|
Customer Awareness and Service Enhancements
New Registration Service
Independent Research and Development Database
Militarily Critical Technologies List (MCTL)
Electronic Document Submission
Technical Reports
PROCAP
Importance of DTIC to the Accomplishment of Business Objectives
Mission Support
DTIC's Impact in Support of User's Organizational Mission
Corporate Communication
User Recommendation (word-of-mouth)
Special
Programs
Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)
University Research Support (URS) Program
Historically Black Colleges and Universities/Minority Institutions
(HBCU/MI)
Regional
Offices
Midwestern Regional Office at Dayton
Western Regional Office at Los Angles
Northeastern Office at Boston
Southwestern Regional Office at Albuquerque
The Information Analysis Center (IAC) Program
FY- 2002 Success Stories
Ongoing
Projects
Defense Virtual Library (DVL)
Distance Learning
DTIC's Portal Project
EXtensible Markup Language (XML)
Handle Service
Internet-Based Credit Card Processing
Preservation Initiatives
Technical Report (TR) Database on CD-ROM
New
Sites on the World Wide Web
Defense
Technical Information Center
Report to Our Customers 2002
Customer
Awareness and Service Enhancements
In a continuing
effort to provide the best possible service, DTIC has new and ongoing
initiatives in place to assist customers and obtain feedback from
them. A summary of these initiatives appears below.
New Registration Service
DTIC's redesigned registration service
offers customers a streamlined process with less paperwork. Registration
is accomplished online and enables users to set their own passwords.
Using the Web-based process, most registrations are completed more
quickly than in the past - a day or two, as compared to a week to
a month utilizing the paper-based process.
The password will provide access
to most of the unclassified services provided by DTIC. This replaces
a system that sometimes required passwords for each DTIC product.
DTIC's customers have consistently
asked for a simple registration process. The very nature of the
often-sensitive information in the DTIC collection means that DTIC
must have control over who has access to it. At the same time, DTIC
wants to make as much information available as possible to eligible
users.
From mid-August
until mid-November 2002, existing customers registered again using
the new process. During that time they received a new user ID and
password for access to unclassified services. Many individuals were
given new user codes as DTIC moved from organizationally assigned
user codes to ones assigned individually.
Independent
Research and Development Database
DTIC is continuing efforts to enhance
the DoD Independent Research and Development (IR&D) database
with respect to both content and accessibility. Significant improvements
have already been achieved. During FY-01 and FY-02, enhancements
were made to the "look and feel" characteristics, query
capabilities and other user-oriented functionality of the database.
Hardware and software were upgraded, and increased security provisions
were added to protect the proprietary data maintained in the database.
Additionally, DTIC placed the IR&D Contributor's Guide online
along with additional general information about the database. The
IR&D program Web site hosted by DTIC has also been redesigned
and the content of this site has been greatly expanded.
Submissions of IR&D Project
Descriptions to DTIC
(Source: DoD
Independent Research & Development Program Report, May 2002)
DTIC is handling
IR&D data as Non-Classified-Sensitive-Limited Access within
DTIC. IR&D data can only be accessed via a secure Web site under
the umbrella of the DTIC Secure STINET system, and soon under Private
STINET, the merged Secure STINET and WED product. User registration
is mandatory and limited to qualified U.S. government employees.
Militarily Critical Technologies
List (MCTL)
DTIC now offers customers two currently
revised versions of the MCTL. A public version is available on DTIC's
Public STINET Web site (http://stinet.dtic.mil)
and a restricted dissemination version is available only to registered
Secure STINET users.
The MCTL has long been the official
source of information regarding technology considered critical by
DoD concerning the development, production and use of U.S. military
capabilities.
Major components of the MCTL describe
Weapons Systems Technologies,
Developing Critical Technologies and Weapons of Mass Destruction.
They address in detail specific areas such as Armaments & Energetic
Materials, Nuclear Weapons Effects and Marine Systems. Each section
provides easy navigation via links to the introduction, common preface,
common master locator and table of contents. A Glossary, Acronyms
& Abbreviations and Master Technology Locator are also included
in each section. Related links provide easy access to the Department
of Energy, Department of Health and Human Services, National Aeronautics
and Space Administration, and the Department of Commerce.
Electronic Document Submission
DTIC has devoted much effort towards
developing and enhancing electronic document submission capability.
A Web-based document submission system is available free of charge
to contributors. The document submission system enables a contributor
to complete a Report Documentation Page (SF298) online, attach a
document file, and send it to DTIC through a secure socket layer.
Upon arrival at DTIC's server, the Report Documentation Page is
inserted into the second page of the document as it begins its journey
through DTIC's Electronic Document Management System.
During FY-02, DTIC introduced the
Electronic Document Submission System to 60 users who currently
submit their technical reports electronically. DTIC continues to
enhance the functionality and capability of its electronic document
submission system and encourages customers to take advantage of
this new capability in order to efficiently send their reports to
DTIC.
Technical Reports
Over 28,500 documents were added
to the Technical Reports (TR) database during FY-02. Approximately
65% of the TR collection represents documents that were published
within the last three calendar years. While DTIC continued to receive
reports from all branches of the armed services, we concentrated
our acquisition effort on DoD medical research facilities and DoD
environmental research facilities. The focus in these areas will
enhance the collection and better enable DTIC to serve DoD researchers'
current needs.
PROCAP
In the interest of achieving the
highest level of satisfaction among customers, team members attached
to DTIC's Proactive Customer Advocacy Program (PROCAP) continued
their efforts to understand customers' wants and needs and to improve
customer relations.
Operating since October 1998, the
PROCAP team has contacted hundreds of customers for the purpose
of gathering comments and suggestions in support of DTIC's strategic
objectives. DTIC Headquarters at Fort Belvoir, VA, serves as the
operational and administrative support center for PROCAP. Regional
Office representatives contact and provide service to customers
within their established geographical zones. Through telephone interviews
and Web-based surveys, customers are given an opportunity to raise
issues and share their level of satisfaction with DTIC's customer
care, products and services. In addition, PROCAP contacts all new
users as well as those whose registration is about to expire, and
in FY-02 made over 2,670 user contacts.
PROCAP conducts two major surveys
annually: the Top 200 User and Customer Satisfaction Surveys. Here's
how DTIC measured up along with some interesting findings:
Customer Satisfaction Performance
Rating: Eighty-two percent of all survey respondents from both the
Top 200 Users and Customer Satisfaction Surveys reported they were
satisfied with the level of DTIC's customer care.
DTIC's
composite customer satisfaction scores continue to rise and surpass
the federal government's American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI)
baseline/benchmark score.
|
Customer
Service Elements
|
FY-02
Customer Service
Performance Scores
|
|
DTIC Composite Scores
|
82%
|
|
ACSI Federal Government Benchmark*
|
71.1%
|
|
DTIC Excels by
|
+11
|
*ACSI is the
official service quality benchmark for the federal government.
Importance of DTIC to the Accomplishment
of Business Objectives and
Mission Support:
Eighty-eight
percent of all survey respondents reported that DTIC was highly
important with regard to the accomplishment of their business objectives.
DTIC's Impact in Support of User's
Organizational Mission:
Eighty-three
percent of surveyed users reported that DTIC had a positive impact
on their organizational mission.
Corporate Communication:
Seventy-six
percent of DTIC users feel DTIC does a good job in communicating
with its customers.
User Recommendation (word-of-mouth):
Ninety-two
percent of surveyed users would recommend DTIC's products and
services to colleagues.
Special Programs
Although the
DTIC organization was challenged by reduced funding levels throughout
FY-02, staff members attached to the Special Programs Division were
able to "reach out" and capitalize on various opportunities
to meet both established and potential customers. DTIC plans to
continue this practice during FY-03. Below is a summation of the
past year's efforts.
Small Business Innovation Research
(SBIR)
Despite restricted funding which
severely curtailed business travel, DTIC's SBIR Program had an productive
year, providing a variety of support services to registered users.
Local conferences provided opportunities to get out and meet customers,
and a two-day DoD Proposal Writing Workshop held in Durham, NC,
enabled the program manager to demonstrate the DTIC Web site and
WED search capabilities. DTIC's Web-based support services for customers
seeking research and development contracts under the federal SBIR
program solicitations include the Online Technical Information Package
System (OLTIPS) and the Small Business Interactive Topic Information
System (SITIS).
OLTIPS provides topic specific listings
of collection resources for proposal preparation. These background
packages, compiled by DTIC search analysts, are available to prospective
bidders without the bidders having to search DTIC's databases. DTIC
analysts also provide availability information on the references
supplied by the solicitation topic author using SITIS. This is welcome
assistance to contractors in locating needed documents. In addition,
SITIS hosts documents and other information previously only available
by directly contacting the topic author. The utilization of the
question and answer function for which SITIS was originally created
continues strong despite the ability of interested parties to look
at complete topic descriptions on the OSD Web site and call topic
authors during a two month grace period. The Web has revolutionized
information delivery, but the human touch of DTIC's SBIR staff enables
quick and easy registration and document ordering.
The availability of open access to
Public STINET and electronic downloads has reduced usage statistics,
and hard copy delivery is not requested as often as in the past.
These service enhancements allow users to utilize DTIC SBIR tools
without formal registration. There are a large number of users who
do not have good access to Internet service and providers so DTIC
collections and staff provide a valuable free service to this group.
University Research Support (URS)
Program
OSD's Office of Basic Research sponsored
a series of four proposal writing workshops introducing DoD research
grant and other funding opportunities to university researchers
across the country. The workshops were sponsored under the Defense
Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (DEPSCoR)
and the Historically Black Colleges and Universities/Minority Institutions
(HBCU/MI) Programs.
The workshops were prompted by the
need for information in the university research community about
how DoD conducts its basic research programs. More than half of
the DoD basic research investment goes to universities, yet there
are many university researchers who are unfamiliar with the process
DoD uses to announce and award research projects. The workshops
were unique in that each brought together representatives and technical
experts from the Office of Basic Research, Army Research Office,
the Office of Naval Research, the Air Force Office of Scientific
Research and DTIC to present information about how to connect with
the basic research efforts of DoD.
Each service
presented information about their unique opportunities and answered
specific questions regarding the announcement process, how to identify
the right person to contact for research in specific areas, particulars
for submission of proposals and insight into the critical process
of evaluating proposals. A contract/grant specialist was also in
attendance to answer questions about the financial and administrative
management of the awards. DTIC sent an information specialist from
the Special Programs Division to each of the events as well. They
provided briefings about the information assets DTIC makes available
and how valuable they can be in the in the proposal writing and
research processes. A demonstration of the value of DTIC information
systems was conducted using examples relevant to each audience.
Special arrangements were made with the DTIC Registration Team so
on-site registration could be offered to all attendees, and the
vast majority took advantage of this opportunity.
In
all, more than 200 participants from 22 states attended the workshops,
which were held in Maine, North Carolina, Wyoming and Hawaii. The
workshops received high praise from the attendees and were considered
to be such a success that there is a potential for more to be held
in FY-03, although locations, dates and times have not yet been
determined.
Historically Black Colleges and
Universities/Minority Institutions (HBCU/MI)
As part of an ambitious revitalization
process, DTIC's HBCU/MI Program exceeded its outreach and marketing
goals set prior to the beginning of FY-02, increasing its educational
customer base by 15 percent. The revitalization process was designed
specifically to promote increased awareness of DoD scientific and
technical information programs and the use of DTIC's products and
services among Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic
Serving Institutions, and Tribal Colleges and Universities.
Two new services were launched under
this program: the HBCU/MI Web site
(http:www.dtic.mil/dtic/hbcumi/hbcuresources.html) and the HBCU/MI
ListSERV. The new Web site offers a comprehensive listing of resources
providing customers with access to technical information, DoD programs,
contracts, grants and institution research programs. The new HBCU/MI
ListSERV possesses the broadcast capability to announce upcoming
DoD, federal, and academic events to representatives working with
post-secondary minority institutions.
During the year, DTIC's HBCU/MI program
donated 25 Intel Pentium-equipped computers to Leech Lake Tribal
College, Cass Lake, MN, for use on campus. Program presentations
were also made at local and national conferences sponsored by the
U.S. Army, the Department of Education, Howard, and Hampton Universities
and the Defense Information Systems Agency.
Regional Offices
DTIC's four Regional Offices continued
to play an essential role in lowering costs to government agencies
and contractors who took advantage of the information resources
available from DTIC and the Defense community in general. They provided
direct access to technical reports and assisted customers in searching
both Web Enabled DROLS (WED) and the Internet for essential Defense
information.
Midwestern Regional Office at
Dayton
Despite curtailed travel due to budgetary
restraints, the Midwestern Regional Office was able to reach out
to DTIC users. Over 100 contractors were enrolled into the Potential
Contractor Program (PCP). The DTIC PCP is in its third year, and
the Dayton office has now registered over 200 contractor users.
That number represents almost 15% of the total number of contractors
registered with DTIC. Of these contractors, over 60 are registered
users of WED.
Dayton maintained contact with all
of its PCP participants by e-mail at least once a week. SBIR and
DoD laboratory events were announced, and participants were reminded
of the value of DTIC products and services. The office put over
45 SBIR firms in contact with major defense contractors through
this service and, as a result, a number of new partnerships were
formed. When Dayton uncovered the "pre-release" of a number
of Air Force SBIR topics, the office posted this information to
its email listing and approximately 30 firms took advantage of this
resource. Throughout the year, Dayton staff also visited various
research and development centers, participated in a two-day DoD
Proposal Writing Workshop in Laramie, WY, and participated in a
number of local industry day events.
Western Regional Office at Los
Angeles
DTIC's Los Angeles Regional Office
primarily serves the large West Coast-based aerospace community.
It also provides service to large and small local companies that
are not necessarily associated with aerospace but do possess an
active interest in Defense-related work.
This year, a number of training sessions
were initiated as a result of contacts established through the PCP.
This program has been a great source of information to many small
companies and results in new companies being registered every month.
The Los Angeles office worked with a small area biotech firm engaged
in developing vaccines for biological warfare agents. Work was also
performed with two local companies in the area of biological warfare
agent detection and decontamination. Besides supporting biological
research, other customers requested and were provided with information
in the explosive detection area, radar development and other environmentally-related
information.
The Los Angeles office also worked
with one company on the AC-130 gunship program. Besides searches
for this effort, over 90 Form 55 requests were filled out. Work
was also performed on behalf of a U.S. government agency on targeting,
signature control and missile systems. Some of these searches were
directly related to targets in Afghanistan and other areas of the
Middle East.
During the year office staff exhibited
at the Special Libraries Association annual conference held in downtown
Los Angeles and was also involved in Library Day exhibits at two
local government contractor functions. Demonstrations of DTIC's
databases were well attended at both sites. In addition the office
participated in a regional SBIR conference where a number of new
contacts with local businesses were established.
Northeastern Regional Office at
Boston
During the year, the Boston office
excelled at registering new customers for the PCP, WED and SBIR
programs. Approximately 70 companies were registered in the PCP
and the office recorded the highest number of WED registrations
since DTIC began keeping track of these figures. Over 130 companies
were also registered in the SBIR Program.
Boston also conducted over 580 man-hours
of training, which worked out to over 30 training sessions involving
nearly 150 hours for over 200 individual clients. Various partnering
opportunities were explored, and at least a dozen small companies
were introduced to technical partnering relationships and licensing
agreements with large companies. In addition, a staff member participated
in a two-day DoD Proposal Writing Workshop held in Bethel, ME. Finally,
over 30 various technical reports in a variety of formats (hard
copy, CD-ROM and electronic) were identified, acquired and input
to the DTIC collection.
Southwestern Regional Office at
Albuquerque
FY-02 saw the retirement of Ms. Margaret
Putnam, the only manager the Southwestern Regional Office has had
since its creation in 1987. Ms. Putnam retired on January 3, 2002
and was replaced by Ms. Jan Hodges, who had previously managed the
DTIC Western Regional Office in Los Angeles from September 1996
to May 2000.
During the course of the year, Albuquerque
participated in several collaborative efforts with the other Regional
Offices. Among these activities was the formulation of possible
alternatives to current Regional Conference processes; the creation
of a standardized presentation format for each of the four regional
DoD Proposal Writing Workshops; and continued contact with customers
under the auspices of the Proactive Customer Advocate Program (PROCAP).
Albuquerque's other customer service initiatives included the following:
A presentation on DTIC contributions
to the SBIR Program and solicitation process for the DoD Tri-Service
SBIR Workshop, which was held in May in New Orleans, LA, before
an audience approximately 150 attendees.
In August, a presentation on DTIC's
products and services was provided to 150 attendees at the PACA/AFRL
Briefings for Industry Conference. Participants came from local
government R&D organizations, and included contractors hoping
to do business with the government. Albuquerque also conducted a
class on S&T Documentation for 23 students and three AFIT instructors
for the AFIT Laboratory Acquisition Management Course, and participated
in a two-day session of the DoD Proposal Writing Workshop in Honolulu,
HI. During this workshop, staff provided demonstrations of the DTIC
Web site, which included WED searching capabilities.
Various WED/STINET training classes
were also provided to the Sandia National Labs in Albuquerque and
the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies in Honolulu, HI. Classes
were also conducted for the benefit of the Maui High Performance
Computing Center in Kihei, HI. In addition, numerous one-on-one
telephone training sessions with DTIC customers were conducted throughout
the year.
The Information Analysis Center (IAC) Program
The
13 DTIC IACs are formal organizations chartered by OSD to help locate,
analyze and use scientific and technical information. Their mission
is to improve the productivity of those who use scientific and technical
information to accomplish a Defense mission objective. DTIC makes
a concerted effort to assist current and potential customers of
the IACs, ranging from the Defense research, development and acquisition
communities all the way to the front line warfighters.
In the aftermath of the September
11 terrorist attacks, a number of IACs were tasked with various
special projects. For example, the SURVIAC received an urgent technical
inquiry from the National Institute of Justice's Office of Science
and Technology and the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory's North
East Law Enforcement Technology Center in Rome, NY. Both were interested
in obtaining support for the ongoing search and rescue efforts in
New York City, Pennsylvania and the Pentagon. SURVIAC was also represented
at the Joint Technical Coordinating Group for Aircraft Survivability
at a meeting of the Methodology, Vulnerability Reduction and Susceptibility
Reduction Subgroups, which reviewed how they might positively contribute
valuable service during a period of national crisis.
Additionally, the Chemical and Biological
Defense Information Analysis Center (CBIAC) met with the Defense
Threat Reduction Agency, Fort Belvoir, VA, to report on the Chemical
and Biological Defense Information Network. This network is designed
to enhance the federal government's ability to identify, assess
and reduce the threat of chemical and biological weapons. This is
achieved by collecting and synthesizing, analyzing, and visualizing
chemical and biological defense open-source information in real
time.
On behalf of the Director of Net
Assessment, Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Information
Assurance Technology Analysis Center (IATAC) examined and reported
on the current and future state of biotechnology. The report, Exploring
Biotechnology: Opportunities for the Department of Defense, examined
legal and policy issues, reviewed current DoD efforts in biotechnology,
and made recommendations to OSD regarding advanced biotechnologies
and the potential impact of biotechnology and future warfare.
Beyond the assistance they have provided
to the DoD, DTIC IACs have responded to requests for information
from other federal agencies, state and local governments, private
firms, and foreign governments. For example, health care agencies
in Orange County, CA, requested information and analysis on "environmental
surety" for the site of a biological weapons incident. Specifically,
they were interested in obtaining a plan for identifying environmental
risk, determining the need for decontamination and vector control,
and developing, in consultation with local, state, and federal government
agencies, a process for safe re-entry into a suspect area. Additionally,
the U.S. Geological Survey, Augusta, ME, requested an analysis of
risk assessment associated with the intentional toxin contamination
of drinking water supplies.
These are just a few of the services
provided to state, local and federal governments by the IACs over
the past year. The IACs were also active in developing other new
initiatives, which are described in detail below.
Total Electronic Migration System
(TEMS)
TEMS represents a long-term approach
to providing access to electronic documents from DTIC. Implementation
of TEMS will provide all 13 DTIC IACs with the capability to store,
search, retrieve, and use scientific and technical information in
the performance of their missions. TEMS will provide authorized
IAC users with the capability to use any Web browser running on
any operating system to perform both simple and complex queries
of the entire IAC knowledge base. TEMS will be able to store knowledge
in any electronic format. Information stored will include text,
text mixed with images, sound and multi-media, and other formats.
For full-text searching, TEMS will provide simplistic search functionality
similar to that found on many Internet search pages, as well as
a much more complex, algorithmically based search capability based
on the usage of a commercial search engine.
The TEMS Program consists of four
phases. Program Phase I involved the preparation of a technical
white paper to identify the options for a TEMS development and deployment
across the IACs. It also included a pilot scanning program for the
IATAC that resulted in the completion of the initial digitized repository.
Program Phase II involved creation of the developmental prototype
system and deployment of the initial two IAC Mini-TEMS. The current
phase, Program Phase III, involves the deployment of the operational
system at DTIC and a continuation of the remaining Mini-TEMS deployments.
Program Phase IV will involve the development and deployment of
the classified Central TEMS Server (CTS) and Mini-TEMS systems on
the Secure Internet Protocol Router Network (SIPRNET).
To date, TEMS has successfully integrated
the CTS system at DTIC, which will provide all DTIC and IAC staff
and authorized DoD users electronic access to the current scientific
and technical information holdings. Currently, six of the 13 IACs
have mini-TEMS systems in place and all 13 have operational scanning
workstations. The mini-TEMS are being incrementally connected to
the CTS, with a projected completion of all 13 by the third quarter
of FY-03. Commercial, off-the-shelf hardware and software are being
utilized in the implementation and integration of the TEMS system,
including servers, storage equipment, scanning stations, and search
and retrieval software.
Thermobaric Weapons Technology
and Effects
The Weapon Systems Technology Information
Analysis Center (WSTIAC) and SURVIAC collaborated to produce a compact
disk entitled "Thermobaric Weapons - What's Happening."
This compact disk met a critical need for reliable information on
thermobaric weapons technology and effects during December 2001
when DoD was developing its first thermobaric weapon, BLU-118B,
for use against Al Qaida terrorists who had taken refuge in the
Tora Bora mountains of Afghanistan.
WSTIAC prepared a paper on thermobaric
science and technology efforts that included a summary of DoD's
quick reaction antiterrorism initiative that produced the BLU-118B
for use in counterterrorism operations such as Operation Enduring
Freedom. This thermobaric weapons information paper led to a request
from DTIC to produce a more complete compendium that would include
information on U.S. and foreign thermobaric weapons technology,
effects and systems. As previously mentioned, WSTIAC and SURVIAC's
jointly produced "Thermobaric Weapons - What's Happening"
disk discussed thermobaric weapons technology and summarized what
was known about U.S. and foreign thermobaric weapons. It also provided
full-text copies of approximately 60 briefings, along with news
articles and documents totaling about 350 pages. This new information
on thermobaric weapons was incorporated into the lethality portion
of the WSTIAC Smart/Precision Weapons Training Course and, as a
result, an updated version of this course was taught to more than
100 students at Picatinny Arsenal, NJ, Huntsville, AL, and Eglin
Air Force Base, FL.
Human Systems/Information Systems
(HS/IS) Cooperation and Collaboration: A Crisis and an Opportunity
During a briefing of proposed advanced
concept technology demonstrations, officials from the Office of
the Deputy Undersecretary of Defense (Science and Technology) realized
that the assessments of HS/IS technologies were structured to assess
the effectiveness of system hardware and software. They were not
structured to provide an equally rigorous assessment of the human
operator's ability to use the system. Given this situation, the
Directors of Bio Systems and Information Systems in the office of
the Director of Defense Research & Engineering concluded that
developers of command, control, communications, computers, intelligence,
surveillance, and reconnaissance systems could benefit greatly from
deliberate and expanded interactions between HS and technology professionals.
By extension, developers of military information systems in general
could also benefit by such cooperation and collaboration.
This insight led the Office of the
Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Science and Technology)/Bio Systems
to task the Human Systems Information Analysis Center (HSIAC) to
conduct a study. The purpose of this study was to characterize the
state-of-the-art with respect to HS/IS cooperation and collaboration
and propose recommendations to institutionalize and facilitate enhanced
cooperation and collaboration between HS and IS researchers and
practitioners.
To proceed, HSIAC personnel used
a multi-pronged data gathering strategy that included an extensive
literature review; a workshop for scientists, engineers, and military
operators/analysts that included both presentations and participant
deliberations; and subject matter expert interviews. Regardless
of the data source (literature, workshop, and interviews) the overall
assessment of the current state of HS/IS cooperation and collaboration
was about the same. Successful HS/IS cooperation and collaboration
is possible but currently it is very rare; cultural and organizational
challenges to successful HS/IS cooperation and collaboration are
numerous, multi-dimensional and interdisciplinary in nature and
improvements will have to address the issue of HS/IS cooperation
and collaboration from multiple perspectives. Complicating the situation
is the fact that some of the constraints on HS/IS cooperation and
collaboration work from the top down (e.g., DoD funding processes
and procedures). Other constraints work from the bottom up (e.g.,
lack of a common understanding of the benefits of HS/IS cooperation
and collaboration, and lack of a common language for communicating
between the two communities of practice).
Despite the challenges, several case
studies presented during the HS/IS cooperation and collaboration
workshop provided insights into "best practices." Three
themes were recurrent in these case studies. HS and IS practitioners
must have clearly defined roles and responsibilities; leadership
must be committed to the need for HS/IS cooperation and collaboration;
and design processes must be driven by human-centered, task-related
requirements, not by data based requirements.
Mandates concerning HS/IS cooperation
and cooperation in the design and development of usable and useful
information systems are needed as "sticks" to help ensure
HS/IS cooperation and collaboration. Concurrently, better publicity
about successful HS/IS cooperation and collaboration is needed as
a "carrot" to encourage adoption of these practices and
procedures. However, even well-positioned "carrots" and
"sticks" cannot address challenges resulting from profound
cultural differences and communications challenges. These latter
types of challenges can better be addressed through education and
training of groups from program managers to bench-level scientists,
educators and professional organizations. Additionally, shared tools
and techniques, metrics and measures of performance are needed to
help facilitate and justify HS/IS cooperation and collaboration.
Clearly there are both great opportunities
for improvement and serious challenges to success. Hopefully, with
effort, we can begin to improve communication and collaboration
between HS and IS professionals. We can provide the warfighter with
information systems that are both usable and useful-systems in which
the human-computer interface and human-computer interaction effectively
support human information needs and real world tasks. Only then
will it be possible to realize the goal of information superiority.
Supply Chain Viability for the
U.S. Microwave Power Tube Industry
The DoD Manufacturing Technology
Information Analysis Center (MTIAC) has taken the lead for this
program. The goal is to ensure the viability and sustainment of
three critical components for making microwave power tubes that,
in turn, are used in over 150 different weapon systems. These components
include heater filaments, dispenser cathodes and helix tape. The
project focused on four small businesses that are the primary sources
of these components.
The accomplishments of this task
can be summarized in five key areas: (1) material management; (2)
the elimination of ambiguity as to what is an acceptable component;
(3) process control; (4) a flexible and knowledgeable workforce;
and (5) diversification of the product and/or customer. The benefits
include readily available material and reduced inventory cost through
qualification of an alternate supplier; fewer parts returned; a
lower cost of scrap; and a faster overall lead time from each of
the four businesses (one company has reduced scrap and rejection
rate by 51%). Other benefits include improved process documentation
that will facilitate opportunities to add higher value-added processes,
lower costs due to simplification of some processes, and a greater
repeatability of manufacturing processes. Still others include lower
marketing costs and the ability to reach broader markets through
the development of Web sites and assorted promotional materials.
A major achievement of this program
was the development of two engineering specifications that define
processing and final acceptance criteria for dispenser cathodes
and heater filaments. Prior to this effort, the industry had no
specifications specific to their products. MTIAC provided the framework,
funding and technical coordination for these two products.
These specifications are being utilized
by the project team and are being disseminated throughout the industry.
The Electronics Industry Alliance will take ownership of the specifications
and the Naval Surface Weapons Center, Crane, IN, will maintain them.
The success stories outlined above
are examples of the ways in which DoD IACs meet DoD and other scientific,
technical and operational information needs. For additional information
about the efforts above or assistance in identifying IACs which
would be appropriate to meet a specific need, or for general information
about the DoD IAC Program, contact the DoD IAC Program Management
Office at the following address:
Defense Technical Information Center
ATTN: DTIC-AI
8725 John J. Kingman Road, Suite 0944
Fort Belvoir, VA 22060-6218
Phone: (703) 767-9120, DSN 427-9120
FAX: (703) 767-9119, DSN 427-9119
iac@dtic.mil
Ongoing Projects
Defense Virtual Library (DVL).
The DVL prototype is available for review at
http://dvl.dtic.mil. DVL offers users various technical reports,
pictures, moving images, sound files and extensive project documentation.
The DVL is scheduled for transition to operational status in FY-03.
In tandem with this transition, the information contained in the
system will be embellished to include DTIC's non-print media collection.
This enhancement will require a change in the hardware architecture
to accommodate additional processing and storage needs.
Subsequent developmental work is
being researched to consider the implementation of a live Defense-related
functionality using this digital object architecture infrastructure
to enable interoperability of operations through intelligent metadata
wrappings.
Distance Learning. A technical
reports distance learning course is being developed as a hybrid
e-learning and intelligent form completion aid. The product will
incorporate a wizard-driven, coach-enabled, intelligent form completion
process to enhance the quality of technical report submission. Two
tracks will be available to users for completion of an SF298 form,
including a forms-based menu and a menu-driven intelligent interview
process. The course will be available in FY-03.
DTIC's Portal Project. A portal
is a Web-based tool that provides a contextual
framework for personalized information and Internet services. It
serves as an enabler to an enterprise business model that focuses
on a collaborative approach to self-service using the power of the
Web.
During the summer of 2001, DTIC formed
a partnership with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to develop
separate portal pilots. The industry leader Plumtree Enterprise
portal software and seat licenses were procured at a relatively
low cost. USGS hosted the DTIC pilot at their Denver Web site.
DTIC's portal will initially have
an inward view and will replace its current ADMINS intranet that
contains DTIC corporate information. Implementation of the pilot
is underway by a DTIC cross-directorate portal development team
with a goal to go operational in FY-03. Some of the benefits of
this effort are:
-
personalized organization of
DTIC administrative
information;
-
advanced search capability and
document browsing
through a structured taxonomy;
-
integrated access to Web-based
systems and services through applications called gadgets;
-
the creation of publications from
content retrieved by Web crawls;
-
support for single sign-on capability
to internal and external systems;
-
provision of an infrastructure
for the building of "communities of interests" with
collaboration and document management tools; and
-
the incorporation of workflow
for many of DTIC's primary
business processes.
A second development phase for the
intranet portal will focus on providing secured access for DTIC
employees either working at home or on travel and extending support
for mobile electronic wireless devices.
The experience and lessons learned
during the intranet implementation will be used to deploy an extranet
portal. This portal will be used by DTIC customers to access scientific
and technical information resources and to participate in various
scientific and research communities. Customer relations management
tools will allow DTIC customers to check their order records and
information. During this effort, DTIC will solicit requirements
from its customers and will welcome participation in the testing
of the external portal application.
EXtensible Markup Language (XML).
DTIC has developed an XML Document Type Definition (DTD) for
the Technical Report (TR) Bibliographic citation in order to incorporate
XML technology into STINET/WED. This pilot project will first test
XML by providing a pure XML download format for the Space Science
subset of the DTIC TR Bibliographic database and will allow for
XML to be used to map TRs to other formats such as Dublin Core and
MARC more efficiently. XML technology shows promise in providing
better interoperability within internal DTIC systems and externally
with DTIC customers.
Handle Service. DTIC's Handle
Service (http://handle.dtic.mil)
was inaugurated in April 2002. It provides a mechanism for the permanent
identification, preservation and access to digital objects available
on a network. At the present time, handles have been assigned to
nearly 69,000 unclassified unlimited full-text resources from the
STINET collection.
The Handle Service will be available
for access to unlimited and limited DoD digital resources next year
for both DTIC and externally held DoD collections.
Internet-Based Credit Card Processing.
DTIC is now able to process customer credit card transactions
over the Internet. This new procedure increases the security of
credit card information and expedites purchases being reflected
on credit card statements. In the past, a DTIC purchase may not
have been listed on a credit card billing statement for months.
Now, orders are reflected in the following credit card billing cycle.
Overall, DTIC's new credit card system
provides several benefits for customers. It reduces the time between
order placement and bank settlement of customer credit card transactions,
improves the reliability of customer credit card transactions and
improves the security of credit card processing. DTIC now accepts
Discover and Diners Club in addition to MasterCard, Visa and American
Express. The IMPAC card is also accepted.
Phase II of this project will further
develop credit card processes in order to pre-authorize and settle
customer credit card transactions in real time over the Internet.
This enhancement will further reduce the time between order placement
and bank settlement of customer credit card transactions, improve
the reliability and security of credit card processing, and reduce
the number of manual processes within DTIC.
Preservation Initiatives. DTIC
has devoted considerable resources over the last few years to the
preservation of information entrusted by contributors. Because DTIC
is recognized as the first, and often only, source for results of
DoD's research documented in technical reports, it is critical that
the content of these two million reports remain accessible into
the indefinite future.
A study of the DTIC multimedia collection
determined its composition and identified issues associated with
preservation of this collection. The study explored potential policies
and practices for long-term multimedia collection access and recommendations
were made. The focus of the recommendations was to determine how
scarce resources could be used to best effect; to identify the best
approach to preserving each object in the collection; and to develop
a preservation plan for future contributions.
Technical Report (TR) Database
on CD-ROM. DTIC released a major upgrade to the search retrieval
software in December 2001. Among the software enhancements were
interface design modifications, proximity/adjacency search capability
and URL links to the PDF full-text version of the documents. A prototype
of the TR Database on DVD media was created. The STINET Management
Division of the Directorate of User Services has assumed the CD-ROM/DVD
publishing responsibilities.
New and Updated
Sites on the World Wide Web
DTIC continues to provide information
delivery services using Internet technologies that put information
at the fingertips of its user community. The following are new and
updated Web sites available through DTIC Internet Services.
Allied Contributions to the Common
Defense - 2001
http://www.defenselink.mil/pubs/allied_contrib2001/index.htm
The OSD Program Analysis and Evaluation Office's Annual Report to
Congress presents the DoD's assessment of the relative contributions
to the common defense and mutual security made by our NATO allies,
our Pacific allies (Japan and the Republic of Korea) and the countries
of the Gulf Cooperation Council. It compares the defense burdens
incurred by our allies, explains disparities, and describes efforts
to eliminate these disparities. This year's report also covers shared
responsibility requirements in the FY-01 DoD Military Construction
Appropriations Act (Public Law 106-246, Section 119).
Armed Forces Sports
http://dod.mil/armedforcessports/
This popular site has a new look and feel to better represent the
increased importance of sports programs in the active duty military
community. It provides detailed information on DoD sports programs
and championships, and provides for the direct exchange of information
between the services' sports professionals and military athletes
throughout DoD. It also serves as a portal page for potential military
personnel, enabling them to explore the sports programs of the armed
forces.
Commission on the Future of the
U.S. Aerospace Industry
http://www.aerospacecommission.gov/
The Commission on the Future of the U.S. Aerospace Industry studies
the issues associated with the future of the industry in the global
economy and assesses the future importance of the U.S. aerospace
industry for U.S. economic and national security. Established by
an act of Congress, this 12-member commission is tasked with preparing
a report for the Congress and the President about the future of
the industry and recommendations for government policy changes.
To assist the Commission, DTIC designed this Web site to provide
access to information about the Commission's public meetings (schedules,
agendas, minutes and testimony), news releases and copies of the
commission's interim reports.
Current Focus
DTIC established Current Focus to provide access to authoritative
information on subjects of interest to the antiterrorism community
and first responders. The Current Focus Web site provides a centralized
location for unclassified/unlimited and open source information
related to homeland defense and security. Topics include anthrax
and other biological and chemical weapons, counterterrorism, homeland
security and emergency preparedness. Users are restricted to current
DoD personnel, appropriate contractors and sponsored individuals
throughout the federal agencies, state and local governments (including
personnel in first response situations such as law enforcement and
hazardous material teams), and emergency personnel including both
firefighters and medical providers.
Defend America
http://www.defendamerica.mil/
This site was created by the Office of the Assistant Secretary
of Defense (Public Affairs) in response to the events of September
11, 2001. The latest information on the war against terrorism, the
aftermath of the terror attacks and the ceremonies commemorating
the tragedy appear on the site, along with photographs and audio
and video files. In addition, the capability to send thank you messages
to servicemen and to register for email delivery of the news stories
has been provided.
Gulf War Medical Research Library
http://www.gulflink.osd.mil/medsearch/
The Departments of Defense, Health and Human Services, and Veterans
Affairs have joined together to create this centralized reference
library of government-sponsored Gulf War-related medical research.
This virtual library was developed to help service members, veterans,
families, and the public learn about research efforts into health
concerns related to service during the Gulf War. This site reflects
the federal government's desire to make the results of government-sponsored
research available to as many people as possible. Additionally,
this Web site provides scientists and others in the medical field
the ability to learn about achievements and initiatives in Gulf
War-related medical research.
Military Assistance Program (MAPsite)
http://dod.mil/mapsite/
During FY-02, this site was redesigned by DTIC's San Diego-based
MATRIS Office to provide the latest information to active duty military
personnel and their dependents on relocating, transferring or transitioning
from active duty status.
Military Assistance Program Central
(MAPcentral)
http://dod.mil/mapcentral/
DTIC's MATRIS Office also redesigned this site, which was formally
the Office of Family Policy Intranet. It is now a publicly accessible
site that provides current, vital information on Family Service
Centers to Family Service Center professionals and the users of
their services.
Military Pay & Benefits
http://dod.mil/militarypay/
This site has been revised to reflect the latest changes in pay
and benefits. It continues to receive millions of visits per month,
primarily for the reason of calculating retirement pay under various
scenarios.
U.S. Pacific Command
http://www.pacom.mil/
The U.S. Pacific Command enhances security and promotes peaceful
development in the Asia-Pacific region by deterring aggression,
responding to crises and fighting to win. The searchable Web site
provides information on the mission of the command and is updated
daily with the latest news, photographs, speeches, testimony, leader
biographies and organizational information. Useful links to other
related sites are also included.
Washington Headquarters Services,
Directives and Records Division
http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/
The Directives and Records Division is responsible for DoD issuances
written or sponsored by the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD)
and Washington Headquarters Service staff. These issuances include
DoD Directives, DoD Instructions and DoD Publications (regulations
and manuals). The site contains electronic copies of these issuances
and a search engine to assist in locating the correct documents.
Directives and Instructions are provided in multiple formats, generally
in PDF and SGML but also in HTML, XML, ASCII and RTF when available.
The Records Section oversees the operation of the records disposition
and privacy programs for OSD, its components and field operating
agencies. Documents related to these programs are also located at
this site.
| 
•
Contributors Guide
