The Department of Defense is not integrating modular capabilities into acquisition programs as effectively as it should and needs to do a better job of acquiring the data rights needed to develop open architecture systems, according to Frank Kendall, the Pentagon’s top buyer.
Kendall unveiled a draft version on Friday of his latest initiative to improve the acquisition process known as Better Buying Power 3.0. The document contains a section devoted to the use of modular and open architecture systems designed to spur innovation while reducing lifecycle costs and making systems easier to upgrade.
“We have pursued this goal with varying degrees of success in the past,” the document says. “We need to do a better job of ensuring that our designs are modular–and that the government is in a position to control all the relevant interfaces so that competitors have the opportunity win their way onto our programs.”
By wrestling control of the data rights from a company, the Pentagon can share them with other companies to create competitions and get better solutions at better prices. Curtailing proprietary ownership is a critical aspect of developing open architecture systems and approaches.
“Often this design feature has been either traded away because of competing requirements or lost because the government has failed to secure technical control and ownership of all the needed interfaces, including those required for software integration,” Better Buying Power 3.0 says.
Kendall, speaking to reporters ahead of releasing the document, said progress has been “mixed” and that the Pentagon needs to get a better understanding of what is impeding the process.
“Modular open systems–we’ve pushed for that for a long time,” he said. “We’ve had mixed success with that. We want to do a better job of understanding why that’s the case and why we can’t have greater success with it.”
“And I think a lot of it has to do with successful management of intellectual property and managing design interfaces, so modular systems were actually possible and aren’t traded away for other considerations as we go through development,” Kendall added.
Kendall released a draft version of Better Buying Power 3.0 ahead of it becoming policy in January because he is seeking feedback from industry and others as to how the document can be improved.
