	NextGen Test Facilities Share a Purpose but Have Different Capabilities and Participants

The purpose of the NextGen Test Bed is to provide an environment in  which laboratory testing and real-world demonstrations help to show the  benefits of NextGen technologies. Furthermore, the Test Bed provides  access to the systems currently used in the NAS, which allows for testing  and evaluating the integration and interoperability of new technologies. The Test Bed is also meant to bring together stakeholders early in the  technology development process so participants can understand the  benefits of operational improvements, identify potential risks and  integration and interoperability issues, and foster partnerships between  government and industry. Each of the NextGen test facilities that compose the NextGen Test Bed  offers different testing capabilities and brings together different  participants. While sharing a common purpose, each facility offers different testing  capabilities and brings together different participants from different  communities, as follows:    The Florida Test Bed is located in a private facility at which  companies, including Lockheed Martin and Boeing, come together  with academia and FAA to test technologies that fit into the NextGen  vision. Private participants contribute financially to research and  demonstration projects and collaborate to test concepts and  technologies. The facility—which has just undergone an  expansion—provides access to the systems currently used in the NAS  and to some of the major navigation, surveillance, communications,  and weather information programs that are under development. The Park’s establishment is meant to encourage the transfer of  scientific and technical information, data, and know-how to and from  the private sector and is consistent with FAA’s technology transfer  goals. (See table 1 for examples of past and planned activities at  NextGen test facilities.) According to officials from the test facilities, they have made some  progress in their plans to link the NextGen test facilities to integrate  capabilities and share information. Linking the test facilities to leverage  the benefits of each is part of the NextGen Test Bed concept. Stakeholders Must See Tangible Results to Participate in NextGen Technology Development, and FAA Has Taken Steps to Improve Technology Transfer and Implementation

In prior work on technology transfer activities, we found that the success of  test facilities as a means to leverage private sector resources depends in  large part on the extent to which the private sector perceives benefits to its  participation. Representatives of firms participating in test facility activities  told us that tangible results—that is, the implementation of technologies  they helped to develop—were important to maintain the private sector’s  interest. FAA’s expansion of the Test Bed concept—linking together its testing  facilities, expanding the Florida Test Bed, and building a Research and  Technology Park adjacent to the New Jersey Test Bed to complement the  capabilities at Embry-Riddle—is a positive step that should help to  address some of these issues, allowing private sector participants to  remain more involved throughout the process, with a vested interest in  seeing the development of selected technologies through to successful  implementation. In addition, to improve its ability to implement new  technologies, FAA has begun to restructure its Air Traffic Organization  (ATO), which is responsible for moving air traffic safely and efficiently, as  well as for implementing NextGen. Collaboration among the NextGen partner agencies also depends, in part,  on their perceiving positive outcomes. Lack of  coordination between FAA and DOD and FAA and DHS could result in  duplicative research and inefficient use of resources at both agencies. In  addition, contact points for our Offices of Congressional Relations and  Public Affairs may be found on the last page of this statement.
Why GAO Did This Study

This testimony discusses the use of test facilities as a means of leveraging public, private, and academic resources to deliver technologies for the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen). NextGen will affect nearly every aspect of air transportation and will transform the way in which the air transportation system operates today. It is a complex undertaking that requires new technologies--including new integrated ground and aircraft systems--as well as new procedures, processes, and supporting infrastructure. The result will be an air transportation system that relies on satellite-based surveillance and navigation, data communications, and improved collaborative decision making. Transforming the nation's air transportation system affects and involves the activities and missions of several federal agencies, though the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the lead implementer. In addition, NextGen was designed and planned to be developed in collaboration with aviation stakeholders--airlines and other airspace users, air traffic controllers, and avionics, aircraft, and automation systems manufacturers--in order to facilitate coordinated research activities, transfer technologies from FAA and partner agencies to the private sector, and take advantage of research and technology developed by the private sector that could meet NextGen needs, as appropriate. Three NextGen test facilities, collectively referred to as the NextGen Test Bed, are designed to foster the research and development of NextGen-related technologies and to evaluate integrated technologies and procedures for nationwide NextGen deployment. These test facilities provide access to the systems currently used in the national air space (NAS) and house various types of hardware, simulators, and other equipment to allow for demonstrations of new technologies. They also provide opportunities for stakeholders--public and private--to collaborate with FAA, academia, and each other. This statement today discusses (1) the role of the NextGen test facilities in the development of NextGen technologies and how private industry and partner agencies participate in projects at the NextGen test facilities, and (2) our previous findings on NextGen technology transfer and FAA's efforts to improve the transfer and implementation of NextGen-related technologies. This statement is based on our prior NextGen-related reports and testimonies, updated with information we gathered from FAA and test facility officials in October 2011. The GAO reports cited in this statement contain more detailed explanations of the methods used to conduct our work, which we performed in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards.

What GAO Found

The role of the NextGen Test Bed is to demonstrate the benefits of NextGen initiatives and to do so early in the technology development process. While sharing a common purpose, each of the three facilities that collectively make up the NextGen Test Bed offers different testing capabilities and brings together different participants from different communities. Across the test facilities private and public sector stakeholders contribute personnel, equipment, and funding to develop and integrate technologies. Linking the test facilities to leverage the benefits of each is part of the NextGen Test Bed concept and officials from the test facilities indicated they have made some progress in doing so. In prior work on technology transfer activities, we found that the success of test facilities as a means to leverage private sector resources depends in large part on the extent to which the private sector perceives benefits to its participation. Similarly, collaboration among the NextGen partner agencies depends in part on their seeing outcomes that further their mission and on identifying a common purpose. FAA has taken a number of actions to improve its ability to implement new technologies and increase partner agencies' and private sector participants' involvement in seeing the development of selected technologies through to successful implementation--including restructuring the organization responsible for implementing NextGen and linking the test facilities and improving their capabilities.