Transitioning the Defense Acquisition Deskbook: first release of new DoD AT&L Knowledge Sharing System set for fall 2002 - Knowledge Management

Program Manager, July-August, 2002 by Sylwia Gasiorek-Nelson

In March 2002, the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics (USD [AT&L]) authorized the Defense Acquisition University (DAU), Fort Belvoir, Va., to facilitate the transformation of the legacy Acquisition Deskbook, currently hosted at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, Ohio, to a new DoD AT&L Knowledge Sharing System (Figure 1). The resultant system, planners envision, will be a new generation Acquisition Deskbook that will provide a more robust and capable tool for the DoD AT&L workforce.

About the Acquisition Deskbook

From its inception in 1995, the Acquisition Deskbook was intended to be a centralized repository for formal acquisition policy and for the collection of best practices, lessons learned, courses, templates, recipes, rules of thumb, and other informal/discretionary information that is used to implement policy and manage programs. This initiative offered the acquisition community something they had never had before-- acquisition information at their fingertips in one location.

The growth of Web technologies spawned a multitude of independent knowledge communities and sources. Recognizing that the centralized Acquisition Deskbook framework was becoming increasingly less effective, the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) began searching for an integrated but decentralized approach, with the principles of knowledge management shared among Communities of Practice (CoPs). CoPs, a relatively new strategy for knowledge sharing, are networks of people held together by a common purpose, who share and learn from one another.

Consequently, in June 2000 the USD(AT&L) issued guidance to establish a comprehensive Acquisition Knowledge Management System (AKMS) to enable the acquisition workforce to acquire, create, integrate, share, and quickly reuse knowledge to achieve mission objectives. In March 2001, the Defense Acquisition Policy Steering Group approved the road map for AKMS development, which included:

* transitioning the Acquisition Deskbook to become a knowledge warehouse (library), providing a user-friendly common framework for accessing all current "mandatory" acquisition policy documents;

* promoting CoPs; and

* developing Knowledge Management (KM) tools, including a new AT&L portal.

In July 2001, the Office of the Director, Acquisition Initiatives, USD(AT&L), facilitated group exercises with representatives from the DoD AT&L workforce--which included both government and industry--to identify a set of "portal" requirements for a new AT&L knowledge system. These data requirements are now playing an important role in defining the future "end state" of the overall system as the Acquisition Deskbook transitions to a new DoD AT&L Knowledge Sharing System at DAU. The transition of the Acquisition Deskbook is a step toward sharing of knowledge in a shared practice of education, knowledge, and training.

System Development and Management Approach

A network of Service, Agency, and OSD representatives (Figure 2), who are dedicated to providing online performance support knowledge and tools to the DoD AT&L workforce members, and a DAU Systems Integration Contractor team will work together to:

* identify the product and functional requirements;

* develop a set of knowledge maps/taxonomies that best describe the DoD AT&L "system";

* identify and contribute locally developed and managed knowledge objects/resources that will be shared through the new system's "gateway";

* develop the "gateway" access architecture and user-friendly interface;

* identify user test subjects;

* develop updates to the system on a continuous, evolutionary basis;

* develop the overall system architecture and knowledge access methods; and

* identify major linkable elements for the system.

The USD(AT&L), with the support of the Defense Acquisition Policy Steering and Working Groups, will support and oversee the system, with DAU acting as the system manager and network coordinator. DAU will form the Service, Agency, and OSD knowledge-provider network and host the system's Web site at DAU's Web hosting facility Network members will be responsible for the management and funding of their locally owned and maintained knowledge assets.

Major Elements

Access to the new AT&L Knowledge System will be through a simple, user friendly Web site. It will be a "gateway" for users to access mandatory policy/processes, discretionary knowledge, experts, and other tools to assist the DoD AT&L workforce (government and industry) in providing the best weapons and support systems possible to U.S. warfighters. The gateway will principally point to Service, Agency, and OSD knowledge assets, including active CoPs (Figure 3).

A network of Service, Agency, and OSD organizations that develop, provide, and maintain policy and knowledge assets for the DoD AT&L workforce is currently being formed to create a network of DoD AT&L knowledge providers. The new network will develop the overall system architecture and knowledge access methods, and identify major linkable elements for the system. Major elements of the system will include: