Reference no: EM133983702

Assignment:

Case 12.2 Business Case: Department of Defense (DOD) Evaluates Technology to Gain Help for Crisis Victims and Protect First Responders

Efraim Turban; Carol Pollard; Gregory Wood. Information Technology for Management: Driving Digital Transformation to Increase Local and Global Performance, Growth and Sustainability, 12th Edition (p. 487). Wiley. Kindle Edition.

The Department of Defense (DOD) serves as in innovative leader in sourcing technology to protect Americans and U.S. troops on and off the battlefield. DOD recognizes the importance of applying knowledge-based acquisition practices to improve the outcomes of their IT projects. When projects enter development with insufficient knowledge, negative effects often cascade throughout the acquisition cycle. The DOD's three acquisition phases- technology development, systems development, and production-align with three key points for demonstrating knowledge. In systems technology analysis, the DOD's needs are matched with the time, funding, and other resources required by the proposed technology.

In systems development, the stability and performance of the technology are evaluated. In production, the schedule, costs, and quality targets are measured using the BSC methodology. One critical area that serves both populations is crisis response. Crisis response teams like the Army National Guard and the 95th Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Team out of northern California support civil authorities and incident commanders including fire and police chiefs while simultaneously protecting first responders. The Maneuver Support Center of Excellence Homeland Defense/ Civil Support Office and Maneuver Support Battle Lab (MSCoE) is responsible for evaluating new crisis-response technologies and developing tools for crisis response teams.

According to Gregg Thompson, MSCoE deputy to the commanding general, "We want our people-our No. 1 priority-to have the capability to assess hazardous environments without exposure to the hazards." Time-to-action, reliability of intelligence and safe-site assessment are critical components of crisis-response missions related to Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) environments as well as natural disasters such as earthquakes, wildfires, hurricanes, and floods. Recently, the DOD was tasked with developing a powerful crisisresponse tool to add to their CBRN arsenal. The DOD's Test and Evaluation Master Plan (TEMP) is an important part of its sourcing process that lays out the process which technology is acquired, supported, and managed.

Following TEMP's guidelines, the DOD conducted extensive market research into suitable technologies and chose three different private sector suppliers who could provide the following innovative technologies that could be used in the CBRN environment:

• Blackbird A drone with color and infrared cameras developed by Nightingale Security to assist ground teams in rapid communication, while thousands of military, law enforcement, and first responders simultaneously watch the drone's feed.

• The X3 Finder A mobile, mountable, and weather-resistant device developed by SpecOps Group, Inc. that can detect heartbeats and respiration through 18 inches of concrete to assist emergency-response crew locate victims of natural or man-made disasters.

• FARO Focus S 350 A 3D mapping and scanning apparatus developed by FARO that can be used to relay 3D models of

structures back to commanders so that they can see exactly what their troops are dealing with. The scanner can also perform a post-blast analysis, reconstruct a crash, and generate accurate incident documents to future learning. Another TEMP requirement is that a structured test and evaluation of any acquisition must be conducted to ensure decision-makers have enough information to assess the technology's technical performance and determine that it is "operationally effective and suitable, survivable and safe for intended use." It further specifies that testing and evaluation should integrate modeling and simulation to "facilitate learning, assess technology maturity and interoperability, facilitate integration into fielded forces and confirm performance..

In keeping with these requirements, the DOD requested a joint Proof of Concept (POC) from Nightingale Security, SpecOps Group, Inc. and FARO to evaluate the combined effectiveness of the three searchand-rescue technologies. The POC was conducted at Fort Leonard Wood, a U.S. Army training installation in the Missouri Ozarks. The three suppliers demonstrated and tested the Blackbird, X3 Finder, and FOCUS S 350 by simulating a 5.7-magnitude earthquake in which a building collapsed leaving role-playing victims "trapped" in a pile of rubble. During the test and evaluation, the three technologies performed well and the DOD decided to proceed with their purchase and implementation.

Questions:

1. What three technologies was the DOD evaluating?

2. Why was the simulation a useful part of its acquisition process?

3. What would the consequences be if the DOD had not conducted a test and evaluation of using the three technologies?

4. What other measures could the DOD have taken to make sure that the three devices were reliable?