international digital ecosytem architecture - Our Moonshot

Vision - shared vision - has always been the force that turns the impossible into the inevitable.

Sixty years ago, the United States demonstrated what a shared national vision could accomplish. 

The Apollo Program was not just a mission to the Moon. It was the first modern infrastructure moonshot. It unified government, industry, academia, and the public around a single purpose. It created new supply chains, new data systems, new materials, and new ways of working. It showed us that when we align around a mission, we can build what has never been built before.

And today, we have a remarkable reminder of that moment in history.

A long‑lost Hearst News Reel film documenting the Apollo 11 landing - Apollo 11: A Walk on the Moon - has recently been discovered. This film, part of the Hearst educational series, captures the awe, the ambition, and the national unity of that era. It is a time capsule of America’s first great digital‑age infrastructure achievement.

As this film is screened at the NIBS/NSF Digital Summit on May 5th- it becomes a symbol for today’s leaders and students. It reminds them that they are part of a lineage of national problem‑solvers who step forward when the country needs a new vision.

This rediscovered film is more than a historical artifact. It is a reminder of what it looks like when a nation dreams together—and builds together.

The Legacy of Apollo

Apollo succeeded because it created a common language for thousands of contractors and millions of parts. It created standards before standards existed. It created data discipline before digital systems were even digital. It created trust—trust in the numbers, trust in the process, trust in the mission.

And that trust allowed us to do something extraordinary: leave Earth.

But Apollo also left us with a challenge. It showed us what was possible when we unify - but it did not give us the tools to unify again. The systems were analog. The data was siloed. The infrastructure was bespoke.

The next moonshot requires something different: a shared digital foundation.

The Present Inflection Point: AI Seed Contracts and ADCMS

Today, we finally have the tools Apollo never had.

We have AI capable of reading, structuring, and validating the billions of documents that govern our infrastructure. 

We have standards like XBRL, FDX, buildingSMART and the LEI that can give identity and structure to every contractor, every asset, every payment, every event. And we have a national framework—ADCMS—that calls for a unified digital ecosystem for construction and infrastructure.

AI Seed Contracts are the spark.

· They take the most stubborn, analog artifact in the entire system - the PDF - and convert it into high‑integrity, machine‑readable data. 

· They create the first standardized Application‑for‑Payment dataset. 

· They give agencies a low‑friction way to modernize. 

· And they give industry a common language for reporting, auditing, and compliance.

ADCMS is the scaffolding.

· It provides the policy backbone for a 50‑state digital transformation. 

· It connects structured data to digital twins, geospatial models, and automated verification. It creates the environment where AI can operate with integrity, transparency, and accountability.

Together, the Seed Contracts and ADCMS form a credible roadmap for a national infrastructure data layer.

Students Carrying the Vision Forward

At Stanford, Texas A&M, Johns Hopkins, and George Mason University, students are taking on the same role young engineers played during Apollo. They are converting DOT AFP PDFs into XBRL and demonstrating the difference between:

• AI‑generated interpretations of unstructured documents
• True XBRL high‑integrity data with defined meaning and verifiable structure

Their work demonstrates:

• The limitations of AI “interpretations” of unstructured PDFs
• The precision and reliability of true XBRL high‑integrity data
• How structured AFP data accelerates ADCMS adoption
• How digital twins and geospatial models depend on standardized financial events

These student teams will brief federal agencies, offering insights that directly support DOT modernization goals.

These students will brief federal agencies on their findings, offering fresh insight into how structured data can transform compliance, automation, and digital twin integration.

Their work shows that the next generation is not waiting to be invited - they are already contributing.

The Shared Vision: A Roadmap for a Digital Infrastructure Economy

This roadmap unfolds in three stages:

• Digitize the transaction — Every payment, every invoice, every AFP becomes a structured, verifiable, auditable data event.
• Digitize the project — Connect financial data to digital twins, schedules, geospatial      models, and identity frameworks.
• Digitize the ecosystem — Enable automated compliance, predictive maintenance, stablecoin‑ready payments, and cross‑agency interoperability.

This is not a theoretical roadmap. It is happening now. It is being built by agencies, universities, standards bodies, and innovators across the country. It is the first time since Apollo that we have a shared national vision for infrastructure—and the tools to execute it.

The Navy Museum as a Platform for Innovation

This brings us to a unique and timely opportunity.

Salesforce and the Navy Museum Foundation are hosting a national conversation about the proposed new National Museum of the U.S. Navy—not only as a cultural landmark, but as a laboratory and catalyst for the future of digital twins, AI, and next‑generation infrastructure.

The protype model for the new museum is envisioned as:

• A futuristic look at the potential of AI and Digital Twins
• A showcase of immersive, AI‑powered storytelling
• A demonstration of digital twin technology for the built environment
• A platform for creativity, innovation, and public engagement
• A federal model for how digital ecosystems can transform construction, operations, and      long‑term asset stewardship.

This is where the past and future meet: the legacy of Apollo inspiring the next generation of digital pioneers.

And at the center of this effort is a coalition of leaders committed to building the digital foundation that will make it possible.

SRC Digital Insurance Services

SRC Digital Insurance Services has stepped forward as national conveners - bringing together government, industry, academia, and standards bodies to build the shared digital ecosystem required for this transformation.

Their work includes:

• Leading the development of the first machine‑readable AFP dataset
• Coordinating the AI Seed Contract initiative
• Convening the ADCMS working groups
• Aligning universities, federal agencies, and private innovators
• Advancing the national roadmap for high‑integrity infrastructure data
• Ensuring that digital twins, AI, and structured data standards are integrated into real‑world projects.

This is the connective tissue—the coalition‑building—that Apollo had in spirit but lacked in digital capability.

SRC’s leadership ensures that the roadmap is not just visionary, but executable.

The Long Arc: From Earth Infrastructure to Space Infrastructure

Once we build this digital foundation on Earth, something remarkable becomes possible.

The same data standards that modernize U.S. infrastructure will become the backbone of space infrastructure.

• Lunar construction will require digital twins.
• Space‑based manufacturing will require structured supply‑chain data.
• Interplanetary logistics will require machine‑readable contracts, identity, and payments.
• Commercial space stations will require automated verification and trusted data flows.
• Resource extraction on the Moon or Mars will require interoperable financial and      operational systems.

In other words: the commercialization of space will depend on the same high‑integrity data ecosystem we are building today.

Apollo built the infrastructure to leave Earth.

We are building the infrastructure to live, work, and thrive beyond Earth.

And eventually, as our capabilities grow, as AI becomes more autonomous, and as our data systems become more resilient, we will lay the groundwork for something even more ambitious: interplanetary - and ultimately intergalactic - infrastructure.

Supporting Federal Compliance Requirements

The XBRL‑based AFP dataset directly supports DOT compliance with:

• DATA Act — machine‑readable financial reporting
• Financial Transparency Act — structured disclosures for infrastructure finance
• DOGE Section 4 — interoperable, high‑integrity digital data for federal programs

Replacing PDF “interpretations” with verifiable XBRL data reduces risk, improves auditability, and strengthens public trust.

A New Apollo Moment

We are living in a new Apollo moment.

Apollo showed us that when we align around a shared vision, we can achieve the impossible. Today, we have the opportunity to build the digital infrastructure that will power the next century of exploration, commerce, and human possibility.

The roadmap begins with AI Seed Contracts. It accelerates through ADCMS. It is amplified by the creativity and innovation showcased through the proposed Navy Museum initiative as a model for what is possible.

And it ultimately becomes the foundation for humanity’s expansion beyond Earth.

The rediscovered Hearst News Reel film reminds us where this journey began.
 

Our work today determines where it will go next.

The legacy of Apollo is not the footprint on the Moon.  It is the blueprint for what happens when we dream together.

Today, we have the chance to dream again—this time with the tools to make the dream real.