Defense bill harnesses IT to drive savings

Provisions in the 2012 defense bill include some measures that will have a big impact this year on contracting, cyber defense, intelligence and the use of cloud.

When President Barack Obama signed the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act, he passed into law some new rules that will have serious impact on the defense IT and acquisition communities.

The bill puts a number of high-profile issues under a microscope, including Army enterprise e-mail and the Defense Department’s broader use of cloud, rules on contractor ethics and roles, acquisition reform and counterfeit electronic parts in the DOD supply chain. At the same time, the legislation catalyzes within DOD the wider federal government view of IT as a money-saver, ordering the use of technology to streamline operations and the ways DOD does business.

There’s plenty of fodder for discussion in the 565-page bill, but our analysis found nine areas in which its effects may be felt very soon, and in some cases, quite profoundly.

  • Consideration of contractors’ work: Defense officials now have to think about contractors, as well as their civilian employees and military personnel, as they draw up plans for future operations. The law requires officials to include contractor support requirements in DOD planning documents. Officials have to identify the support functions that contractors will likely need to do under those contingency plans. Officials also need to lay out the risks associated with contractors doing those assignments.
  • Federal Acquisition Institute reorganization: The bill clears up issues that lawmakers have said left FAI largely unused. The legislation establishes a clear line of responsibility and accountability for the institute by requiring FAI to report directly to the Office of Federal Procurement Policy. It also requires all existing civilian agency training programs to follow guidelines issued by OFPP, which would ensure consistent cross-government training standards. The provision is based on companion bills introduced in the House and Senate in 2011.
  • Ban on disclosure of political contributions: The authorization act stops the government from requiring contracting companies or its executives to include in their bid proposals which party or the candidate they supported.
  • Targeting of counterfeit electronic parts: The bill establishes guidance for defining and dealing with fake electronic parts in the supply chains of weapons systems and related defense IT, and puts suppliers and contractors on the hook. According to the language, contractors are responsible for detecting and avoiding fake products, as well as for the cost of their replacement; it also calls for the use of “trusted suppliers” whenever possible.
  • Use of cloud: DOD is to migrate its data and services to less expensive but equally or more secure commercial cloud offerings. The provision also calls on DOD CIO Teri Takai to establish performance standards and provide detailed reports to Congress on savings.
  • Crackdown on Army enterprise e-mail: The bill strips funding from the Army’s migration to a DISA cloud-based enterprise e-mail system, which was already underway, pending further review. It establishes the project as a formal DOD acquisition program with accompanying oversight. The provisions also demand Takai furnish a report on the enterprise e-mail plans, including DISA’s broader strategic fit, relevance to the other services and the use of fair and open competition.
  • Cyber defense and information security expansion: The bill has a number of measures targeting cybersecurity, including training and education, “advanced capabilities” to fight network intrusions and other threats, and strengthening of the U.S. Cyber Command’s defense of DOD networks. The bill also notes the military’s authority to conduct offensive operations in cyberspace.
  • IT for intelligence-sharing improvement: Provisions in the bill call for open-source IT, advanced capabilities for searching across multiple information databases, and cloud-based, network-driven and open-source tools for sharing information across the federal intelligence community and DOD. A new pilot program the bill provides for will demonstrate high-speed database search capabilities, with a report due Nov. 1.
  • Defense business systems overhaul: The defense bill takes aim at DOD’s copious, redundant systems for accounting and business operations, directing the DOD deputy chief management office to set up an investment review board by March to comb through business systems and management processes. The goal will be to aggressively streamline systems across DOD’s business management communities.

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.