The Pentagon is seeking to bolster its DIBNow system, a business intelligence and analytics capability focused on the industrial base, according to the head of the Defense Department's manufacturing and industrial base policy shop.
In a May 29 letter to the Government Accountability Office included in a GAO report issued today, Eric Chewning writes that the office is working on the DIBNow system "as part of a phased approach to create a useful database of supplier information."
"One part of this phased approach is to include the Defense Planning Guidance (DPG) Data Input and Retrieval System information, which includes proprietary data, into DIBNow," Chewning writes. "The DPG tool is used by the Military Departments and the Joint Industrial Base Working Group (JIBWG) to collect information related to industrial base risks and is not expected to provide standalone analytics capability independently of DIBNow."
In DIBNow's first phase, Chewning adds, the platform went through a required security accreditation process.
"Recently accredited, DIBNow is authorized to ingest and store more sensitive data, a requirement for working with proprietary data," he writes. "During the second phase, the development team will identify available information, determine the effective use of the data for industrial base assessments, and develop the best way to integrate it into the DIBNow platform."
His office will work with the military departments and the industrial base working group as DIBNow brings on more data, Chewning writes.
In its report, GAO criticized the manufacturing and industrial base policy shop for failing to fully leverage existing data from program offices on companies that provide parts at the lower tiers of the supply chain.
"These data are not currently collected in a standardized format, but would enable MIBP to meet its goal to gain better insights into the supply chain," the GAO report states.