NCIS Sub-Team Telecon
December 9, 2002

Attendees:

ARC – Judy Hover & Robin Orans
DFRC –
GRC – Kathy Kerrigan & Lori Sterner
GSFC – Abdul Ibrahim
HQN – Leonard Yarbrough & Walter Hussey
JPL – Marisol Olvera, Jennifer, Jim Rooney
JSC – Mary Dickerson & Connie Sartor
KSC – Theresa Rumbaugh, Lew Parrish, Dave Makufka
LaRC – Dianne Cheek, Lise Maring, and Jesse
MSFC – Lisa Hall & Susan Whitfield
SSC – Sheena Antoine & Jeff Eberhart
NMO –
NTTC –
KSS – Jerome Leveque, Chetoya Strickland, Michele Hudson
 

Status

TechTracS

Awards Module is in the design stage for the Release in January.  Getting last minute requirements where it will meet the standards of the contractual policy.

Congressional Update and Zip code is in the process of reworking because of the new vendor in which we will be using.

Super Report Pro – Mod 120 is just awaiting the deployment.

KIMS

System integration is currently in the finalization stage of testing

Mod 35 NASA Program Project listing

Software Technology Category – Mod 22 has currently been placed on hold due to the rush of a few other mods.

eNTRe

Attachment Manager – the design documentation has been finished and waiting for web review with Dianne.

Re-engineering of eNTRe should start early next year with development.

TechFinder

Requirement Analysis – re-engineered with Coldfusion and Oracle backbone should begin in the summer.

The up-grade to 4d 6.8 has been placed on hold – KSS has made the decision not to upgrade to 4D 6.8 and wait for 4D 2003.  The management and developers feel that 4D 2003 will have more value added to the customer while fixing other problems than to move forth with 4D 6.8.
ex.   Quick Report – Face Lift
 Printer Trays.  (Benefit Mod 117 Automatic Tray Switching)

Note:
This will put KSC current bug report address automatic tray switching on hold

ARC is currently center wide being switched over to OS X and Classic.  Word OS X using the copy and pasting function from that to the database is currently causing system wide crashes.  A question was asked if Judy could post pone their roll out of OS X so that it would not interfere with the release until ARC finds a solution to the crashes.

Poll of PC verses Mac centers
ARC – Mac
DFRC - ??
GRC – 50/50
GSFC – PC
HQN – 50/50
JPL – PC
JSC – PC
KSC – PC
LaRC – PC
MSFC – majority PC (3 Mac)
SSC – majority PC (couple of Mac)
 

Currently, until we are able to get feedback from the DOD contact person’s we have put the XML on hold.

System Functional Architecture Mod.
System documentation is currently working which includes system and hardware layout.

Release Schedule was set for January 27th.  The walk through on January 21st with an online demo provided by KSS.  At this time the DBAs’ will be able to walk through the awards mod with the SRAs.  NASA testing has been set for the week of January 6th.  Users need to remember to request for access from Jerome or Chetoya.

Walter, asked Susan would the delay of the release cause the pay period to delay?  Susan replied that she would verify that with Lou Nosenzo and get back to Walter.

Leonard has requested that the team review the PowerPoint Presentation with the mock-ups of KIMS and provide feedback.  His goal is to make KIMS a little more effective as well as efficient for a Program Manager’s needs.  Leonard pictures replacing the need to query the AgencyWide and have KIMS as the focal point for all Program Managers needs.
 

NCIS Sub-Team Telecon
November 5, 2002
 

Attendees:

ARC  Judy H.
DFRC
GRC  Kathy K., Jason C
GSFC  Abdul I, Alberto A.
HQN Gary B., Leonard Y.
JPL
JSC  Mary D.
KSC  Theresa R.
LaRC  Dianne C., Terry
MSFC Lisa H.
SSC  Jeff E., Sheena A.
KSS  Jerome L., Chetoya S., Michele H.
NTTC  Brad M.
NMO June R.

Status Report

NTTS

· Congressional District Upload: The new provider for the Congressional District upload is Congress Merge. Their information can be found at www.congressmerge.com. The information provided is up-to-date as of the first of the calendar year 2002.
· TechTracS Deployment: These modifications are being tested currently and include features from the KSS TechTracS Commercial product: Module 120, 124, and 127. The features are Form Manager, List Manager, Reminder Wizard, Super Report Pro and Report Sharing.
· Agency Wide Clone: The Agency Wide clone should be implemented for the week of December 9th. KSS is waiting for the hardware delivery. They expect the equipment to arrive soon.
· Other TechTracS Mods: Work for Mod 126, Systems and Functional Architecture, and the Awards Mod, Mod 128 [Walter Hussey], have been combined and will provide the system with an updated Data Dictionary.
· TechFinder: No update
· eNTRe: Currently two issues are being addressed: 1) Resolving the attachment issue and 2) Working on the security matter.

Notes (eNTRe):

Judy Hover is working with KSS to insure that ARC will have the capability to use the system. Thus far, test information has been able to travel through the system without interference. KSS has been able to use the FTP port with an Apache server on the main box enabling ARC to grab data through the firewall.
Jerome Leveque (KSS) assured the group that this functionality can exist with one central Apache server. Field Centers will not have to purchase the Apache software individually.

Action Item

There will be a follow-up meeting on Thursday, November 7, 2002 at 1:30p.m.(EST) to address and update all parties regarding the Attachment Manager and Security Issues for eNTRe.

· KIMS: Construction for Mods 12 and 20 is complete. KSS is in the process of completing the testing phase. The area is dated to reflect the FACS data, release, upgrade and end-of-year routine as they are done. The tentative deployment schedule is set for December 9, 2002.
Notes (KIMS)

Dianne Cheek (LaRC) noted that all NCIS DBAs now have administrative privileges in KIMS. She will schedule and announce a time for training the DBAs on the KIMS system. Prior to that, she will be sending out supporting charts for review to verify that training is required. Of note for the DBAs: DBAs will now receive email requests from field center users requiring accounts on KIMS.

· Testing: Dianne Cheek (LaRC) addressed the team concerning testing. Of particular note was the new testing process. KSS has set up a mock clone of the agency’s infrastructure, including an Agency Wide with supporting Auto Agent and Web Agent, an NTAS with supporting Web Agent, and two field centers with supporting Auto Agents. Instead of testing isolated portions of the system, KSS intends to emulate the complete system, thereby providing more thorough testing. Field center team members who intend to test the modifications to the system should contact Chetoya Strickland (KSS) or Jerome Leveque (KSS) for a login account to access the test system. The window of time allocated for testing is the week of November 25th.
Notes (Testing)

Leonard Yarbrough (HQN) voiced some concern over the short amount of time allocated for testing, stating that the week of Nov 25th is a short week, and thus the testing time is insufficient. Dianne Cheek (LaRC) addressed his concerns announcing that this is the normal amount of time for NASA testing. The centers rely heavily on KSS testing, especially in this particular case, because the implementation involves features from KSS’ commercial product. The floor was opened to a vote for more time for testing, but the representatives agreed that the time was sufficient, especially giving regard to the time of release. Of Note: Team members noted concern that more test time would push back the release.

Additional Issues and Concerns

· Judy Hover raised the question (with a few supporting emails) on “What should or should not be counted as Partnership?” What is considered GPRA qualified?” These questions are the result of working with the SRA.
Notes (GPRA)

Dianne Cheek (LaRC) referenced KIMS as the source of the current definition for Partnership, and what should and should not be used. She confirmed that currently software is not GPRA qualified. For further information, please read the NPG 7500.1 Chapter 5 pages 12-13 if further questions arise. For now, the centers should decide what is GPRA qualified. If the Partnership record meets the definition, then check the GPRA qualified box. If not, please do not select the check box in order to alleviate confusion with the numbers and metrics. There is currently a question mark as to what Dr. Creedon wants to do.

Leonard Yarbrough (HQN) has been working with Jonathan Root on a side note to gather the requirements for the metrics for his software release mod and team.

Nancy (MSFC) pointed out that the software usage agreement is not a license and no royalties are received from them. GFSSP and VISAR videos are both licensed by NASA. This raised another question. NPG 7500.1 Section 5.5.1 was referenced and noted, explaining that JPL’s intent is to commercialize Cal Tech’s technologies.

This subject matter, along with the Partnership definition issues, will be addressed as a conference item at the SRA meeting in January 2003. Other meetings that are on the calendar include the CTO workshop and the NCIS annual meeting in April.

Other Subject Matters

· Kathy Kerrigan (GRC) has an issue with SBIR/STTR and the contractors. Currently, she does not have access to the electronic handbook for SBIR/STTR. She would like to further educate the contractors on the difference between NASA Form 1679 and the New Technology Summary to alleviate some confusion in reporting. Gary Borda (HQN) confirmed that there exists some confusion with NTR reporting.
Procurement is asking where to direct users. Kathy has created a link for the Summary Report and eNTRe, one for the GRC-Procurement handbook and one for the GSFC-Program side. She has encouraged the group to use the GRC site as a work around until a better solution exists.
There has been a proposed policy to use I-Edison to submit final interim reporting and on interim and final reports for invention disclosure. I-Edison is a product and web site generated by NIH that many agencies have adopted for report submission. See www.iedison.gov

· Judy Hover (ARC) addressed the issue around sending public data over to the DOD. The following information was appended from Judy’s email “Regarding Code I – External Relations – DOD Agreement.” Leonard Yarbrough (HQN) will investigate further from a managerial standpoint.

Of Note: Center Directors receive an annual letter from Code I/Associate Administrator for External Relations.

"As you may be aware, Code I maintains an archive of active, unclassified NASA/DOD interagency agreements on the Internet at URL http://www.sti.nasa.gov/codeid/. We have now updated the archive to show all agreements received as of November 20, 2001. The enclosure lists all the active agreements in the archive that your organization is responsible for, along with the related data elements. Please have your staff perform the following tasks:
 

 1.  Determine if all active, unclassified agreements you have with the military services and other parts of DOD are shown on the enclosure.

 2.  Verify the accuracy of the data elements shown on the enclosure.

 3.  Verify that each of your agreements in the Internet archive is the current version.

 4.  Provide Code ID with:

a.  Clean, signed paper copies of new or updated active agreements not in the Internet archive.
b.  Needed changes to the data elements.

We intend to keep this archive as current as possible so we ask you to implement procedures to provide us with copies of new agreements as they are executed and with information to update the archive on a continual basis, but no less frequently than quarterly. Please provide an update, including your response to Paragraph 4 above, and a point-of-contact for your organization by January 11, 2001.

We also request that you send a paper copy of each classified agreement you have with DOD for our files, again by January 11, using prescribed procedures for mailing classified documents.
 

Related questions or comments should be addressed to Dick Williams, Code IC, at dick.williams@hq.nasaa.gov or (202) 358-2397.
 

Signed John D. Schumacher."
 

Notes (Code I)

1. Fields currently captured

a. ID Number – their own ID
b. Effective Date
c. Status
d. NASA Org
e. POC (point of contact)
f. DOD Org
g. Subject

2. Partnership Number: They do not track our Partnership Number in a separate field in their database, but they do expect us to match their ID number with the correct Partnership Number. Sometimes they list our Partnership Number in the Subject field.

3. Point of Contact: The POCs we have in NTTS and provide for these partnerships are not the POCs they list on their web site. They choose who will be listed.

4. Agreements: Code I does not put all agreements on their web site.

5. Updates: We are expected to proof their database against NTTS and update all fields and status, where appropriate.

I [Judy] have attached a draft document explaining how Ames is handling the Quarterly and Annual mailings, [as well as how] the Reminders are set up. The key is using the new DOD field in the Company table which ten identifies a particular organization as DOD in the Partnership table.

In my discussions with Dianne Cheek, it was hoped that rather than re-creating all this data, again, for HQ, we could somehow tie their collection into NTTS.  That would save them the time of having to re-enter all this data into their database, and us having to keep doing manual checks of NTTS against their database. If and when the Attachment Mod gets set up, these partnerships could be set up as PDF attachments, and HQ could possibly access them that way. Essentially, we were trying to explore better ways to manage this whole process.
 
 

NCIS Sub-Team Telecon
October 1, 2002
 

1. Team Members Present:

ARC  Judy, Robin
DFRC  Greg, Terry
GRC  Kathy K.
GSFC  Abdul
HQN Gary, Leonard
JSC  Mary, Connie
KSC  Theresa
LaRC  Dianne
SSC  Jeff, John, Sheena
KSS  Chetoya, Michele
NTTC  Brad

2.  System Status Report:

TechTracS:
KSS is on schedule for the next release, which will include mods 127 - the integration of the Super Report Pro, 126 - System Functional Architecture, and 120 – the Integration of the Commercial Features.  Dianne previously sent out an email informing the DBA’s’ and CMT work group members to test and review these features.

Leonard is currently still waiting for a response from his contact with the CIO on the security of the attachment for eNTRe.  Dianne reminded him that there are three matters that need to be addressed:
a.) Software incapability
b.) Security of the transmission of the data.
c.) VPN and TechTracS

As for the KIMS release schedule we are combining Mod 12, which was System Integration with Mod 35 - NASA Program/Project Listing from Mod 12 System Integration.

Mary asked what had happened to mod 91, which increased table access capabilities. This mod was merged with 55 & 85. It is currently # 3 in priority within the NTTS mods and # 13 in the NCIS priority list.

a. Progress on the Attachment Manager is awaiting advice from the NASA Network Administrator regarding questions and issues concerning VPN and security.
b. Feature/Mods: Following mods are scheduled: 129, 128, 127, 126, 120, 119, 117, 104, 92. The Super Report Generator is open for voting.
c. A test environment package has been procured for use in developing/troubleshooting the system. This obviates the need to lash up a test environment each time it is necessary to perform a development or other test.
d. In response to a query from Judy Hover/ARC, Jerome stated that post October efforts will consist mostly of KIMS related tasks.
 

Also, the following status was given:
        Mod 120 – requirements development in progress
        Mod 12 (KIMS) – Document undergoing revision
        Mod 35 – Problem listing & test planning underway
        Mod126 –(Functional Architecture) Planning has started
        Bugs & Features (Bug 6313) included in the next release.

e. Query regarding impact of IFM upon system. Leonard stated that IFM team knows that we expect download of FACS data from IFM; also, both the old and the new system will run concurrently through FY2003. Leonard will follow up with IFM/HQS. Procurement database managers.

3.  Budget Report

Leonard re-addressed the matter at hand that the fiscal year 2004 budget will be taking a major cut at an Operative Level.  This was a reminder to the Working Group members that the system will be left at an as is state for no improvements to the system.  He reassured everyone that this year’s budget would not be an issue.  Dianne added to the statement saying that she is going to move forward on the posted Mods as planned for fiscal year 2003.

4. System issues - VPN/IP address Change – was addressed in #2.

5. Conference

Judy confirmed that she has signed the building use contract to reserve Ames' MTCC Ballroom for April 8-10th for our NCIS Working Group Meeting.  The agenda is planned to be the same as that for November’s cancelled meeting with a few adjustment in preparation for the coming fiscal year.

6. Other Business

Dianne discussed that the Partnership percentage is up from fiscal year 2001 in comparison with fiscal year 2002 by 9%.  Leonard commended the field centers on the growth of the data as well as the quality of the data.

Judy discussed the need for support from the field centers with the application SAAM – Space Act Agreement Maker.  Robin provided her support with the system agreeing that it is a useful tool.
 
 
 

NCIS Sub-Team Telecon
September 3, 2002
 

1. Team Members Present:

ARC  Judy, Robin
DFRC  Greg, Terry
GRC  Kathy N., Kathy K.
GSFC  Abdul, Alberto
JSC  Mary
KSC  Theresa
LaRC  Terri, Dianne
MSFC  Lisa
SSC  Jeff, John
KSS  Jerome
NTTC  Brad

2. System Report (Dianne):

a. Progress on the Attachment Manager is awaiting advice from the NASA Network Administrator regarding questions and issues concerning VPN and security.
b. Feature/Mods: Following mods are scheduled: 129, 128, 127, 126, 120, 119, 117, 104, 92. The Super Report Generator is open for voting.
c. A test environment package has been procured for use in developing/troubleshooting the system. This obviates the need to lash up a test environment each time  it is necessary to perform a development or other test.
d. In response to a query from Judy Hover/ARC, Jerome stated that post October efforts will consist mostly of KIMS related tasks.
Also, the following status was given:
        Mod 120 – requirements development in progress
        Mod 12 (KIMS) – Document undergoing revision
        Mod 35 – Problem listing & test planning underway
        Mod126 –(Functional Architecture) Planning has started
        Bugs & Features (Bug 6313) included in the next release.
e. Query regarding impact of IFM upon system. Leonard stated that IFM team knows that we expect download of FACS data from IFM; also, both the old and the new system will run concurrently through FY2003. Leonard will follow up with IFM/Hqs. Procurement database managers.

LSY
 
 

NCIS Sub-Team Telecon
August 13, 2002

1. Roll Call

ARC – Judy Hover
DFRC – Terri Lyon
GRC – Kathy Kerrigan
GSFC – Alberto Alvarez and Abdul Ibrahim
HQN – Leonard Yarbrough
JPL – Debbie Avila
JSC – Mary Dickerson
KSC – Theresa Rumbaugh
LaRC – Dianne Cheek
MSFC – Lisa Hall
SSC – John Bailey and Sheena Antoine
NMO – Jun Rosca
NTTC – Brad Mayle
KSS – Jerome Leveque and Michele Hudson

3. Status Report – Jerome Leveque – referring to a list of Priority that Leonard, Dianne and Jerome discussed.
KIMS – 12/35 will be in the next release
NTTS – Commercial feature in Mod 120
eNTRe – Attachment manager will be put on hold due to security level.

Within the NTTS system mod 117 – Automatic tray switching capability - has been moved up on the list as a priority.

As for the bugs listed in the NCIS bug page - All bugs will be fixed for the next released.
The features will be done in accordance with Mod 123 – Open Features Development.  The list manager has been added to accommodate – JSC – Mary Dickerson.

4. Annual Meeting

GRC – Kathy Kerrigan - Suggested that during the annual meeting KSS could provide training on how to use the new features added to the Version 3.2.

HQN – Leonard Yarbrough – Responded to the question posted by SSC – Sheena Antoine regarding travel money for the end of the fiscal year.  Leonard has forwarded the question onto Mary Beth Rigby.  Leonard also wanted to address at the team meeting updating the team charter.  Notification that Walter Kit of HQN has confirmed that he will be speaking on IT security at the meeting.

Judy – eGov Compliance – Judy wanted to inform centers that ARC would be researching the opportunity a tunnel VPN with other center to communicate with each other.  She will have a demonstration of the VPNs and how they are used.

The question of the security level of eNTRe was revisited.  It was confirmed that eNTRe itself has a 128K like transmission across the system with SSL encryption.  After discussion amongst the team the goal to have the same level of security applied across the board of the products.  It was suggested and agreed that SSL like security will be applied to the Attachment mod.  This will delay the initial roll out of the eNTRe up-grade.  Later on KSS with work to up-grade the security amongst the rest of the system.

5. Data Quality

Leonard asked for a brief snap shot on the process of managing the quality of each field center’s data.

ARC – Mentioned that their main focus has been on [Partnership], [Contract_Grant], and [Documents] tables.  As a check as they go process they are keeping a summary doc on what has been modified.  The overall quality of data is improving.

DFRC – is still learning the overall process.

GRC – They are continuing to look at the data and cleaning it up as they go.  Currently helping to train the new personnel in the Patent area to insert missing data in where they see it.  It is an overall team working effort.

GSFC – They have designed an approach and are currently waiting to implement it.  They are looking at addressing the FY02 records first then working their way backwards.

JPL – Currently still negotiating through their many channels.  They are working with a gentleman from the Caltech side by being CC on letters with intent to patent.  Their current focus is on the FY02 data.  As for data quality she noticed that the activity baseline was operating with contract (Management) that is throwing off the baseline because these contracts have not closed.

JSC – The technology mod has been cleaned up starting with the most recent information.  As far as information ten years back you might run into a few data gaps.  JSC is currently working to improve the License mod on clean up efforts. They are also working with putting in new TOPS, Success Stories, and Partnerships.

KSC – As they are reorganizing the data entry is done by several people and it is being fixed as they see them.

LaRC – Their main focus is getting the Abstracts.  They have been meeting with people who are closer to the data.  As they clean up their data they also have LaRC required data that they are doing scans on.

MSFC – They have reviewed the original data information to see how the center is doing currently.  The focus is on the [People] and [Company] tables records for the reason some information is not filtered down from procurement.  Lisa has created some reminders that scan the required fields of the tables if they have not been entered notifying her with an email.  She commends her center because of the power users in certain areas of the office have helped with entering data as they see it.

SSC – Began their clean up efforts with fiscal year 99 to the present.  Just as MSFC is missing data in the [People] and [Company] it is an issue for SSC too.  John Bailey mentioned that he spoke with procurement contact and assured him that the information is available, but were not pulling it down.
 
 

NCIS Sub-Team Telecon
August 6, 2002

1. Roll Call

ARC – Judy Hover and Robin Orans
DFRC –
GRC – Kathy Kerrigan and Jason Crusan
GSFC – Alberto Alvarez
HQN – Leonard Yarbrough and Gary Borda
JPL – Debbie Avila
JSC – Mary Dickerson
KSC – Theresa Rumbaugh
LaRC – Dianne Cheek
MSFC – Lisa Hall
SSC – Sheena Antoine and Jeff Eberhardt
NMO – Jun Rosca
NTTC – Brad Mayle
KSS – Jerome Leveque, Michele Hudson and Chetoya Strickland

2. Status Report – Jerome Leveque
eNTRe – 1 – Attachment Manager – Expected to go out 10/02 with the next release. Completed, reviewed, and tested w/test plans
- ARC had an issue with the design.  Dianne asked for a clarification from ARC.

ARC – Judy feels the idea of centralizing the attachment with the 1679 form (all attachments at LaRC would inhibit ARC from pulling the documents through the firewall.  Due to the security efforts at ARC it would be most likely hard to put another hole in the firewall.  She asked, “Does the client initiate the transfer?” Jerome confirmed that the client initiate the transfer.  Judy will contact Jerome on this matter.

If this becomes a problem for ARC network personnel Leonard agreed he would pursue it with the CIO at HQN from Judy’s feedback.

JSC – Mary – What is the current relation of the 1679 with how we are getting it currently?

ARC – Judy – Rephrased Mary’s question – How is the information currently getting there?

Jerome – What is the FTP server?   There is one FTP server for all of the attachments.  One FTP server will hold the 1679 attachments and any other.  However, the record in your database that will identify the attachment to the central FTP server.  The field center will initiate the transfer.

SSC – Jeff – Confirming that it will be used in the same fashion as the FACS.  Asking if it is secure?

GRC – Jason – It is not that secure but a little more than the average.  Explaining what would normally take 5 minutes will now take 15 minutes.

HQN – Gary – Responding to the level of security question.  Said that proprietary data in NF 1679 attachments should be protected but level of protection depends on level of risk v. time/cost to reduce it to an acceptable level. Not an easy question [assumed that group was discussing adding higher level of security to attachment manager than current level of eNTRe security, but believe that attachment manager and eNTRe should have same level of security].

LaRC – Dianne – Proposed the question of adding that the FTP – attachment manager needs to add Secure Socket Layer (SSL) as a requirement.
Decision to put the mod on hold eNTRe 1.

HQN – Leonard asked ARC if this satisfied her email about not using eNTRe

Dianne asked, “Why is ARC not using eNTRe?” e.g. Duplicate record

ARC – Judy – Addressed that she thought it was originally decided that it was a Tool that the centers could or could not use like other tools in TechTracS.  ARC elected not to use it because it was creating more problems in the database than help.  Various bug issues were still present and they would wait until the bugs were cleaned up to use the system.

JPL – Debbie - Included that JPL was not using the eNTRe system because Cal Tech does not want JPL to use eNTRe.  They have their own system and would rather have JPL not use it.  JPL is entering the information in manually.

HQN – Leonard – Asked if it meets the minimal acceptable standards from all users standpoint?  Is it acceptable to all of the centers?

ARC – Judy suggested having the field centers names removed from the pop up list until they decide to use the system.

HQN – Gary stated that the Government Paperwork Elimination requires, by October 2003, that agencies provide individuals or entities that deal with the agency the option to submit information or transact with the agency electronically. eNTRe is such an option and thus the we have a requirement for electronic transmittals to be in place for contractors and innovators by Oct 2003.  He said this is presently something that contractors see as they go through NASA web pages and documents.   It will not be acceptable to the “one NASA” philosophy that have some field centers present and other not.  He urged the motions that bugs attachments, and duplicate people records be moved up the priority list in getting fixed.

MSFC – Lisa - Agreed that duplicated records are created but she created a Reminder for new people records that are entered into the system with eNTRe submitter as their people type.   Then she consolidates the records to the eNTRe people records.  She explained that while the numbers are low this works as a quick fix to the duplicate people records.

SSC – Sheena – Added that she has been asked the question, “If innovators want to change their password how do they do it?”

LaRC – Dianne – Added this is a feature request.

HQN – Leonard motioned to move on due to the time running short.

KSS – Jerome – KIMS mods 12 & 35 – System Integration - Construction is on going
Release is expected in 10/02.  He then added that the process with mod 22 –m Software Technology Category is moving forward.

Leonard asked what is the next version number.  Jerome replied the version numbers would be 3.2.  The release is expected around the date of November 18th.

ARC – Judy added that it would be in conflict with the annual meeting in November, and that none of the DBA’s’ would be present at their centers.

HQN – Leonard proposed that Judy mention everything on the plans for the Annual meeting.

4 - Annual Meeting - Judy Hover
ARC – Judy - Confirmed that the conference rooms have been reserved for three days.  She was able to get the Marriott to agree to the government rate with a breakfast added for each day.  She added that the Marriott is a full service hotel.  However to certify this rate we would a have to guarantee that 80% of the rooms or 10 people need to confirm reservation in the next month to receive this rate.  Judy asked if there was an agenda for the training.

HQN – Leonard – Agreed to append the agenda from the cancelled Las Vegas meeting.  Request a training agenda from the team.

Leonard with agreement from the team to have a follow-up meeting next Tuesday, August 13th at 1:30pm
 
 

NCIS Sub-Team Telecon
July 2, 2002

I. Present:

ARC: Judy Hover, Cathy Pochel
DFRC:
GRC: Kathy Kerrigan
GSFC: Alberto Alvarez
HQ: Leonard Yarbrough
JPL: Debbie Avila
NMO:
JSC:
KSC: Dave Makufska, Theresa Rumbaugh
LaRC: Laura Somerville
MSFC: Lisa Hall
SSC: John Bailey
KSS: Joe Morella, Chetoya Strickland
NTTC: Brad Mayle

II. Joe Morella provided a status of activities at KSS, including the status of a modification to support the Inventions and Contributions and KIMS Mods 22 and 35. The latest release of KIMS is anticipated to be at the end of September 2002.  The posted modifications and bug reports  were not specifically addressed. However, it is noted that here are several discrepancies between the several pages that show the modifications and the bug report status. Dianne and I have discussed these in some detail, and specific instructions have been given KSS regarding these items. Dianne and I will review the status of the mods and bugs during the week of 22 July, and a full report/status will be requested from KSS for the August Telecon.

III.  Cathy Pochel (please correct me if I assigned this to the wrong person) asked for a report of the visit that Alberto Alverez, Joe Morella, and I made to KSC June 25th/26th. A brief description of my visit is appended hereto, in response to the request.

IV. There being no further itens of significance, the telecon was concluded at 2:20 pm.
 
 

NCIS Sub-Team Telecon
June 11, 2002

1.  Roll Call:
ARC – Judy Hover and Cathy Pochel
DFRC – No one present
GRC – Kathy Needham and Kathy Kerrigan
GSFC – Alberto Alvarez
HQN – Leonard Yarbrough and Walter Hussey
JPL – Debbie Avila
NMO – Celestino Rosca
JSC – Mary Dickerson and Connie Sartor
KSC – Theresa Rumbaugh and Dave Makufka
LaRC – Dianne Cheek and Laura Somerville
MSFC – No one present
SSC – John Bailey
KSS – Joe Morsello and Michele Hudson

2. Preferred Time of meetings:
In agreement amongst the committee 1st Tuesday of each month @ 1:30pm (EST)

3.  Proposing Annual Meeting – for team that was previously cancelled.
Leonard will send an email suggesting dates and places NLT 6/14.

4. IFMP – Brought up by Cathy regarding the changes for the numbering system concerning Contracts.  A new Grant Handbook leads on this information is coming from Headquarters by William Child and Paul Brundage.  Leonard to follow up with Code B and Joe; will advise group of results NLT 6/14

In reference to the question that Cathy raised during the telecon on June 11th, I have been advised that:

(1) The present AWCS database will be maintained through FY 2003;

(2) While there will indeed be field name changes, there is provision for converting old names to new, as well as for automating the conversion.  It does appear that there will be coding changes required to accommodate the new names, at the very least for search routines, as well as for metrics computations.
 

5.  Charter – Explained the significance of the three different systems and reasoning for trying to link the databases.
Lead for the systems:
NASA Technology Inventory – GSFC – Maria So
NASA Knowledge Management System – JPL – Jen Holmes

Leonard explained that the Technology Inventory could help with the future running of information whereas TechTracS keeps a historical run of information. Dianne requested copies of charter for Tech. Inventory and KMS; Leonard will provide NLT 6/14.

6. Data Integrity and Quality
Suggestion for the system:
Data Dictionary
Computational Dictionary

Looking for agreement from the team over the next week.  Mary Dickerson clarified that KSS will be responsible for data field type and functionality, NASA will be responsible for usage, reasoning and meaning.

Leonard are stressed a possible quality audit on the system.

7.  Standards and Practices; Standard Reports
Having a basic understanding of the systems from each centers stand point and if the ideas can be consolidated to help all centers.

KSC “Boot Camp” - Alberto will travel with a small group to get a better understanding of the business practices of the Technology Transfer Process.  Team of five including Dianne, Laura and Kathy will accompany him.

Suggested a possible second group to discuss Metrics, Partnership, Success Stories, and TOPS.

8.  Agency Metrics and Reporting
Working agenda:
To re-aligning the metrics to go along with the Enterprises more according to their metrics.

Creating an additional electronic form for RTTC – DFRC/SSC working on version.

Up for discussion still – the discontinuing of the Baseline metrics and time period of metrics.

Cathy bought up a concern that the centers would not have time to make correction from the FACS load.  To be discussed next month.
 
 

NCIS Sub-Team Telecon
April 2, 2002

Attending:

Judy Hover ARC
Cathy Pochel ARC
Greg Poteat DFRC
Kathy Kerrigan GRC
Abdul Ibrahim GSFC
Gary Borda HQ
Debbie Avila JPL
Mary Dickerson JSC
Connie Sartor JSC
Theresa Rumbaugh KSC
Dianne Cheek LaRC
Laura Somerville LaRC
Lisa Hall MSFC
Jeff Eberhart SSC
Sheena Antoine SSC
Joe Morsello KSS
Michele Hudson KSS
Jill Freeman KSS
Chetoya Strickland KSS
Doug Cannon KSS
 

1.  Status of Work

Deployment of 3.1.2 is currently planned for Thursday, April 4.
Joe and Doug from KSS were at LaRC today.  They will be working with Dianne to plan further releases.
 

2.  Team Feedback on Web 1679 Testing

ARC:
Cathy and Judy reported that they had rejected a submitted 1679, but when they went back to the listing on the Web site, that document was still read-only.  KSS asked Cathy to make sure she had saved the Shadow record, pointing out that accepting/rejecting will not be final until the Shadow record is saved.
If a user accepts an NTR through Shadow table, the user will be taken through the process of importing the record into the Technology table, including selecting innovators, choosing Report As value, etc., but if the Shadow record is not then saved, the record will not be imported.

Cathy requested a Log Out button for the Web site.  She was asked to put in a feature request.

DFRC:
Greg has not had the opportunity to test.

GRC:
Kathy asked for ability for user to edit his registration information.  Dianne said that the registration process will be reworked in version 2.
Kathy reported a bug wherein, on accepting an existing People record for an innovator, TechTracS appears to still be using information from the eNTRe submittal for the Current Company information – which could result in multiple instances of duplicated Company records.  This bug was listed as possibly critical.  This bug was reviewed after the telecon and v3.1.2 processing the information as needed.

GSFC:
Abdul has not tested, needs to register on eNTRe Web site.
Laura will provide Abdul with the URL.

HQ:
Gary had previously provided comments.

JPL:
Debbie reported that JPL will not be using eNTRe.

JSC:
Mary has not yet tested the Web 1679.  Mary will set up a telecon with Dianne and other relevant people at JSC.

KSC:
Theresa reported she found no complications, but noted that the e-mail to log in to the 1679 Web submission site is case-sensitive.  Dianne asked Theresa to put in a bug report on this.

MSFC:
Lisa submitted several NTRs, found no problems other than those already submitted in bug reports.  MSFC is ready to start using the Web 1679.
Lisa asked that some documentation (in the form of a brochure/handout) be provided so it can be handed out to innovators.  Dianne will provide a draft.

SSC:
Jeff reported problems, such as not receiving NTRs submitted to SSC.
Jeff also asked about designating required fields.
Dianne is going to work with KSS to make required fields obvious.
Jeff suggested validating which Center an NTR should go to by using the related Contract number.  But since some Centers track other Centers’ contracts, it was decided this isn’t feasible.
Jeff expressed concern about having phone numbers listed on the eNTRe Web site contact list.  Dianne asked that anyone with these concerns work with their CTO director to decide which phone number to use on the Web site.
 

3.  Comments on proposed accept/reject letters to NTR submitters

Laura collected comments from Centers (received from GRC, GSFC, HQ, and MSFC) and sent Dianne the comments and new drafts of the letters.  Dianne will review the comments/drafts and send out modified drafts to the DBAs.
Each Center is to send Laura the phone number to be used in these e-mails.
 

Other

Jill noted that version 3.1.2 will default to blank for the Center value.

Kathy asked how NTRs submitted to the wrong Center should be handled. NTRs submitted to the wrong Center should be rejected and the NASA NT Rep should contact the submitter to get it routed to the correct Center.

Lisa reported that MSFC will be tracking partner contributions for partnerships and that she had encountered a calculation problem in the NASA Summary page of Partnerships records.  If an amount is entered for “Direct Partner Contributions” or “Other Partner Contributions” on the Resources by Partner page of the record, that amount is also added to the “Total Reimbursement to NASA” figure on the Total Investment Sum. page of the record.

Dianne asked the team to send her any desired meeting topics and noted that the team Web page now has current hotel information and current meeting topics.

Dianne advised that team members can query on the NCIS bug reporting site for bugs whose Target Release contains 3.1.2 for bugs/features to be implemented in the upcoming release.

End of telecon

Attending:

Judy Hover ARC
Cathy Pochel ARC
Kathy Kerrigan GRC
Jason Crusan GRC
Alberto Alvarez GSFC
Abdul Ibrahim GSFC
Gary Borda HQ
Leonard Yarbrough HQ
Marisol Olvera JPL
Theresa Rumbaugh KSC
Dave Makufka KSC
Dianne Cheek LaRC
Laura Somerville LaRC
Lisa Hall MSFC
Brad Mayle NTTC
Jeff Eberhart SSC
Sheena Antoine SSC
Joe Morsello KSS
Michele Hudson KSS
Jill Freeman KSS
Chetoya Strickland KSS
 

1.  NCIS DBA Training – Web eNTRe

 - NASA NT Rep People Record Setup

Locate the People record of your Center’s New Technology Representative and add the keyword NASA eNTRe NT Rep.

This tells the system who should receive email notifications when new NTRs are submitted via eNTRe.

 - Setting up email text for the NASA NT Rep E-mail Notification of New NTR

Go to the Constants Table and ensure the check boxes for the Email NASA NT Rep, Email Company NT Rep under NASA NT Rep Accepts Report, and Email Company NT Rep under NASA NT Rep Rejects Report are selected.

Note 1: The Email NASA NT Rep under COTR Approves Report is currently linked to the Email NASA NT Rep. Let the system set this for you. This will be corrected in a future release.

Note 2: Company NT Rep refers to the submitter of the NTR. This wording will be corrected in a future release.

Now go to the documents table to review the Email the NASA NT Rep will receive upon receipt of a new NTR.  Notice the document number is provided in the Constants screen. In this case, e1.  You can change this message to be whatever your Center’s NT Rep wants it to say.

Emails to the NTR submitter are generated out of the NTAS system. Therefore, the team must agree on the wording for the accept and reject emails. A draft for each will be sent to the team for review and recommendations.
 

 - Innovator Registration & review of created People Record

Innovators register at the Web site, http://invention.nasa.gov.
Steps to register are
1. Go to http://invention.nasa.gov
2. Select either NASA Employee or Party under NASA Funding Agreement
3. Select Login to NASA eNTRe
4. Select Register.

The following registration screen will display.

This registration creates a new People record in NTAS. When this person submits the NTR to the NASA Center, their People record is copied from NTAS to the Center’s People table. This record at the Center level facilitates information in emails and the shadow table.
This record should not be consolidated with existing People records for the same person.

The People record will have a Type of eNTRe Submitter (located on General Info screen)

and the User Key and Password will be populated (located on the Personal Info screen).

Note: Centers indicated the duplication of People records causes confusion on which People record to select in the creation of new technologies and adding innovators. A short term solution to provide a visual indication on the people selection screens during the relating of people to records in the database will be provided. There is no need to use the NTR submitter People record for Center processes. It is currently only required by the system to support eNTRe processing. The technical support team will revise this process in a future release to remove this People record redundancy.
 

 - Submitting an NTR

The Web form allows innovators to create, save, review, and submit NTRs. The form is broken into pages and has visual indicators as to whether a page is complete.  Once the form is completed, the “Submit 1679” button becomes available.

The submitter is then prompted to print the NTR and have others review it.

When the submitter continues, a Terms & Conditions page is provided and the submitter can enter the witnesses’ names.

When the submitter selects Accept, the information is submitted to the NASA NT Rep and the record is set to read-only.

Note: Centers requested that a visual indicator for which fields on screens are required be provided.  A feature request will be entered to cover this request.

 - Receiving an NTR at the Center NTTS System

The NASA NT Rep will receive an Email notifying them of the new submittal.  Using the information provided in the Email the NT Rep will need to go to the Shadow table to process the new NTR.

The NT Rep should print the report to review it for completeness. If Centers use additional reviewers before creating a new technology record, this printout can be submitted to them in support of your Center’s process.

Once reviews are complete, 2 options are available.

1. Accept the submittal.
- Pressing Accept Report triggers the creation of a new Technology record.

The system will request a new case number.

Next the reconcile inventors screen will find existing People records that may match the inventors on the new NTR. This screen will appear for each inventor on the NTR.

After reconciliation of the inventors, the Shadow table record is redisplayed and the NASA NT rep needs to select save to complete the process.

When the Accept process is completed, the submitter receives an email notifying them of NASA acceptance of the submitted NTR. The status on the Web site changes to NASA Accepted and the assigned case number is displayed.

The other option is to Reject the Submittal.

2. Reject the Submittal

Pressing the Reject Report button will trigger the “NTR Rejected” email to go to the submitter. The status in the Web site will show as NASA Rejected and the record will be read-write.
The NASA NT Rep should also contact the submitter by phone or email to explain why the NTR has been returned.
The submitter can then correct the issues identified by the NASA NT Rep and resubmit the NTR or the NTR can be either deleted or left in the system for later use.

 - Attachments

Currently attachments cannot be submitted through the Web site. This feature is being developed now.  Depending on Centers’ processes, attachments can be submitted in several ways. The following recommendations assume the submitter has submitted an NTR via NASA eNTRe, NASA has accepted it, and now the submitter and the NASA NT Rep have discussed the fact that attachments need to be submitted.

1. If electronic copies of attachments are available, the submitter can save the printed NTR in either HTML or PDF format. Using email, the submitter can send the saved copy of the NTR and the attachments to the NASA NT Rep. In the email the submitter should reference the case number that was assigned earlier. Caution: It is up to the submitter and the Center to determine how these can be submitted securely.

2. If attachments are available only in hardcopy, the submitter can print the NTR and attach it to the attachments. Delivery method should be determined by the NASA NT Rep and the submitter.
 

 - Using the People Consolidate Batch Routine - New Restriction

The People Consolidate Batch Routine should not be used on People records with a Type of eNTRe Submitter.  Please omit these records from selections of People records that you need to perform consolidation on.
 

In the telecon review, several recommendations were made for improvements to NASA eNTRe. Laura will update the bug/feature system with these requests.

If Centers want additional training on using NASA eNTRe, please contact Dianne at (757) 864-2761 or d.l.cheek@larc.nasa.gov.
 

2.  NCIS DBA Assignment – Enter a test NTR and submit to your Center.
Each Center NCIS DBA was asked to enter a test NTR and submit it to their Center.  Feedback from this test will be a topic on the next telecon.
 

3.  Future Plans for Web eNTRe
Further development to ensure eNTRe supports NASA’s requirements will be a top priority for the technical support.
 

4.  Review of selected NTTS v3.1.1 changes
Bug 6142 identified that invalid information was being entered into the Statutory Bar Date field. More analysis is required to determine how the system should automatically set this date. Therefore, the automatic updating of the Statutory Bar Date has been disabled.

Note – Centers should review their databases and certify the statutory bar dates.
 

5.  Meeting Hotel Information
 We are waiting on confirmation from Bally’s in Las Vegas to confirm the room block. Room rates are the government per diem for the area. Once confirmation is received, the team Web site will be updated with detail information and an email will be sent to team members.
 

End of telecon

Attending:

Judy Hover ARC
Greg Poteat DFRC
Kathy Kerrigan GRC
Jason Crusan GRC
Abdul Ibrahim GSFC
Gary Borda HQ
Debbie Avila JPL
Marisol Olvera JPL
Dianne Cheek LaRC
Lisa Hall MSFC
John Bailey SSC
Sheena Antoine SSC
Brad Mayle NTTC
Joe Morsello KSS
Michele Hudson KSS
 

1. Status of Work

KIMS v 3.0 was released on Monday, March 4, 2002. This new release provides a new capability in the Mapit feature of KIMS. All active contracts and grants have been added to the information that can be mapped using the Mapit feature.  This feature has increased the amount of data that is retrieved on the initial display of the map. Therefore, the load time is slightly longer. A message indicating that the page is loading will be added to alert the user that the system is responding to the request.

TechFinder v3.0 is scheduled for release on Friday, March 8, 2002. This new release provides the mapping capability that is currently available in KIMS to the public web site.

eNTRe / NTTS v3.1.1 has been rescheduled for final review on Monday, March 11. If the review results are satisfactory, then release will begin on Tuesday, March 12 and be completed by the end of the week.   In the review held on Feb 28, it was determined that the COTR registration processing was not compatible with the NTTS distributed processing. Therefore, the COTR registration will be reworked and rescheduled for a later release.

2. Network Upgrade at Langley

The upgrade to the network at Langley that supports the NCIS is scheduled to begin the week of March 11, 2002. This will involve the installation of new wires, the transition from the old system to the new one, and the removal of old wires and associated hardware. It is estimated that this activity will be completed within 80 business days. Work will be performed after 5:00 on weekdays and on weekends.

3. Team Meeting Location

The team meeting is scheduled for 5/29 - 30 at Bally's in Las Vegas. The meeting will be held within the hotel. The hotel is centrally located and has good shuttle access from the airport. The government room rate is available.

end-of-telecon

Attending:
 

Judy Hover ARC
Greg Poteat DFRC
Kathy Kerrigan GRC
Jason Crusan GRC
Abdul Ibrahim GSFC
Gary Borda HQ
Debbie Avila JPL
Marisol Olvera JPL
Theresa Rumbaugh KSC
Dianne Cheek LaRC
Laura Somerville LaRC
Lisa Hall MSFC
Brad Mayle NTTC
Jeff Eberhart SSC
Joe Morsello KSS
Michele Hudson KSS
Jill Freeman KSS
Chetoya Strickland KSS
Homayoun Sadri KSS
 

1.  Status of Work

Joe reported that some new items have been added to the v3.1.1 release and that testing should be complete by the end of the week.

New deployment scheduled proposed is Monday and Tuesday, February 25-26, with some Centers to be down for up to two hours.  The regular FACS load would then run on Wednesday, February 27.  Dianne asked for feedback on this schedule.  There were no major problems; some slight adjustment will be needed for KSC.

It was discovered last week that the Release to AgencyWide field in the Partnerships table is not being set correctly.  This is to be fixed in the 3.1.1 release.  A correction will also be made to ensure that the financial information in the Partnership module is correctly updated from the FACS.

KSS will send out a revised schedule for the deployment.

KIMS is on track for a February 28 deployment.

KSS is gathering requirements for eNTRe mod 1 – Attachment Manager.
There are questions regarding the FTP server.  KSS proposed a central FTP server that will handle all attachments, with a good backup system.  Access to the attachments will be controlled by the NCIS systems.

Two thoughts on this:
(1) People with access to the records will have access to the attachments.
(2) The creator of the record will be able to set permissions for each attachment.

Joe asked for feedback as to how Centers will be using this feature.

Judy noted that ARC might have a firewall issue.
Joe explained that the client will make a request to the FTP server.
Users will be able to access the attachments through KIMS and TechFinder.
DBAs will be able to restrict file types that can come in through the FTP server.

Dianne noted that this is the first feature of the commercial modules purchased by NASA.

Joe asked that DBAs fill out the customer survey now available on the NCIS site (Documentation section).

Judy noted that statuses in the Mod section are not being updated.
 

2.  NASA employee field - definition of field

It was agreed by the team that the “NASA Employee” checkbox in the People table is to be used to indicate that the person is a NASA civil servant.  Kathy noted that this might be used in the Awards process.

3.  Team meeting

Jason is gathering hotel information for the May 29-30 team meeting in Las Vegas.
 

End of telecon

NCIS Sub-Team Telecon
January 22, 2002

Attending:

Judy Hover ARC
Cathy Pochel ARC
Kathy Kerrigan GRC
Jason Crusan GRC
J. Alberto Alvarez GSFC
Dory Josephson GSFC
Gary Borda HQ
Leonard Yarbrough HQ
Debbie Avila JPL
Mary Dickerson JSC
Theresa Rumbaugh KSC
Dianne Cheek LaRC
Laura Somerville LaRC
Lisa Hall MSFC
Brad Mayle NTTC
John Bailey SSC
Sheena Antoine SSC
Joe Morsello KSS
Michele Hudson KSS
Jill Freeman KSS
Chetoya Strickland KSS
 

1.  Status of Work

TechFinder 3.0 will be deployed starting on February 28. It will include Public MapIt, Mod 1.

KIMS 3.0 will also be deployed starting on February 28.  It will include Mod 32, “MapIt,”. Attaining information from NASA that supports Mod 35, “NASA Program/Project Listing” is behind schedule and will impact the delivery of this mod.

KIMS 3.0.1 will include open features/bugs and Mod 35.
KIMS 3.1 will include mod 12, “System Integration,” . KIMS 3.2 will include Mod 20, “My KIMS/Version 1,” and Mod 22, “Software Technology Category,” and should deploy by the end of the fiscal year.

TechTracS 3.1.1 deployment starts on February 4, and will include fixes for eNTRe.
Version 3.2 will include the Attachment Manager and will deploy in April.
 

2.  Review of Bugs and Features

Dianne and Joe have reviewed the outstanding bugs/features and spreadsheets have been provided to the team for reference.

Several bugs/features were addressed specifically.

4880, Home key to pull TTPOC
Theresa said it would be useful for the Home button to serve as a query.  Several Centers agreed, would like to see it do a custom query.
Dianne asked Joe to see how the Home key works in the commercial product.
Jill reminded the team that if the Home key is intended to do a List All, then the choice to Remember Last Selection needs to be unchecked in the Preferences.

5566, Automatic update of related Partnerships
Lisa would like the Partnership dates updated when the Contract/Grant number is exactly the same as the Partnership number, but not when the Contract/Grant number is in the "Related" CG field of the Partnerships record.
Dianne asked for comments by the end of the week.  If there are no comments, this request will be processed.

5681, Related Partnership Number not listed on Success Story
There is currently no way to record a Success Story that results from a Partnership.
Since Contracts/Grants are a form of partnership, the Success Story field will be changed from “Contract Number” to “Partnership Number.”

5703, Request ability to resize AgencyWide Query window
It was determined that there is not enough interest in this feature; it will not be processed.

6014 (in eNTRe section), Web 1679 pages 2 and 3
Regarding part 2 of this bug report, it was decided that, due to the delay in getting the FACS information, it would not be feasible to require validation of the Contract number.  However, NASA needs to have a point in the process where the Contract number can be fixed if necessary.  Dianne will investigate this further with KSS.

Regarding part 3 of this bug report, again it was decided that we need to be able to submit the record, but also need a place to fix the information if necessary.

6048, General visual errors
Jason clarified the request.
 

Other

Gary reported that the Year-to-Date Distribution in the People table should have been reset to zero at the beginning of the calendar year, but this has not been done.  Gary was asked to put in a bug report.

Mary asked for a status update on the Web 1679.  The fixes in version 3.1.1 (which starts deploying on February 4) are needed before eNTRe web 1679 can be used by NASA.  The eNTRe desktop tool does not match the processing of the Web 1679 in all cases, some examples being (1) a more stringent password process in the desktop application, (2) the format for entering inventor address/company information, and (3) the level of help available.  After discussion, it was decided to put the desktop application on hold for 6 months and an evaluation of use of this tool will be performed.

Dory asked for the status on using electronic signatures on the Web 1679.  Gary said that we are using one of the OMB's options for electronic signatures which should not be confused with digital signatures.

The next telecon was scheduled for February 5.

End of telecon

NCIS Sub-Team Telecon
January 8, 2002

Attending:

Judy Hover ARC
Terri Lyon DFRC
Greg Poteat DFRC
Kathy Kerrigan GRC
J. Alberto Alvarez GSFC
Abdul Ibrahim GSFC
Gary Borda HQ
Marisol Olvera JPL
Debbie Avila JPL
Mary Dickerson JSC
Theresa Rumbaugh KSC
Dianne Cheek LaRC
Laura Somerville LaRC
Lisa Hall MSFC
Brad Mayle NTTC
Jeff Eberhart SSC
John Bailey SSC
Sheena Antoine SSC
Joe Morsello KSS
Michele Hudson KSS
Jill Freeman KSS
 

The next telecon was scheduled for January 22, 2002.
 

1.  Review of Work Schedule

Joe Morsello referred the team to the Planning section of the Support site.

KIMS

The next KIMS release, version 3.0, is due at the end of February and will include Mods 32, “MapIt”, and Mod 35, “NASA Program/Project Listing from Mod 12 System Integration”, are to be included.  Joe noted that Mod 35 might be removed from this release due to the technical challenges it is presenting.

KIMS version 3.1 will probably deploy in September and will include Mod 12, “System Integration,” Mod 20, “My KIMS/Version 1,” and Mod 22, “Software Technology Category.”

Joe advised that the focus of development for KSS for 2002 will be to add functionality to KIMS.

eNTRe

Version 1.5 is currently scheduled for late March, but KSS will provide an updated schedule in the near future.  Version 1.5 will include Mod 1, “Drawing Attachments for eNTRe and Web Form 1679.”  This modification will involve changes to the eNTRe application, the Web Form 1679, AND NASA TechTracS and will necessitate a concurrent TechTracS deployment.

Theresa asked if Mod 1 will include a feature request she had put in regarding attachments.  Theresa will work with KSS to determine the status of that request.

TechTracS

KSS is currently deploying 3.1.  The final four Centers are scheduled to deploy tonight.

Joe reported that KSS is working on the Requirements Documents for Mods 55, 85, 91 and 78.

Gary asked for the status of bugs/features with a Target Release of “FY2002.xx.”  Since the version numbering system was recently changed, this version number no longer exists.  Dianne said that she and Joe are working on a schedule for bugs/features, and that version 3.3 (currently scheduled for September 2002) will include a large bug/feature fix.

Dianne and Joe will report back to the team on how the backlog of bugs and features will be handled.
 

2.  Team feedback on NTTS Version 3.1.0

Dianne asked for feedback from Centers that have deployed.
Judy reported that ARC was having problems with the software interface and that KSS was researching the problem.

Dianne and Laura will test the Web Form 1679 this week and will report back to the team.
 

3.  Review of KIMS Version 2.3

Joe advised that the password system on KIMS is now 2810 NPG-compliant and that the password expires every 45 days.

Joe reviewed the My KIMS section, which is where users can change their passwords.
A problem was identified in that, if a user’s password expires, user needs to go to the My KIMS section to change it, but cannot access that section because can’t log in.  Also, if a user doesn’t go to the My KIMS section, user will not be prompted to change password.  KSS and Dianne will look into these issues.
Update: Users can log in with expired passwords, but will be immediately taken to the My KIMS change password screen. There is also a link to the My KIMS change password in the Contact section.

Gary asked about identifying software releases in KIMS Partnerships numbers.  A Software section will be added, but currently falls under “Other” in the Partnerships area.
 

Other

Joe mentioned the recent problems with Auto Agent lockups.
Dianne advised that, if a lockup affects the upcoming metrics runs, the DBA will be contacted to arrange for metrics to be run either after-hours (for which the Center will need to provide someone to be available) or will necessitate down-time during work hours.

Jill stressed that, if a DBA expects to be out of town, KSS needs to be notified of a backup in case of emergency.

Gary noted a problem with MSFC’s patent statistics that he recently ran.  Jill advised that Centers which have not yet deployed have their WANs turned off.  Dianne suggested that KSS provide a tip to the team on running the Patent Statistics routine.

Lisa asked for an update on plans for the next team meeting.  Dianne said that the next meeting will likely be scheduled around the next big release of NTTS.  Also, Dianne would like to address data quality issues and review results of IG inspections at the next team meeting.  No definite date or location plans have yet been made.

Dianne reminded the team that the Software Release Tracking Web site is intended for use only by personnel within each Center.

Gary asked who will be the POC for the Software Release URL for each Center.  Dianne recommended that questions on this be addressed to the Center DBA, who should be working with the Center’s Software Release Agent to set up the Center’s specific process and roll-out plan.
 

End of telecon