Management of Testbed Development

Responsibility for day-to-day management of testbed development will be assigned to the Testbed Development Team, which is the only research and development team that reports directly to the Director. The team will consist of at least three individuals employed full time by the project, and having qualifications and experience in system development and integration. The team will:

• interact with the project's researchers to ensure effective integration of research results into the system design;
• provide advice to the Science Committee on research needs;
• work within a formal Design Review Process linked directly to the user and application base;
• design and implement the prototype test and evaluation process.

The objective of the Design Review Process will be to ensure the maximum degree of involvement of the user and application base in the prototype design. A series of design reviews will be conducted according to a development timetable to be established early in the project. Each design review will follow the same approximate form:

• distribution of documentation on the design to members of the Design Review Committee;
• presentations and discussion at a meeting of the Design Review Team held in Santa Barbara;
• preparation of a critique by the Design Review Committee and its submission to the Advisory Board and the Executive Committee.

Membership on the Design Review Committee will reflect the various constituencies of the user and application base; we anticipate a team of about 20 individuals. Although many of the same constituencies will be represented on both the Design Review Committee and the Board, we do not anticipate overlap, given the different objectives of the two groups and the differences in appropriate qualifications. It might be appropriate for the Design Review Committee to be organized and appointed by a third party, such as the ARL; we will seek the advice of the Board on this issue.

Early design reviews will focus on conceptual design, and user interface design, and their appropriateness for the requirements of the user and application base. Later reviews will address technical issues of design, and performance.