Making It Happen

• Print

The management of such a massive endeavor as NextGen calls for a highly effective governance structure, and the FAA has provided one. The agency has taken a comprehensive, cross-agency portfolio approach to NextGen implementation that recognizes the implementation of NextGen as an integrated effort, rather than a series of independent programs. The NextGen portfolio includes six transformational programs (Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast, Data Communications, System Wide Information Management, NextGen Network Enabled Weather, NAS Voice System, and Collaborative Air Traffic Management Technologies), seven solution sets and – new in 2011 – a suite of implementation portfolios.

The NextGen solution sets contain interdependent projects that work together to provide capabilities to targeted user groups and areas. The solution sets constitute the primary construct for NextGen pre-implementation budget development. Each solution set is administered by a qualified manager who coordinates all aspects of the projects that fall within his or her solution set, from concept to implementation readiness. The NextGen implementation portfolios provide details about our mid-term implementation activities.

Two teams of FAA executives, the NextGen Management Board and the NextGen Review Board, constitute a governance structure that works to ensure that the capabilities that grow out of the NextGen portfolio are delivered in a timely, coordinated and cost-effective manner.

The NextGen Management Board is chaired by the deputy administrator, the federal official with overall responsibility for NextGen. Composed of the heads of the FAA lines of business with primary responsibility for delivering NextGen, the Management Board provides executive oversight of NextGen progress and performance metrics, and makes strategic policy decisions that drive implementation forward. The Management Board is supported by the NextGen Review Board, which resolves cross-agency implementation issues and identifies and formulates positions on critical policy issues.