Identification and Characterization of Data for Acquisition Category (ACAT) II–IV Programs

Abstract

Acquisition data lay the foundation for decision-making, management, insight, and oversight of the Department of Defense’s (DoD’s) acquisition program portfolio. A large amount of information—based on statutory and regulatory reporting requirements and used for program execution, oversight, insight, and analysis—is collected on the higher cost major defense acquisition programs (MDAPs; referred to as Acquisition Category [ACAT] I programs). However, the DoD also makes additional smaller investments that are categorized as ACAT II–IV acquisition programs, pre-MDAPs, and Defense Business Systems, and the current program data environment features varying definitions, policy, collection methods, and use cases across the DoD. RAND researchers documented the DoD status quo for identifying, collecting, and storing acquisition data from different programs, performed an initial gap analysis, and developed recommendations that build on what the OSD and Service acquisition information managers have accomplished to date and that move the DoD toward a common framework for data governance and management.