NASA Seeks More Data Sharing With Government, Commercial Partners

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration‘s chief data officer revealed plans to expand data-sharing programs with commercial and government partners to increase the use of data as a strategic asset. Ron Thompson said he has already met with counterparts at the Space Force to discuss prospects for better operational data-sharing and other potential areas of collaboration, FCW reported Thursday.

Thompson, who aside from being CDO also serves as NASA’s deputy digital transformation officer, explained that the final phases of testing the Space Launch System offer a great opportunity for exchanging information with partners. He said that NASA currently needs operational data on components made by commercial partners for the SLS, the massive rocket that will return astronauts to the moon.

NASA’s CDO said that information-sharing programs with commercial partners around the Artemis moon missions and other human exploration initiatives mainly focus on engineering, operations and safety data. However, he noted that the same principles can be applied to the space agency’s aeronautics and scientific research programs.

Thompson also said that NASA is currently in the fifth year of an ongoing digital transformation and focusing on intelligent data management to address some of its long-standing issues around data oversight. He was earlier quoted as saying that one of the space agency’s most costly challenges is determining how best to handle changing classifications and other labels for critical and sensitive data over time.

The official stressed that regardless of the mission, the space agency stands to benefit from its “interconnects” with organizations in the private sector and government.