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This document discusses how NASA employed Web 2.0 collaboration tools internally and externally. It provides examples of the DASHlink website, which allows scientists and engineers to disseminate research and collaborate using discussion forums, tagging, and associated content. It also discusses the Trac system for internal collaboration on website development. The document outlines challenges in using these tools at NASA like cultural resistance and policy barriers, and how solutions like community moderation policies and an emphasis on content creation helped overcome these challenges.

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National Aeronautics and Space Administration EMPLOYING WEB 2.0 IDEAS IN GOVERNMENT Presented by Dawn McIntosh NASA Headquarters Team Members: Lead: Elizabeth Foughty, MCT, Inc.,  Francesca Barrientos Ph.D., formerly of RIACS,  Bryan Matthews, SGT, Inc., Ashok Srivastava Ph.D., NASA Ames Research Center www.nasa.gov
Outline • Why Web 2.0? Collaboration of course • Web Tools applied to NASA • DASHlink & Trac • Challenges of Web 2.0 approaches @ NASA • Example – highlighting unique attributes and  solution‐based approach • Lessons Learned • Concluding Remarks National Aeronautics and Space Administration 2
Social Networks & the Workplace “Research in a number of academic fields has shown that social networks operate on many levels … and play a critical role in determining the way problems are solved, organizations are run, and the degree to which individuals succeed in achieving their goals.” - Wikipedia, topic ‘Social Networks’ National Aeronautics and Space Administration 3
Web 2.0 Collaboration Tools & NASA 1. External benefits: • Broadens the reach of ongoing research with partners, other NASA researchers and the public • Provides an opportunity to identify potential research partners • Gives the public greater access to research and the ability to  participate • Brings in students and young people • Today’s Example: DASHlink website 2. Improves the efficiency of internal design and  development of the website • Note: Web 2.0 doesn’t have to be public‐facing, there is benefit to  these processes in our internal projects • Today’s Example: Trac National Aeronautics and Space Administration 4
Some NASA forays into Web 2.0 collaboration technologies National Aeronautics and Space Administration 5
DASHlink website: Disseminate. Collaborate. Innovate. What is DASHlink? DASHlink is a virtual laboratory for scientists and  engineers to disseminate results and collaborate  on research problems in health management  technologies for aeronautics systems. https://dashlink.arc.nasa.gov National Aeronautics and Space Administration 6
DASHlink Components Content Component • Code (Scientific Web 2.0 Features Algorithms) •Member Contact • Datasets (to be used to •Groups develop new algorithms) •Discussions • Research topics— •Associating Content papers, posters, etc… •Tagging Without the first, there’s nothing to discuss. Without the second, there’s no added value. National Aeronautics and Space Administration 7
Internal Collaborations -- Trac • Our Trac system allows our development team, designers,  programmers, and manager to be ‘on the same page’ about  work • All software code is kept in a versioning system that the  developers use to keep track of changes • All discussion of the site is done through a ticketing system  (more rigorous than a wiki, and easier to search through) • Each ticket is attached to a milestone, and we keep a  timeline of milestones • The Trac site allows us to include and update (version)  website documentation as well, from mockups to terms  and conditions • This site (and code) is completely open to all of NASA. National Aeronautics and Space Administration 8
Trac National Aeronautics and Space Administration 9
Fantastic: Now what? (How do I start?) • Plan to work closely with: • Your developers (please) • Your policy makers and legal team • Your expected users ‐ especially your internal NASA  users • Begin with an end in mind • Off the shelf is NOT always the best solution • Less flexibility in design • Not ‘every system’ compatible (sharepoint) • Ties you to an outside company National Aeronautics and Space Administration 10
Challenges of employing Social Media and Web 2.0 tools at NASA • A workforce unfamiliar with or just beginning to  use many social media tools (wikis, blogs etc). • Cultural resistance to new ways of collaborating. • Policy and legal barriers, especially as they relate to  freely uploading content to the web.  Government  must comply with many rules that private industry  does not contend with. National Aeronautics and Space Administration 11
Example: Challenges of Community Moderation on a NASA website To foster open and up‐to‐the‐minute  research collaborations, it was deemed truly  necessary to have a community‐moderated  website rather than the standard NASA  website official moderating site content. National Aeronautics and Space Administration 12
Example (cont): Challenges of Community Moderation on a NASA website • Policy!! • Tentative Users • Some users were uncertain what could and  could not be posted on a public website • Some users had concerns about possible abuse  of a nasa.gov website • Others were unaccustomed to presenting  preliminary and ongoing research National Aeronautics and Space Administration 13
Example (cont): Challenges of Community Moderation on a NASA website Solution – Registered Users and an atypical registration process • Only registered users can post content on DASHlink • NOTE: Everyone, including the general public, can view and download content • With the Ames legal team, a new Terms & Conditions was developed. Every time a  registered user posts info, they have to agree to the Terms & Conditions • DASHlink’s atypical registration process: • NASA Civil Servants can register themselves  • All others must identify a NASA Civil Servants from the site who can sponsor them.  That  sponsor is notified by email and must agree to sponsor the applicant • NASA Civil Servants are not taking on the responsibility of moderating those they  sponsor. Instead, sponsors are agreeing that they know the applicant and believe that  their contribution to DASHlink would be relevant National Aeronautics and Space Administration 14
Overcoming the challenges---Lessons Learned 1. An agile design process, reformulated to address  the policy and legal questions. 2. Top down encouragement from Project  Management, bottom up encouragement from  Grad students (e.g., younger users). 3. A focus on content creation and community  growth. 4. Make the site incredibly easy to use. 5. …and a bit of persistence, especially working  with policy makers and legal. National Aeronautics and Space Administration 15
1. Design Process to identify and implement the Best Tools Typical Agile Design Process National Aeronautics and Space Administration 16
1. Design Process to identify and implement the Best Tools AAAAAAOur Design Process Redesign -or- Change policy if no Work with policy / legal team to determine if design idea can be if yes accommodated National Aeronautics and Space Administration 17
2. Encouragement from All Sides Grad students put material up National Aeronautics and Space Administration 18
3. Content Creation & Community Growth If you fill it, they will come. Our potential users needed a reason to begin  using the site, beyond the fact the tool was fun  and could “potentially” be incredibly powerful. By focusing on making it incredibly easy to upload  content, then encouraging certain users to do so  through various methods  • For instance, by running a ‘virtual’ poster session on  DASHlink during an annual conference. This  introduced users to the site, who then began using it  for its intended purpose. National Aeronautics and Space Administration 19
4. Ease of Use Leads to More Content Creation • Throughout our design process we strove to  always make using the site as basic and simple as  possible.  This often meant forgoing “cooler” tools. • Even now, we are always responsive when users  comment on our process.   • ‘Feedback’ link for Registered Users on every page. And  a ‘Contact Us’ link for everyone at the bottom of every  page • As designers, it’s important to remember that just  because WE understand how to use our  wiki/blog/tagging tool doesn’t mean they do. National Aeronautics and Space Administration 20
5. Work with Policy Makers & Legal Departments • Don’t implement an idea without getting approval first.  It’s  better to work with policy makers than fight against them • Do have a solid ‘elevator pitch’ ready • Do think from their perspective, and have a counter  argument prepared • Do be willing to compromise but not willing to give in • Do have a Plan B (and C and D) ready to implement if you  can’t move policy • Do consider unconventional solutions National Aeronautics and Space Administration 21
5. Stick it out (be persistent) • It takes government agencies a long time to  change. • Be willing to compromise, but not  drastically. • Continually look for new ways to draw users  in…community development is an ongoing  process. National Aeronautics and Space Administration 22
How did we encourage open collaboration at NASA? • We researched what other sites did: Most used wikis or forums, along with downloadable  source code, to coordinate efforts. • We built user friendly tools  • We worked with our policy and legal teams to find  solutions • We strongly encouraged content creation by  parties we knew to populate the site initially (top  down and bottom up). National Aeronautics and Space Administration 23
End Result • Web 2.0 @ NASA: Most people see the benefit of  using social media tools – it’s less about  persuading, and more about lowering barriers (to  use, to publishing). • Project success: DASHlink succeeded in becoming a  public‐facing community‐moderated website which  continues to grow and evolve based on our  community’s needs. • And DASHlink has experienced continually increasing  site membership and traffic since release (June 2008). National Aeronautics and Space Administration 24
DASHlink Stats* Others (non-US Google, NASA sites, space interest sites, etc.) 27.4% Total Downloads (Dec‐Jan): 12,428 Total Membership: 224 and counting Sessions from direct access Uses of the ‘contact me’ feature (Dec‐Jan): 78 Sessions started from Google 49.2% searches 23.4% *Totals refer to the total downloads filtered for  visits by ‘bots or other crawlers.  These are, to the  very best of our knowledge, accurate statistics. National Aeronautics and Space Administration 25
Thank You to the DASHlink Team Members (past and present) Dr. Francesca Barrientos, formerly of RIACS Chris Fattarsi, ASANI Solutions, LLC Elizabeth Foughty, Mission Critical Technologies, Inc. Dave Kluck, Mission Critical Technologies, Inc. Bryan Matthews, SGT, Inc. Dawn McIntosh, NASA HQ Ray McIntosh, Ames Associate Dr. Ashok Srivastava, NASA Ames Research Center Eric Titolo, SGT, Inc. Sergey Yentus, SGT, Inc. National Aeronautics and Space Administration 26
Questions? https://dashlink.arc.nasa.gov http://trac.edgewall.org/ National Aeronautics and Space Administration 27

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Mc intosh.dawn

  • 1. National Aeronautics and Space Administration EMPLOYING WEB 2.0 IDEAS IN GOVERNMENT Presented by Dawn McIntosh NASA Headquarters Team Members: Lead: Elizabeth Foughty, MCT, Inc.,  Francesca Barrientos Ph.D., formerly of RIACS,  Bryan Matthews, SGT, Inc., Ashok Srivastava Ph.D., NASA Ames Research Center www.nasa.gov
  • 2. Outline • Why Web 2.0? Collaboration of course • Web Tools applied to NASA • DASHlink & Trac • Challenges of Web 2.0 approaches @ NASA • Example – highlighting unique attributes and  solution‐based approach • Lessons Learned • Concluding Remarks National Aeronautics and Space Administration 2
  • 3. Social Networks & the Workplace “Research in a number of academic fields has shown that social networks operate on many levels … and play a critical role in determining the way problems are solved, organizations are run, and the degree to which individuals succeed in achieving their goals.” - Wikipedia, topic ‘Social Networks’ National Aeronautics and Space Administration 3
  • 4. Web 2.0 Collaboration Tools & NASA 1. External benefits: • Broadens the reach of ongoing research with partners, other NASA researchers and the public • Provides an opportunity to identify potential research partners • Gives the public greater access to research and the ability to  participate • Brings in students and young people • Today’s Example: DASHlink website 2. Improves the efficiency of internal design and  development of the website • Note: Web 2.0 doesn’t have to be public‐facing, there is benefit to  these processes in our internal projects • Today’s Example: Trac National Aeronautics and Space Administration 4
  • 5. Some NASA forays into Web 2.0 collaboration technologies National Aeronautics and Space Administration 5
  • 6. DASHlink website: Disseminate. Collaborate. Innovate. What is DASHlink? DASHlink is a virtual laboratory for scientists and  engineers to disseminate results and collaborate  on research problems in health management  technologies for aeronautics systems. https://dashlink.arc.nasa.gov National Aeronautics and Space Administration 6
  • 7. DASHlink Components Content Component • Code (Scientific Web 2.0 Features Algorithms) •Member Contact • Datasets (to be used to •Groups develop new algorithms) •Discussions • Research topics— •Associating Content papers, posters, etc… •Tagging Without the first, there’s nothing to discuss. Without the second, there’s no added value. National Aeronautics and Space Administration 7
  • 8. Internal Collaborations -- Trac • Our Trac system allows our development team, designers,  programmers, and manager to be ‘on the same page’ about  work • All software code is kept in a versioning system that the  developers use to keep track of changes • All discussion of the site is done through a ticketing system  (more rigorous than a wiki, and easier to search through) • Each ticket is attached to a milestone, and we keep a  timeline of milestones • The Trac site allows us to include and update (version)  website documentation as well, from mockups to terms  and conditions • This site (and code) is completely open to all of NASA. National Aeronautics and Space Administration 8
  • 9. Trac National Aeronautics and Space Administration 9
  • 10. Fantastic: Now what? (How do I start?) • Plan to work closely with: • Your developers (please) • Your policy makers and legal team • Your expected users ‐ especially your internal NASA  users • Begin with an end in mind • Off the shelf is NOT always the best solution • Less flexibility in design • Not ‘every system’ compatible (sharepoint) • Ties you to an outside company National Aeronautics and Space Administration 10
  • 11. Challenges of employing Social Media and Web 2.0 tools at NASA • A workforce unfamiliar with or just beginning to  use many social media tools (wikis, blogs etc). • Cultural resistance to new ways of collaborating. • Policy and legal barriers, especially as they relate to  freely uploading content to the web.  Government  must comply with many rules that private industry  does not contend with. National Aeronautics and Space Administration 11
  • 12. Example: Challenges of Community Moderation on a NASA website To foster open and up‐to‐the‐minute  research collaborations, it was deemed truly  necessary to have a community‐moderated  website rather than the standard NASA  website official moderating site content. National Aeronautics and Space Administration 12
  • 13. Example (cont): Challenges of Community Moderation on a NASA website • Policy!! • Tentative Users • Some users were uncertain what could and  could not be posted on a public website • Some users had concerns about possible abuse  of a nasa.gov website • Others were unaccustomed to presenting  preliminary and ongoing research National Aeronautics and Space Administration 13
  • 14. Example (cont): Challenges of Community Moderation on a NASA website Solution – Registered Users and an atypical registration process • Only registered users can post content on DASHlink • NOTE: Everyone, including the general public, can view and download content • With the Ames legal team, a new Terms & Conditions was developed. Every time a  registered user posts info, they have to agree to the Terms & Conditions • DASHlink’s atypical registration process: • NASA Civil Servants can register themselves  • All others must identify a NASA Civil Servants from the site who can sponsor them.  That  sponsor is notified by email and must agree to sponsor the applicant • NASA Civil Servants are not taking on the responsibility of moderating those they  sponsor. Instead, sponsors are agreeing that they know the applicant and believe that  their contribution to DASHlink would be relevant National Aeronautics and Space Administration 14
  • 15. Overcoming the challenges---Lessons Learned 1. An agile design process, reformulated to address  the policy and legal questions. 2. Top down encouragement from Project  Management, bottom up encouragement from  Grad students (e.g., younger users). 3. A focus on content creation and community  growth. 4. Make the site incredibly easy to use. 5. …and a bit of persistence, especially working  with policy makers and legal. National Aeronautics and Space Administration 15
  • 16. 1. Design Process to identify and implement the Best Tools Typical Agile Design Process National Aeronautics and Space Administration 16
  • 17. 1. Design Process to identify and implement the Best Tools AAAAAAOur Design Process Redesign -or- Change policy if no Work with policy / legal team to determine if design idea can be if yes accommodated National Aeronautics and Space Administration 17
  • 18. 2. Encouragement from All Sides Grad students put material up National Aeronautics and Space Administration 18
  • 19. 3. Content Creation & Community Growth If you fill it, they will come. Our potential users needed a reason to begin  using the site, beyond the fact the tool was fun  and could “potentially” be incredibly powerful. By focusing on making it incredibly easy to upload  content, then encouraging certain users to do so  through various methods  • For instance, by running a ‘virtual’ poster session on  DASHlink during an annual conference. This  introduced users to the site, who then began using it  for its intended purpose. National Aeronautics and Space Administration 19
  • 20. 4. Ease of Use Leads to More Content Creation • Throughout our design process we strove to  always make using the site as basic and simple as  possible.  This often meant forgoing “cooler” tools. • Even now, we are always responsive when users  comment on our process.   • ‘Feedback’ link for Registered Users on every page. And  a ‘Contact Us’ link for everyone at the bottom of every  page • As designers, it’s important to remember that just  because WE understand how to use our  wiki/blog/tagging tool doesn’t mean they do. National Aeronautics and Space Administration 20
  • 21. 5. Work with Policy Makers & Legal Departments • Don’t implement an idea without getting approval first.  It’s  better to work with policy makers than fight against them • Do have a solid ‘elevator pitch’ ready • Do think from their perspective, and have a counter  argument prepared • Do be willing to compromise but not willing to give in • Do have a Plan B (and C and D) ready to implement if you  can’t move policy • Do consider unconventional solutions National Aeronautics and Space Administration 21
  • 22. 5. Stick it out (be persistent) • It takes government agencies a long time to  change. • Be willing to compromise, but not  drastically. • Continually look for new ways to draw users  in…community development is an ongoing  process. National Aeronautics and Space Administration 22
  • 23. How did we encourage open collaboration at NASA? • We researched what other sites did: Most used wikis or forums, along with downloadable  source code, to coordinate efforts. • We built user friendly tools  • We worked with our policy and legal teams to find  solutions • We strongly encouraged content creation by  parties we knew to populate the site initially (top  down and bottom up). National Aeronautics and Space Administration 23
  • 24. End Result • Web 2.0 @ NASA: Most people see the benefit of  using social media tools – it’s less about  persuading, and more about lowering barriers (to  use, to publishing). • Project success: DASHlink succeeded in becoming a  public‐facing community‐moderated website which  continues to grow and evolve based on our  community’s needs. • And DASHlink has experienced continually increasing  site membership and traffic since release (June 2008). National Aeronautics and Space Administration 24
  • 25. DASHlink Stats* Others (non-US Google, NASA sites, space interest sites, etc.) 27.4% Total Downloads (Dec‐Jan): 12,428 Total Membership: 224 and counting Sessions from direct access Uses of the ‘contact me’ feature (Dec‐Jan): 78 Sessions started from Google 49.2% searches 23.4% *Totals refer to the total downloads filtered for  visits by ‘bots or other crawlers.  These are, to the  very best of our knowledge, accurate statistics. National Aeronautics and Space Administration 25
  • 26. Thank You to the DASHlink Team Members (past and present) Dr. Francesca Barrientos, formerly of RIACS Chris Fattarsi, ASANI Solutions, LLC Elizabeth Foughty, Mission Critical Technologies, Inc. Dave Kluck, Mission Critical Technologies, Inc. Bryan Matthews, SGT, Inc. Dawn McIntosh, NASA HQ Ray McIntosh, Ames Associate Dr. Ashok Srivastava, NASA Ames Research Center Eric Titolo, SGT, Inc. Sergey Yentus, SGT, Inc. National Aeronautics and Space Administration 26
  • 27. Questions? https://dashlink.arc.nasa.gov http://trac.edgewall.org/ National Aeronautics and Space Administration 27