Software Acquisition Workforce Initiative for the Department of Defense: Initial Competency Development and Preparation for Validation

Abstract

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The Composition and Employment of Software Personnel in the U.S. Department of Defense: An Initial Analysis

“…2 In almost all cases, however, the agile development tempo chosen for release of working DoD software is measured in months rather than the days or weeks used in commercial industry. As noted in our prior report (Robson et al, 2020), a key competency for DoD software professionals is the synchronization of software incremental releases with the underlying, and possibly evolving, hardware. As we might expect, programs achieving shorter software delivery tempo are generally those with more-stable underlying hardware.…”

“…8 In 2016, Maj. Gen Bruce Crawford estimated that the Army relies on contractors for about 85 percent of the effort required to acquire and sustain the software in Army systems (Jared Serbu, "Army Asks How Many Civilians, Contractors It Needs for Software Development of Weapons Systems," Federal News Network, October 10, 2016). 9 Robson et al, 2020. petencies but also to the DAU classes that support those competencies. 10 What we find is that DAU classes are well-suited to train project management skill sets but fall short in covering the broader skills needed to understand the technical aspects of software (Table 4.3).…”

Talent Management for U.S. Department of Defense Knowledge Workers: What Does RAND Corporation Research Tell Us?

“…14 In a later study, some of the same researchers drafted a guide for the Air Force to use for estimating the Air Force officer 10 Knopp et al, 2016. 11 Lisa M. 12 Werber et al, 2019. 13 Robson et al, 2020. 14 Harrington et al, 2014. requirements for STEM degrees and other types of college degrees. 15 As part of their work for the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), 16 Knopp and his team developed position descriptions for four emerging data science specialties, which in turn facilitated determining what the agency needed to build a robust data science capability.…”

“…22 Finally, several studies addressed a different type of workforce mix consideration: when to 15 Lindsay Daugherty, Laura Werber, Kristy N. Kamarck, Lisa M. Harrington, and James Gazis, Officer Accession Planning: A Manual for Estimating Air Force Officer Degree Requirements, Santa Monica, Calif.: RAND Corporation, TL-196-AF, 2016. 16 Knopp et al, 2016. 17 Robson et al, 2020. 18 Markel et al, 2018. 19 Paul, Porche, andAxelband, 2014;Porche et al, 2017;Hardison et al, 2019.…”

“… Shanthi Nataraj, Christopher Guo, Philip Hall-Partyka, Susan M. Gates, and Douglas Yeung, Options for Department of Defense Total Workforce Supply and Demand Analysis: Potential Approaches and Available Data Sources, Santa Monica, Calif.: RAND Corporation, RR-543-OSD, 2014.2Robson et al, 2020. …”