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Toward New Partnerships In Remote Sensing Government, the Private Sector, and Earth Science Research (2002) / Chapter Skim
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3. Toward Successful Public-Private Partnerships
Pages 22-30

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From page 22...
... can provide a set of "lessons learned" for the development of future public-private partnerships to produce scientific data.1 Although SeaWiFS collects coastal and ocean data and SDB collects land data, the steering committee's examination of these cases is focused on the institutional arrangements involved in collecting the data rather than on the particular type of remote sensing data. Strong economic reasons may exist for entering into a public-private partnership, but the benefits of a successful relationship are not merely financial.
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From page 23...
... . acquire, where cost-effective, space-based and airborne Earth remote sensing data, services, and applications from a commercial provider."4 The injunction to obtain data and services from commercial providers was not confined to Earth science data, although neither NASA nor private sector firms have yet provided planetary, space environment, or astronomical data on a commercial basis.
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From page 24...
... The final selection of data sets was conducted by an independent science assessment team that included academic and government scientists organized around NASA's Earth science themes, looking at data quality, science relevance, data usability, data rights, and provisions for collaborations. NASA management considered the recommendations from the assessment group and, in 1998, selected five companies for the Phase II data purchases, as shown in Table 3.1.
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From page 25...
... The role of Stennis Space Center includes management of the contracts with providers, tasks related to collecting research data, selection of and coordination with the researchers who receive the data, and verification and validation efforts to ensure that the data meet the quality and other specifications required for scientific research. Verification and validation services supplied by Stennis Space Center have not generally been provided by commercial companies.
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From page 26...
... If, they reasoned, private sector data producers have not given sufficient priority to scientists' data requests during the experimental phase of the SDB, the data buy might limit scientific applications of commercial data in the future. In the longer term, delays in obtaining science data could undercut the utility of public sector data purchases for scientific research.
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From page 27...
... One vendor used Landsat data to provide orthorectified global land data sets using data collected during the mid1970s and in 1990. Other vendors, who provided data through aerial and spaceborne platforms, needed a minimum-sized ground area to obtain the requested data.
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From page 28...
... NASA scientists developed the specifications and design for the sensor, and the agency was responsible for disseminating data to the scientific community. Through an open competition, NASA appointed a science team associated with SeaWiFS and also staffed a project office in the agency that played pivotal roles in data processing, instrument calibration, and product validation.
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From page 29...
... Criticisms voiced by participants at the workshop focused on inadequate estimates and lack of full accounting of the true costs of the partnership, which actually included significant investment beyond the contract price. A fair assessment of SeaWiFS must take into account that it was not a simple data buy, because without contributions from the scientific and government partners, no usable products could have been generated.
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From page 30...
... In the SDB, remote sensing data are produced by the private sector, and the government agrees to purchase specific amounts of data to be used for scientific research. Although the two partnerships represent different approaches, some issues related to public-private partnerships are common to both examples and arise in other types of public-private partnerships.
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Key Terms

  • data buy
  • science data
  • space center
  • commercial remote
  • stennis space

  • sector data
  • project office
  • sdb program
  • change research
  • data requests

  • sector partner
  • data providers
  • public sector
  • commercial data
  • measurement committee

  • color data
  • ocean color
  • five companies
  • data purchases
  • nasa received

  • sector representatives
  • nasa headquarters
  • earth remote
  • applications research
  • science tasking

  • government scientists
  • land data
  • prototype data
  • committee learned
  • sector firms


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