“Together, the Departments of Defense (DOD) and Homeland Security (DHS) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) invest hundreds of billions of dollars each year to develop and deliver a wide range of systems, from stealth jets to lunar rovers.
Leading companies rely on certain principles to ensure product development success. But the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has found that these federal agencies aren’t generally required to meet such principles…”
“GAO found that primary DOD, DHS, and NASA acquisition policies incorporate many aspects of the four key principles, to varying degrees. However, the watchdog notes that agencies miss opportunities for positive outcomes by not addressing some sub-principles in their policies.
According to GAO: …
- DHS’s policies do not require all programs to utilize modern design tools during hardware and software development, limiting consistent opportunities for programs to successfully improve revisions to the design.
- NASA’s policies do not include mechanisms for programs to obtain and utilize product feedback from stakeholders or end users—such as astronauts using spacecraft or the science community benefiting from NASA projects—in order to identify challenges or new features to include in subsequent projects.
GAO is making nine recommendations to DOD, DHS, and NASA to update acquisition policies to fully implement key principles of product development. All three agencies concurred with the recommendations…” Read the full article here.
Source: GAO: Agency Acquisition Policies Could Improve Product Development Principles – March 11, 2022. Homeland Security Today.
