NASA STMD's IT Presence Online: Stove Pipes And Rabbit Holes
Keith’s note: There are lots of NASA technology events and news on the @NASAiTech account which are retweeted and commented upon by @Kirablackwell – Kira Blackwell – who is the NASA Space Technology Mission Directorate Program Executive for @NASAiTech. Yet when you go to the NASA Space Technology Mission Directorate main page none of these @NASAiTech events are listed nor are they mentioned on the NASA.gov calendar. There is also no mention of the @NASAiTech Twitter account either, But STMD does have a feed on its home page from the ?@NASA_Technology account. Alas @NASA_Technology makes no mention of anything from @NASAiTech or @Kirablackwell – and @NASAiTech or @Kirablackwell make no mention of anything that @NASA_Technology tweets.
There is no mention of any NASA IT Technology on the STMD programs page. But @NASAiTech points to this page which, in turn points to this NASA iTech page nasaitech.org page. At nasaitech.org there is no NASA logo on this page when you arrive or as you scroll down and down and down – except at the very bottom where it has a “NASA Partner” logo. Huh? Isn’t nasaitech.org part of NASA? No, It is done via National Institute of Aerospace – and you only discover that if you scroll all the way to the bottom. Otherwise the webpage lets you think this is a NASA page even if they have their own logo. And of course this NASA iTech page only mentions NASA STMD in a small link – again at the utmost bottom of the page.
FWIW accepted practice on government webpages is to tell people when they are leaving a government webpage for an external website. In this case not doing so compounds the confusion as to what is – and is not – NASA. It is somewhat ironic that a page touting NASA’s IT expertise involves so many stove pipes, rabbit holes, and outright deceptive web content design.
Keith’s update: If you go to the NASAiTech website it says that NASAITech “NASA iTech searches for and identifies advancements in technologies, NOT already funded by NASA, that are solving problems on Earth and have the potential to address existing challenges to enable NASA missions.” and “NASA iTech provides a platform for NASA’s Center Chief Technologists to vet the start-up companies’ technologies for their space application, and volunteer investors and external Subject Matter Experts to vet the technologies for their commercial market viability. The first 50 finalist companies that have participated in the NASA iTech Forums have been able to raise 410+ million in private investment dollars in 2.5 years.”
That certainly sounds impressive. Everyone wants NASA technology to find wider value among the public and private sectors. And the $410 million raised in private investments in 2.5 years sounds impressive too. But where do these numbers come from? How do these companies or NASAiTech staff show that NASAiTech was responsible for investors writing checks to these companies – and if so what private research these investments were made in and their connection to NASA technology?
I am told that the National Institue of Aerospace runs this for NASA. But this project either overtly represents itself as being a NASA activity on one hand but the ignores all of NASA’s Technology plans on the other hand. Which is it?
Why did @nasaitech & @Kirablackwell establish new branding/logo and not use NASA's official logo? Did #NASA Legal & PAO clear use of a new logo instead of the official agency logo? The official logo is hard to find at their events @NASA_Technology @NationalAero @JimBridenstine pic.twitter.com/KsDuuQJqWy
— NASA Watch (@NASAWatch) February 1, 2020
As past winners, this is an incredible program that leverages entrepreneurs like us at Aris MD, reducing the cost to taxpayers because investors invest in companies like us encouraging companies to grow and provide solutions to NASA where NASA or other government agencies can buy it off the shelf.
I agree there may be some confusion as to why there isn’t more coverage on NASA.gov, but it is being covered externally by great news sources (see here), but great job bringing light to this.
I am sure its all great stuff. This is a two way street: NASA STMD needs to promote NASA iTech more and NASA iTech needs to reflect its position as a non-NASA entity sponsored by NASA and both STMD and NASAITech need to be far more proactive when it comes to NASA PAO. I cover NASA and I have to tell you I do not recall ever getting a media advisory about NASA iTech and I am on every single media list there is. But in reality STMD is one of the more dysfunctional organizations in NASA since no one at NASA has ever really defined what they do and Congress is forever tying to take their budget to spend on other things. Nothing was ever sent out as far as I can tell by NASA PAO about this thing in Tampa.
I can’t speak to internal things as far as STMD, however my experiences with NASA iTech and it’s media reach and the program on the whole has been overwhelmingly positive and beneficial for my company, and the clear benefit to NASA is the spin-in pipeline for technologies they may not have otherwise found that can be purchased off the shelf, saving critical R&D dollars and reducing public costs.
This is a NASA program, yes? Why does this program – unlike every other thing that NASA does – get to use a separate logo, website, and conduct its efforts in near total isolation from the directorate within which it supposedly resides?
A program like this may have a separate logo because it wouldn’t make sense for NASA branding to automatically become part of a company for just participating. The companies are not funded by the federal government, which would be implied by the use of the logo. That doesn’t mean the program isn’t a part of NASA, simply that the branding can’t be implicitly inherited by every company involved.
NASA has a well-established way of working with businesses that includes a wide range of ways to promote and feature the work of firms in the private sector. Oh yes- the “NASAitech” brand includes “NASA”.
I’m also not too comfortable with some of the STMD presentations I’ve seen. I know they are hurting for money and want to show they are valuable to NASA. But the presentations I’ve seen sort of come across as a sales pitch: Here’s what we can do and how it’s kind-of sort-of something you need. It would come across better if there was a clear flow from the customer’s needs to what technology they can provide or develop. Not “here’s what we’ve got, let us convince you that you need it.”
Wow. There is nothing deceptive about NASA iTech. Our company, GermFalcon was a 2018 award winner and I’ve referred other now successful companies to join the competition and have heard nothing but praise from all! NASA iTech breaks down all the barriers to entry to allow innovative startups to help our Nation, aerospace and frankly, themselves. Keep up the great work, Kira and the amazing staff!
Is NASA iTech NASA or a NASA contractor? Not at all clear on the website. The fact that one part of NASA STMD refuses to even mention what another part is doing – and vice versa speaks to the dysfunction in STMD. If anything the refusal of @NASAiTech and @NASA_Technology to admit that each other even exists demonstrates some dysfunctional management on both sides.
NASA iTech is certainly a NASA funded program. We’ve been to meet at NASA headquarters. That’s a great question with respect to why STMD doesn’t mention what iTech is doing, and I’m glad that you’re asking it.
There is still some vagueness. I’m a NASA funded researcher. But the paychecks come from the University of Colorado, and it wouldn’t be honest to say I’m a NASA scientist. Despite the fact that essentially all my salary for almost three decades has come from NASA. The distinction between a NASA contractor and an actual part of NASA is an important one. If NASA’s media relations people aren’t being clear about that, they need to do a better job.
I have just read the article regarding NASA iTech and I wanted to share my recent experience. My company (Nanobionic) has been selected as a top ten NASA iTech finalist on the 2019 cycle ii in New Mexico. All 10 finalist we have been given an amazing opportunity to meet with Top NASA scientists and present our technologies. We have been guided along the process and NASA iTech program connected us with a great number of potential investors as well as industry executives. Kira Blackwell has been an amazing person leading NASA iTech program and apart from being a true inspiration she was also instrumental into helping us connect with NASA scientists, investors as well as leading experts of the space industry. My experience has been extremely positive and I will be forever grateful to this amazing program and Kira Blackwell. Also the fact that they try to utilize technologies outside of NASA in order to solve internal challenges for space exploration is a smart, cost effective and fast way to move faster into the future. NASA has a great number of challenges that they need to solve in order to further explore space. Just imagine how many technologies and solutions there are out there that NASA could benefit from. This is what NASA iTech is. Seeking solutions from the private sector that could benefit humanity. They are thinking out of the box and we should applaud them. NASA iTech is a NASA funded program.
I am certain it is all useful, enjoyable, etc. But why is this program going out of its way to ignore the rest of what its home directorate does? Why are they using their own logo and branding? No other effort like this at NASA has civil servants off promoting their own logo, branding, website, etc. I have asked NASA to respond. Lets see what they say. If this effort is as great as you say it is then why are they going out of their way to not appear to be part of the NASA family?
Art.. isn’t this your NASA iTech winning company in Forbes?
Congrats!!
As another previous winner, I have to respectfully disagree with your post. We did get a lot of coverage from NASA as well as DOE. Here is an article on us which was posted through STMD (https://www.nasa.gov/direct… as well as one which was posted by DOE (https://www.anl.gov/article… We also regularly had the chance to engage with NASA PIOs and I never felt like we were being shut out of press coverage. The real value for entrepreneurs participating in this program are the connections to high-level NASA personnel, investors and other professionals from the aerospace industry. This may not be as flashy as an article on the NASA homepage but it does much more to support our businesses and is arguably a better use of taxpayer resources. Moreover, even though our technology aligns more with ARMD than STMD, we were never left wanting for connections to that directorate.
As an entrepreneur, (who this program is meant to support) I never really concerned myself with where the website was hosted or who ran the day-to-day operations. Many government agencies work hand-in-hand with contractors and non-for-profit implementers. As a taxpayer, i’m glad our civil servants are always looking for the most efficient ways to run programs so I wouldn’t read too much into the details of the programs organizational structure.
I can assure you that the support for this program (as with any other programs which continues for multiple fiscal years) is there within the agency and as a company, we are very thankful for it.
Why doesn’t STMD prominently feature NASA iTech? Why doesn’t NASA iTech prominently feature NASA STMD?
Neither of your links work. They both yield 404 not found errors.