In 2010, more than 700 million passengers flew on U.S. air carriers. With air traffic expected to increase by 50 percent by 2025 and flight delays already causing disruptions in service and a loss of productivity at current capacity, a revamped system is needed to accommodate future growth: a system that will let passengers fly safely with fewer delays and less congestion, while reducing aviation’s environmental impact. What is FAA’s next generation air transportation system, or NextGen? How will NextGen improve the airspace system?

This nation stands on the verge of a new era in aviation. The national airspace system is one of the largest and safest in the world. It’s also the busiest: in FY 2010, more than 700 million passengers flew on U.S. air carriers.

Federal Aviation Administration

Government managers in regulatory agencies seek to design regulatory programs that ensure industry compliance while fostering collaboration and trust between government and industry. Voluntary regulatory partnership programs (VRPPs) are one method used by government managers to ensure industry compliance while encouraging the flow of information between industry and government without fear of retribution. Much of the discussion over these partnership programs has focused on the traditional government role as regulator and whether that regulation should be solely a government function.

On a daily basis, 8,000 commercial and 18,000 private aircraft operate close to 50,000 flights per day in U.S. airspace. Doing this safely and efficiently involves the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA ) maintaining the world’s largest air navigation and communications infrastructure, which relies significantly on advances in information technology (IT ). “Our mission,” says Dave Bowen, Assistant Administrator for Information Services and chief information officer (CIO) at the FAA , “is quite simply to provide the safest air transportation in the world. We do this extraordinarily well.

Based on his extensive research on the three programs, Mills concludes that although the programs can be improved, they are making a worthwhile contribution to airline safety. Mills argues that collaborative voluntary partnerships should be viewed as a complement to agency regulatory activities rather than as a replacement for the traditional command-and-control approach to regulation.

David M. Bowen is the Assistant Administrator for Information Services and Chief Information Officer for the FAA.

Mr. Bowen has over 25 years experience in healthcare information technology management in the provider, payer, consultant and vendor areas. He was formerly the  Senior Vice President for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer (CIO) at Blue Shield of California, a $6.2 billion health plan with over 2.5 million members and the 2nd largest not-for-profit healthcare organization in California. He directed Blue Shield’s information technology, telecommunication, business recovery and web implementation resources with an operating budget in excess of $100 million. Mr.