Pentagon acquisition officials still need to work toward optimizing data rights requirements to ensure that developing open architecture (OA) systems save money but in a way that is also beneficial to industry, a senior Navy official said last week.
James Thomsen, the principal civilian deputy assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development and acquisition, said defining data requirements remains a challenge but is essential toward creating a “well thought out“ OA business model.
“We’ve got to be very thoughtful about what we want to ask industry to do with regard to data rights, particularly if we are going to put it in a competition or ask for it after a competition,” Thomsen said at Defense Daily’s annual Open Architecture Summit on Thursday.
“We’ve got to think through that in a way that is mutually beneficial on one hand and yet serves the tax payer first and foremost,” Thomsen said.
Pentagon access to data rights historically considered propriety to the companies that develop systems is critical to moving to OA standards. OA is seen as a way to allow for easier and more rapid technology insertion into existing systems to reduce total ownership costs and phase out legacy systems that become expensive to maintain and upgrade.
Government control of data rights is necessary for holding competitions to upgrade systems in a way that spurs innovation while keeping costs down. It also reduces the risk of relying on a single contractor over the life of a program. The government, however, needs to better understand how much of the data rights it needs, Thomsen said.
“I think we have always been kind of challenged by that,” he said. “Sometimes we’re asking for data that I’m not sure we always need. Other times we’re not asking for the data because we don’t ask for it. I think we’ve got to be clearer about that.”
Industry has been reluctant to surrender data rights, fearing it could lose out on business opportunities when the data winds up in the hands of a potential competitor.
The Pentagon’s open architecture guidebook for program managers published in December urges them to get a better handle on data rights in issuing requests for proposals and in contracting.
“Data rights are fundamental to breaking out of vendor locked relationships and are valuable for supporting increased transparency across the enterprise,” the document said. “When the government does not possess the data rights needed to re-compete an existing program, they typically become vender locked.”