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

Subtitle H — Other Matters

NDAA Section

House Conference Report 110-477

SEC. 887. DEFENSE SCIENCE BOARD REVIEW OF DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE POLICIES AND PROCEDURES FOR THE ACQUISITION OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY.

(a) Review Required- Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall direct the Defense Science Board to carry out a review of Department of Defense policies and procedures for the acquisition of information technology.

(b) Matters To Be Addressed- The matters addressed by the review required by subsection (a) shall include the following:

(1) Department of Defense policies and procedures for acquiring national security systems, business information systems, and other information technology.

(2) The roles and responsibilities in implementing such policies and procedures of--

(A) the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics;

(B) the Chief Information Officer of the Department of Defense;

(C) the Director of the Business Transformation Agency;

(D) the service acquisition executives;

(E) the chief information officers of the military departments;

(F) Defense Agency acquisition officials;

(G) the information officers of the Defense Agencies; and

(H) the Director of Operational Test and Evaluation and the heads of the operational test organizations of the military departments and the Defense Agencies.

(3) The application of such policies and procedures to information technologies that are an integral part of weapons or weapon systems.

(4) The requirements of subtitle III of title 40, United States Code, and chapter 35 of title 44, United States Code, regarding performance-based and results-based management, capital planning, and investment control in the acquisition of information technology.

(5) Department of Defense policies and procedures for maximizing the usage of commercial information technology while ensuring the security of the microelectronics, software, and networks of the Department.

(6) The suitability of Department of Defense acquisition regulations, including Department of Defense Directive 5000.1 and the accompanying milestones, to the acquisition of information technology systems.

(7) The adequacy and transparency of metrics used by the Department of Defense for the acquisition of information technology systems.

(8) The effectiveness of existing statutory and regulatory reporting requirements for the acquisition of information technology systems.

(9) The adequacy of operational and development test resources (including infrastructure and personnel), policies, and procedures to ensure appropriate testing of information technology systems both during development and before operational use.

(10) The appropriate policies and procedures for technology assessment, development, and operational testing for purposes of the adoption of commercial technologies into information technology systems.

(c) Report Required- Not later than one year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the congressional defense committees a report on the results of the review required by subsection (a). The report shall include the findings and recommendations of the Defense Science Board pursuant to the review, including such recommendations for legislative or administrative action as the Board considers appropriate, together with any comments the Secretary considers appropriate.

The Senate amendment contained a provision (sec. 873) that would require the Secretary of Defense to direct the Defense Science Board to carry out a review of Department of Defense policies and procedures for the acquisition of information technology.

The House bill contained no similar provision.

The House recedes.

Senate Armed Services Committee Report 110-77

The committee recommends a provision that would require the Secretary of Defense to direct a Defense Science Board review of Department of Defense (DOD) policies and procedures for the acquisition of information technology.

The Clinger-Cohen Act (Division E of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1996 (Public Law 104-106)) and the Paperwork Reduction Act (chapter 35 of title 44, United States Code) form the statutory framework for the management of information resources in the Federal Government. These statutes have not been significantly modified for more than 10 years. In addition, the DOD acquisition and testing regulations for major defense acquisition programs do not always allow for the most effective acquisition of information technology systems. The committee believes that it is appropriate to reexamine these statutes and regulations in light of rapid advances in commercial information technology and evolving Department of Defense requirements.

At the same time, the Department's structure and organization do not always appear to be well-suited to the effective planning and administration of information technology acquisition programs. The committee is particularly concerned about the roles and responsibilities of the acquisition executives and chief information officers of the Department in the acquisition of information technologies that are embedded in weapon systems. The Defense Science Board review should specifically examine the issue of whether the acquisition officials who have overall responsibility for the acquisition of weapons and weapon systems might be better able to develop and implement information technology policies for such weapons and weapon systems than the Department's chief information officers.

The committee is also concerned about future policies and procedures for ensuring information security in commercial microelectronics, software, and networks. While it would be prohibitively expensive for the Department to rely upon defense-unique suppliers to replicate commercially available technologies, there may be some applications for which it is necessary for the Department to develop `trusted' suppliers. The Defense Science Board study should specifically examine the trade-offs between the Department's needs for information security and its continued reliance upon commercial sources for information technology.