In the current budgetary environment, the Department of Defense (DoD) continues to demonstrate its ability to sustain a high level of performance by adapting to financial challenges with strategies that address affordability. An essential DoD resource that has traditionally supported this imperative is the DoD Information Analysis Centers (IACs) enterprise. DoD IACs continue to operate under the policy leadership of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (ASD(R&E)) and are administered by the Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC). While the IACs have taken many positive steps to provide the DoD community with value-added services that support the affordability imperative, there is more work to be done to get the IACs directly supporting acquisition milestone decisions and the Better Buying Power (BBP) initiative.
As the ASD(R&E) nears completion of the largest IAC reorganization in history, the foundation for a leaner, more efficient, and more synergistic IAC system is in place. Shared processes and operational commonality of the three new IACs (the Defense Systems Information Analysis Center [DSIAC], the Cyber Security & Information Systems Information Analysis Center [CSIAC], and the Homeland Defense & Security Information Analysis [HDIAC]) will provide DoD and related community clients a streamlined, standardized process for gaining access to the wealth of information that has been captured over the last 60 years.
The new construct enables the DoD IACs enterprise to achieve efficiencies identified by the Secretary of Defense. The objectives of the reorganization are to:
- Align the focus of IACs with priorities of the Secretary of Defense for the BBP initiative
- Leverage synergies between related IAC technology domains
- Reduce cost and improve quality with increased competition from small businesses
- Expand industrial base accessible through IACs.
The incorporation of three new functional subject areas and the consolidation of the legacy IACs into DSIAC represent the largest IAC merger to date. DSIAC covers a broad range of Defense Systems information, which is all available via a single entry point. As DSIAC completes the transition later this year, we look forward to being your primary source for timely and relevant scientific and technical information (STI).