DOD Information Technology


Book Description




Achieving Effective Acquisition of Information Technology in the Department of Defense


Book Description

In the military, information technology (IT) has enabled profound advances in weapons systems and the management and operation of the defense enterprise. A significant portion of the Department of Defense (DOD) budget is spent on capabilities acquired as commercial IT commodities, developmental IT systems that support a broad range of warfighting and functional applications, and IT components embedded in weapons systems. The ability of the DOD and its industrial partners to harness and apply IT for warfighting, command and control and communications, logistics, and transportation has contributed enormously to fielding the world's best defense force. However, despite the DOD's decades of success in leveraging IT across the defense enterprise, the acquisition of IT systems continues to be burdened with serious problems. To address these issues, the National Research Council assembled a group of IT systems acquisition and T&E experts, commercial software developers, software engineers, computer scientists and other academic researchers. The group evaluated applicable legislative requirements, examined the processes and capabilities of the commercial IT sector, analyzed DOD's concepts for systems engineering and testing in virtual environments, and examined the DOD acquisition environment. The present volume summarizes this analysis and also includes recommendations on how to improve the acquisition, systems engineering, and T&E processes to achieve the DOD's network-centric goals.




Information Technology


Book Description

The DoD¿s acquisition of weapon systems and modernization of business systems have both been on a list of high-risk areas since 1995. To assist DoD in managing software-intensive systems, Section 804 of the Bob Stump Nat. Defense Authorization Act for FY 2003 required the Office of the Sec. of Defense and DoD component organizations, including the military departments, to undertake certain software and systems process improvement actions. This report assessed: (1) the extent to which DoD has implemented the process improvement provisions of the act; and (2) the impact of DoD's process improvement efforts. Includes recommendations. Charts and tables.




DOD information technology software and systems process improvement programs vary in use of best practices.


Book Description

With an annual information technology budget of about $20 billion, and tens of billions more budgeted for technology embedded in sophisticated weaponry, the Department of Defense (DOD) relies heavily on software-intensive systems to support military operations and associated business functions, such as logistics, personnel, and financial management. One important determinant of the quality of these systems, and thus DOD s mission performance, is the quality of the processes used to develop, acquire, and engineer them. Recognizing the importance of these processes to producing systems that perform as intended and meet cost and schedule commitments, successful public and private organizations have adopted and implemented software/systems process improvement (SPI) programs. 1.




DOD INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY: Software and Systems Process Improvement Programs Vary in Use of Best Practices


Book Description

With an annual information technology budget of about $20 billion, and tens of billions more budgeted for technology embedded in sophisticated weaponry, the Department of Defense (DOD) relies heavily on software-intensive systems to support military operations and associated business functions, such as logistics, personnel, and financial management. One important determinant of the quality of these systems, and thus DOD s mission performance, is the quality of the processes used to develop, acquire, and engineer them. Recognizing the importance of these processes to producing systems that perform as intended and meet cost and schedule commitments, successful public and private organizations have adopted and implemented software/systems process improvement (SPI) programs.1







Dod Information Technology


Book Description

GAO-01-116 DOD Information Technology: Software and Systems Process Improvement Programs Vary in Use of Best Practices




Information Technology and Military Power


Book Description

Militaries with state-of-the-art information technology sometimes bog down in confusing conflicts. To understand why, it is important to understand the micro-foundations of military power in the information age, and this is exactly what Jon R. Lindsay's Information Technology and Military Power gives us. As Lindsay shows, digital systems now mediate almost every effort to gather, store, display, analyze, and communicate information in military organizations. He highlights how personnel now struggle with their own information systems as much as with the enemy. Throughout this foray into networked technology in military operations, we see how information practice—the ways in which practitioners use technology in actual operations—shapes the effectiveness of military performance. The quality of information practice depends on the interaction between strategic problems and organizational solutions. Information Technology and Military Power explores information practice through a series of detailed historical cases and ethnographic studies of military organizations at war. Lindsay explains why the US military, despite all its technological advantages, has struggled for so long in unconventional conflicts against weaker adversaries. This same perspective suggests that the US retains important advantages against advanced competitors like China that are less prepared to cope with the complexity of information systems in wartime. Lindsay argues convincingly that a better understanding of how personnel actually use technology can inform the design of command and control, improve the net assessment of military power, and promote reforms to improve military performance. Warfighting problems and technical solutions keep on changing, but information practice is always stuck in between.




DoD Digital Modernization Strategy


Book Description

The global threat landscape is constantly evolving and remaining competitive and modernizing our digital environment for great power competition is imperative for the Department of Defense. We must act now to secure our future.This Digital Modernization Strategy is the cornerstone for advancing our digital environment to afford the Joint Force a competitive advantage in the modern battlespace.Our approach is simple. We will increase technological capabilities across the Department and strengthen overall adoption of enterprise systems to expand the competitive space in the digital arena. We will achieve this through four strategic initiatives: innovation for advantage, optimization, resilient cybersecurity, and cultivation of talent.The Digital Modernization Strategy provides a roadmap to support implementation of the National Defense Strategy lines of effort through the lens of cloud, artificial intelligence, command, control and communications and cybersecurity.This approach will enable increased lethality for the Joint warfighter, empower new partnerships that will drive mission success, and implement new reforms enacted to improve capabilities across the information enterprise.The strategy also highlights two important elements that will create an enduring and outcome driven strategy. First, it articulates an enterprise view of the future where more common foundational technology is delivered across the DoD Components. Secondly, the strategy calls for a Management System that drives outcomes through a metric driven approach, tied to new DoD CIO authorities granted by Congress for both technology budgets and standards.As we modernize our digital environment across the Department, we must recognize now more than ever the importance of collaboration with our industry and academic partners. I expect the senior leaders of our Department, the Services, and the Joint Warfighting community to take the intent and guidance in this strategy and drive implementation to achieve results in support of our mission to Defend the Nation.




Department of Defense Policies and Procedures for the Acquisition of Information Technology


Book Description

This report examines the challenges facing the DoD in acquiring information technology (IT) and offers recommendations to improve current circumstances. The fundamental problem DoD faces is that the deliberate process through which weapon systems and IT are acquired does not match the speed at which new IT capabilities are being introduced in today¿s information age. Consequently, the principal recommendation of the study is that DoD needs a new acquisition system for IT. Roles and responsibilities for those involved in the acquisition process must be clarified and strengthened and the IT system acquisition skills required in the workforce must also be strengthened. Illustrations.