Implementing Filters to Identify and Prioritize Industrial Base Risk: Rules of Thumb to Reduce Cognitive Overload

Abstract

In 2012 and 2013, the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Manufacturing and Industrial Base Policy (ODASD[MIBP]) implemented a methodology for measuring the criticality of key products and technologies (technology criticality), and their fragility within the industrial base (vendor fragility). During 2013, pilot assessment projects of selected DoD programs and sectors applied this methodology to measure nine constructs of technology criticality and six constructs of vendor fragility. While the 2013 pilots were completed in six months or less, we recognized that the time spent identifying the assessment issues and industrial base capability was still too long to be completely responsive to management information needs. In 2014, we explored guides for prioritizing the capabilities that are taken forward to the assessment teams and refined and categorized the filters used to reduce the amount of time devoted to this activity. Our goals were to reduce the overall amount of time to complete our assessments and to be proactive in identifying emerging issues, and agile in responding to existing ones.