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TITLE VIII--ACQUISITION POLICY, ACQUISITION MANAGEMENT, AND RELATED MATTERS

Subtitle A--Acquisition Policy and Management

P. L. 111-

House Conference Report 111-288

    (a) New Acquisition Process Required.--The Secretary of Defense shall develop and implement a new acquisition process for information technology systems. The acquisition process developed and implemented pursuant to this subsection shall, to the extent determined appropriate by the Secretary--

    (1) be based on the recommendations in chapter 6 of the March 2009 report of the Defense Science Board Task Force on Department of Defense Policies and Procedures for the Acquisition of Information Technology; and

    (2) be designed to include--

    (A) early and continual involvement of the user;

    (B) multiple, rapidly executed increments or releases of capability;

    (C) early, successive prototyping to support an evolutionary approach; and

    (D) a modular, open-systems approach.

    (b) Report to Congress.--Not later than 270 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and the House of Representatives a report on the new acquisition process developed pursuant to subsection (a). The report required by this subsection shall, at a minimum--

    (1) describe the new acquisition process;

    (2) provide an explanation for any decision by the Secretary to deviate from the criteria established for such process in paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (a);

    (3) provide a schedule for the implementation of the new acquisition process;

    (4) identify the categories of information technology acquisitions to which such process will apply; and

    (5) include the Secretary's recommendations for any legislation that may be required to implement the new acquisition process.

   The House bill contained a provision (sec. 804) that would authorize the Secretary of Defense to designate up to 10 information technology programs annually to be included in a demonstration of an alternative acquisition process for rapidly acquiring information technology capabilities.

   The Senate amendment contained no similar provision.

   The Senate recedes with an amendment that would direct the Secretary to develop and implement an alternative acquisition process for the rapid acquisition of information technology systems. The new acquisition process would be designed to include, to the extent determined appropriate by the Secretary, early and continual involvement of the user; multiple, rapidly executed increments or releases of capability; early, successive prototyping to support an evolutionary approach; and a modular, open-systems approach. The Secretary would be required to report to Congress on the new acquisition process, including a schedule for implementation and identification of the categories of information technology acquisitions to which the process will apply.

House Report 111-166 - NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2010

SECTION 804--DEMONSTRATION AUTHORITY FOR ALTERNATIVE ACQUISITION PROCESS FOR DEFENSE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY PROGRAMS

This section would provide the Secretary of Defense the authority to designate up to 10 information technology (IT) programs annually to be included in a pilot demonstration of an alternative acquisition process for rapidly acquiring information technology capabilities. The programs selected for this demonstration would include a mix that represents a cross section of functional domains. No more than two of these 10 designated programs would be major automated information systems.

The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 (Public Law 110-181) required the Defense Science Board (DSB) to carry out a review of Department of Defense (DOD) policies and procedures for the acquisition of information technology for the Secretary of Defense. The DSB Task Force on Department of Defense Policies and Procedures for the Acquisition of Information Technology, released March 2009, found the current process for acquisition of IT ineffective, stating: `The conventional DOD acquisition process is too long and too cumbersome for the needs of the many systems that require continuous changes and upgrades.' The DSB called for a unique acquisition process for IT, and went so far as to offer a preliminary draft for such a process. The committee perceives that while this is a unique parallel process, it appears to be developed in such a way as to be interoperable with the existing conventional process, allowing programs to pass back and forth seamlessly.

The committee is encouraged by these findings, and believes the Secretary of Defense should use the DSB Task Force on Department of Defense Policies and Procedures for the Acquisition of Information Technology as the basis for the procedures required to be developed by this provision.