NASA Tames a Paper Beast

    Researchers at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Centerin Greenbelt, MD have developed a software tool that uses the Internet to completely     eliminate the paperwork necessary to document and managecomplex, widely distributed processes. Led by Dr. Barry E. Jacobs of Goddard'sNational Space Science Data Center, the team that developed the tool -called Electronic Handbooks (EHBs) - worked in partnership with REI Systemsof Vienna, VA under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. 
    "Over the past two years, we have applied ElectronicHandbooks to the entire SBIR process at NASA. This effort, which managesroughly 35 percent of all of NASA's new contracts, is the largest, end-to-end,completely electronic Internet use in the Federal Government to date,"said Jacobs.
    "With EHBs, we can achieve roughly a one-third reductionin the time required to process 2,500 SBIR proposals, while simultaneouslyachieving a $300,000 operational cost reduction," according to Paul Mexcur,NASA's SBIR program manager at Goddard.
    Users do not need formal training, and only requirea microcomputer with Internet access. When an EHB is implemented, fileserver resources are identified and allocated. The method has led to interestfrom other functions in NASA, including the Education Program, PatentsManagement, and Mission Management segments.
    Jacobs said that NASA is working with Old DominionUniversity to implement EHBs in graduate programs management, includingadmissions, coursework, and doctoral research. "We expect interest from commercial areas as well, as firms seek to exploit the advantages of theInternet," Jacobs added. Wayne Hudson, chief of Goddard's Technology CommercializationOffice, predicted that with potential use in "Insurance, medical, legal,tax, and many other applications, this technology has the potential tototally restructure the way all these processes are done."

For more information on EHBs, contact Bill Steigerwaldof NASA Goddard at 301-286-0039 or e-mail Bill at william.a.steigerwald.1@gsfc.nasa.gov   

Reprinted with permission from NASA Tech Briefs (http://www.nasatech.com), Volume 22, Number 1, January 1998