NASA's Cost Analysis Steering Group as a Community of Practice

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and other Federal agencies face a wave of retirements in the near future which could lead to a significant loss of experience and knowledge. As a response, the organizations need to utilize multiple strategies to capture, retain, and transfer knowledge and to maintain skill competency. This paper describes the use of the concept of a "community of practice" (CoP) and the initial steps to develop an Agency-wide discipline group for cost estimation and analysis into a more highly functioning community for the purpose of successful knowledge management. CoP resources from academia and other Federal sources are identified. A new model of a Knowledge Curriculum is also introduced.