology with Decision MakersNASA's Earth Science Enterprise (ESE) has initiated a program to assist state, local, regional, and tribal governments to utilize NASA data as well as commercially provided imagery data to improve decision making and policy formulation. NASA's goal is to translate scientific and technical capabilities into practical tools for public and private sector decision makers. This goal is part of the strategy of ESE to encourage and facilitate the realization of economic and social benefits from the nation's investment in earth science information and technology. NASA has released a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) to solicit projects that apply science, technology, and data derived from activities sponsored by NASA, as well as from commercial data and value-added providers, to improve decision making and policy formulation in the day-to-day operations of state, local, regional, and tribal governments. The proposed projects should be integrated partnerships that include all the elements of an operational solution (e.g., data suppliers, data processors, government departments, and the ultimate end user or decision-maker). The announcement is intended to support projects with an end operational goal and realistic plans to reach operational status within three years. Proposals should address one or more of the following application theme areas:
This BAA, with detailed proposal instructions, is available through the NASA Acquisition Internet Service (NAIS) Web site (procurement.nasa.gov) and the NASA ESE Research Opportunities Web site (research.hq.nasa.gov.code_y/code_y.cfm). NASA will also conduct informational workshops to increase communication and expand collaboration with and among the state, local, regional, and tribal users. Information exchanged at these workshops will help ESE and the commercial sector understand better the requirements of these diverse users. Such exchanges of information will serve to highlight successful projects and increase NASA's understanding of concerns about, or barriers to, the operational adoption of remote sensing data and information products. Esri is working with NASA in the development of plans to expand the applications of NASA data and research results beyond the traditional science community into the broader operational user community. New technologies are being developed by Esri with ArcIMS and ArcGIS to take advantage of the growing interest by NASA to share data and science results with our users. Esri is interested in partnering with state, local, regional, and tribal users who wish to take advantage of this opportunity with NASA. Please review the announcement available from NASA at procurement.nasa.gov or research.hq.nasa.gov.code_y/code_y.cfm then contact your local Esri regional office to partner on proposals. To find your regional office, refer to www.esri.com/about-esri/locations.html please. For more information, contact Jerry Garegnani, Esri-Washington, D.C. (e-mail: jgaregnani@esri.com; tel.: 703-506-9515, ext. 8087; fax: 703-506-9514). |
