Test and Evaluation at the Speed of Need

Abstract

During this past year, Congress passed the Weapons Systems Acquisition Reform Act, which made several changes to DoD acquisition organizations and processes. More recently, Congress passed, and the President signed, the National Defense Authorization Act for FY2010, becoming Public Law 111-84, directing changes in DoD acquisition of information technologies (IT). The law requires the DoD to base the new acquisition process on recommendations in the March 2009 Report of the Defense Science Board Task Force on Department of Defense Policies and Procedures for the Acquisition of Information Technology (hereafter DSB-IT). The report recommends an agile model for acquiring information technologies (IT) similar to successful commercial practices (see http://www.acq.osd.mil/dsb/reports.htm). A second DSB report, also issued in March 2009, the Report of the Defense Science Board Task Force on Achieving Interoperability in a Net Centric Environment (DSB-NC), made recommendations to ensure that IT acquisition delivers information-assured, interoperable capabilities essential to modern warfighting. Together, the reports provide a foundation on which to build the new model for acquisition and testing of IT; this paper attempts to connect them and fill the remaining gaps necessary to truly transform to agile processes that foster rapid acquisition of enhanced IT capabilities for the warfighter.