NASA
Astronauts Megan McArthur and Randy Bresnik at KSC
NASA itself is structured into three domains : human exploration , science and research , and aeronautics . “ If you look at how those cultures have derived , what we ’ re seeing is world class instantiations of things , but they were never designed to operate and interconnect and interoperate as efficiently and effectively as possible , hence the opportunity to transform .”
That means Thompson and his small but mighty team of five need to look not at how NASA ’ s systems are operating but at how NASA itself is operating . “ That ’ s really the core tenet of our work , to examine the operating model and look for areas of transformation . We ’ re not doing digital transformation for digital ’ s sake . We ’ re doing it to ensure we have mission outcomes that absolutely advance the work .”
There is a realisation from senior leadership that the agency cannot continue to operate under its current constraints and for that Thompson ’ s team has been charged with
streamlining the complexity of missions . Those missions have become increasingly diverse , with trips to Mars and resupply cargo to the International Space Station continuing through Covid . Meanwhile , the agency ’ s resources are coming down .
For answers , Thompson has looked to the private sector to see what can be
“ We ’ re not doing digital transformation for digital ’ s sake . We ’ re doing it to ensure we have mission outcomes that absolutely advance the work ”
RON THOMPSON CDO , NASA
28 August 2021