communications network. NASA currently lacks any effective mechanism to provide digital communication between its computers in a general way. Several small efforts at individual centers have addressed intercomputer communication, and NASA has actively participated in international negotiations on intercomputer communication protocols, but no agency-wide effort has been made to apply this technology within NASA. A strong case can be made for NASA to develop such a capability. It facilitates regular communication among geographically dispersed personnel and enables tile sharing of both hardware and software resources. This can be particularly important for coordinating joint research among the centers. One is tempted to envision within NASA a network structured logically as a hierarchy, in which the "standard equipment" (much as is a desk and chair) of an individual is a terminal which gives him direct access to local computing resources. These local computers are then aggregated into local conrputer networks to provide load balancing and resource sharing for a conmmnity of users as well as access to resources outside the local network such as other local networks within NASA, and extending to include tile ARPANET and commercial facilities such as TYMNET and TELENET. It is not difficult to consider a NASA network which links all individuals within a Center, Centers to each other and to Headquarters, and provides access to non-NASA resources. There is little doubt that such a system will eventually beconle a reality. Tile telephone system currently provides just this type of capability for voice comnmnication. The question becomes more one of when than/./'it will happen. The ARPANET was developed largely as an experiment in this type of technology and has evolved into a primary vehicle for communication among researchers in the artificial intelligence community as well as other CS&T disciplines. As a first step toward integrating this type of capability into NASA systems, the agency should seriously consider negotiating with the Defense Connnunications Agency (DCA) for agency-wide access to the ARPANET. Not only would such a step provide a communications link with a large part of the research community of CS&T, but it would also provide the opportunity to perRmn communications experiments within NASA with a minimunr investment of agency resources. This experience should equip NASA with the knowledge and expertise it will need to consider the implementation of an in-house networking capability. Office automation. A significant proportion of NASA's resources are consumed manipulating docmnentation in many forms, including standard government forms, design documentation for software and hardware systems, intercenter and inter-agency agreements, and scientific papers: yet most of these processes are largely performed through manual means. Given on-line, interactive systems and a good communications capability, it becomes a minor step to provide a word processing capability which enables the author of a document to generate a document, have it reviewed by others, revise the document, and publish it without typing any portion of it more than once, and without standing over a copying machine and circulating review copies. The current state of the art in "expert systems" is well suited to managing standardized administrative forms. One can easily envision a "Travel Expert System," for example, which knows govermnent travel regulations, per diem rates, etc., and could interactively assist an individual (secretarial or professional) in constructing a set of travel orders. Such a system would also know the approval required and could automatically route the orders to the appropriate signature authorities. Changes in travel regulations would then be integrated into the expert system directly and applied as necessary, avoiding the costly notification process to all concerned individuals, with the assurance that everyone will be using up-to-date information. Utilizing state-of-the-art office automation technology within NASA to manage docmnentation, coordinate manpower, and provide communication among personnel could significantly improve the productivity of NASA personnel. Integrating state-of-the-art machine intelligence capabilities into such an office environment could provide untold improvements in the efficiency and effectiveness of the organization, including tile potential for significantly enhanced project management and rigorous statistical exploration of policy alternatives and their impacts.
6.6.5 Organizations NASA is not presently organized to support a vigorous program in CS&T. The most apparent lack is a discipline office at tile Headquarters level which supports research and development in computer science and serves as an agency advocate for tile incorporation of state-of-the-art capabilities into NASA programs. There presently exist within tile space agency many computer scientists capable of pursuing state-of-the-art research and of integrating contemporary technology into NASA programs, but there is no place for them to go for support other than missionoriented offices whose goals and objectives are not consistent with supporting long-term commitments in CS&T R&D. In addition to recognizing the requirement for a Headquarters CS&T discipline office, the study team fully supports tim recommendation of the NASA Study Group on Machine Intelligence and Robotics that an advisory council composed of industry leaders in CS&T should be formed. This council would assist tile agency in developing its computer science programs in order to assure a proper focus and to construct the appropriate relationships with other research organizations.
