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News, announcements, training, search functions, Ask-a-Professor, and similar services with direct links supporting DoD acquisition.
Acquisition Process
Three processes cooperate to deliver capabilities needed by warfighters: the requirements process (JCIDS); the acquisition process (DAS); and the program and budget development process (PPBE). Includes links to DoD and Service policies, guidance, tools, and resources:
Policy
Encyclopedic source of acquisition policy that follows a hierarchy of policy issuance (i.e., executive, legislative, federal, etc.) and filtered according to organization, career field, and special topics.
Communitiesof Practice
Links to communities of practice and special interest areas, the latest contribution and discussion posts for open ACC communities, community highlights, and links to related communities.
Training andContinuous Learning
Information on training and continuous learning that supports DoD acquisition, information that helps manage professional training portfolios, and information on training available from DAU and DoD and Services activities.
Industry
Information on DoD industry partners that helps the participation and execution of DoD processes; including industry support pages, news, information, and links to private sector acquisition contractors.
Applications
AT&L Knowledge Management Systems (AKMS) applications.
Displays tabs for additional AT&L Special Topics Gateways:
And popular AT&L Career Fields Gateways:
Portals
Functional Gateways
Sixteen functional knowledge gateways, one for each of the defense acquisition career fields.
Special Topics
Links to gateways about important topics outside the general portals and beyond the standard career fields:
This acquisition mission area is governed by these primary sources:
The Weapons Systems page lists the major weapons systems in the US DoD current year's budget. Contents of this page are adapted from US DoD report, Program Acquisition Costs by Weapon System, published May 2009.
The Space Systems page describes current defense programs and specific acquisition policies that relate to operations in space. Contents of this page are adapted from the Space Acquisition community on the ACC and the article on Space Systems Acquisition Policy in the ACQuipedia.
The Information Technology page defines information technology and products, current defense information technology and automated information system programs, and information technology acquisition policies. Some of the text and links on this page are copied from the Information Technology community on the ACC and the article on Major Automated Information System (MAIS) in the ACQuipedia.
DAU offers training that helps the acquisition workforce understand how to “do business with the Department of Defense”. However, some of the workforce is busy acquiring systems that automate business. The Business Systems page discusses some of those DoD business systems programs. The systems mentioned on the Business Systems page are excerpted from the DAMIR table of ASD(NII) programs.
Although “infrastructure” can be any support system, here the word refers to those major information systems acquisition programs included in the DoD “infrastructure portfolio” The systems mentioned on this page are excerpted from the DAMIR table of ASD(NII) programs.
For information about other types of programs, policies, or practices, click any of the links in the Acquisition Mission Areas menu in the top-left corner of this page.
The measurable physiological and/or behavioral characteristics that can be used to verify the identity of an individual. — National Defense University
All fixed and permanent installations, fabrications, or facilities for the support and control of military forces. — Glossary of Defense Acquisition Acronyms and Terms
An enterprise-wide service that supports digital certificates and signatures and other public key-based security mechanisms for DoD functional domain programs, including generation, production, distribution, control and accounting of public key certificates. This includes PKI resources associated with the cost of manpower, hardware, software, encryption services, and operational and support efforts needed to implement and sustain the infrastructure for a Defense-wide PKI. — Defense Logistics Agency
Biometrics. (Army, IAM, Infrastructure)
The Biometrics Identity Management Agency leads Department of Defense activities to program, integrate, and synchronize biometric technologies and capabilities and to operate and maintain DoD's authoritative biometric database to support the National Security Strategy.
BIMA is a permanent organization, rather than a temporary task force. This permanent status ensures that biometrics endures as an enabling capability for DoD. In addition, redesignation as BIMA is a critical milestone in the organization’s history because it enables funding and manning authority. BIMA has fund certification authority, along with manpower management authority to establish and secure the resources needed to fulfill Executive Manager responsibilities.
Key Management Infrastructure. (NSA, IAM, Infrastructure)
KMI is a unified, scalable, interoperable, and trusted infrastructure that provides net-centric key management services to systems that rely on cryptography; serving DoD and the broader cryptographic community. KMI builds on the foundation for a new automated infrastructure to deliver key management products and services to support the warfighter’s net-centric environment.
KMI supports the Cryptographic Modernization Initial Capabilities Document objectives and the Global Information Grid Information Assurance strategy. Development of KMI is a critical foundation element for ensuring an adequate security posture for national security systems by providing transparent cryptographic capabilities consistent with operational imperatives and mission environments.
Net-Centric Enterprise Services. (DISA, IAM, Infrastructure)
The Net-Centric Enterprise Services (NCES) program provides secure, collaborative information-sharing environment and unprecedented access to decision-quality information. NCES enables decision-making superiority that results in increased mission effectiveness and enhanced process execution. It is based upon an emerging concept in the DoD called “net-centricity,” which enables systems to provide the right information to the right person at the right time.
NCES supports new capabilities in all DoD domains, bringing together the promise of Internet technology and the joint power of DoD. The DoD Global Information Grid will become like a private world-wide web. Business, intelligence and warfighting information and supporting infrastructures will be sharable where and whenever necessary. NCES represents a different approach for DoD — market-based, enterprise-wide, and joint-by-design.
Public Key Infrastructure. (NSA, IAM, Infrastructure)
DoD PKI is a fundamental component of the DoD’s net-centric vision and is essential to providing enhanced information assurance and identity management capabilities. The DoD began its initial PKI as a medium assurance pilot in 1998 and has since evolved to a full operational capability. DoD PKI issues and manages software and hardware certificates on both Non-classified Internet Protocol Router Network (NIPRNet) and the Secret Internet Protocol Router Network (SIPRNet). NIPRNet hardware certificates are generated and stored on the DoD Common Access Card (CAC) and SIPRNet hardware certificates are generated and stored on a separate smart card token. The SIPRNET hardware certificates will begin to be issued in June 2010. Currently, more than 3.7 million CACs with PKI certificates are in use on NIPRNet and 42 thousand software certificates on SIPRNet.
DoDD 8500.1 mandates the DoD to use PKI for positive authentication and incorporate this capability into new acquisitions and upgrades when possible. DoDI 8520.2 implements policy, assigns responsibilities, and prescribes procedures for developing and implementing a department-wide PKI, and enhancing the security of DoD information systems by enabling systems to use PKI for authentication, digital signatures, and encryption.
Investment Review Board Roles and Responsibilities, 3 September 2010
Operation of the Defense Acquisition System, 8 December 2008
Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) and Public Key (PK) Enabling, 1 April 2004
Information Assurance (IA) Implementation, 6 February 2003