Sec. 224. Application of software innovation and data management plans to modernize test and evaluation infrastructure
637 words·~3 min read·
/bill/119/hr/3838/eh/section-224·A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
The Director of the Test Resource Management Center, in coordination with the officials specified in paragraph (4), shall establish and maintain a digital test and evaluation environment for developmental and operational testing of warfighting capabilities. The digital test and evaluation environment required under paragraph
(1)shall— incorporate commercially-derived data management, analysis, and operations software tools to enable rapid test and evaluation; enable real-time and iterative data collection, management, analysis, and feedback loops across the life cycle of tested systems; provide secure environments for testing systems with operational security sensitivities; and use a modular open system approach (as defined in section 4401 of title 10, United States Code) to ensure the environment can be accessed by multiple vendors and is interoperable with multiple data sources, data formats, and digital tools. In procuring software and covered hardware (as defined in section 3603 of title 10, United States Code) for the digital test and evaluation environment required under paragraph (1), the Director of the Test Resource Management center shall use a software acquisition pathway described in section 3603 of title 10, United States Code. The officials specified in this paragraph are— the Director of the Defense Innovation Unit; the Director of Operational Test and Evaluation; and each chief of a covered Armed Force. Before a covered Armed Force may conduct a test and evaluation event, an appropriate official from the Armed Force shall submit to the Director of Operational Test and Evaluation and the Director of the Test Resource Management Center a data management plan for the event. Such data management plan may be included as part of the Test and Evaluation Master plan submitted for the event pursuant to Department of Defense Directive 5000.100. The Director of Operational Test and Evaluation and the Director of the Test Resource Management Center shall jointly develop standard requirements for the data management plans required under paragraph (1). Each such data management plan shall include, with respect to the test and evaluation event covered by the plan— identification of relevant data to be collected during the event; methodologies for analyzing data after testing is complete; and any other information the Directors determine appropriate. The Director of the Defense Innovation Unit and the Director of the Test Resource Management Center, in coordination with the Director of Operational Test and Evaluation, shall jointly carry out a pilot program to determine how commercial software can be used to accelerate and improve testing for priority mission areas— to accelerate continuous integration and continuous testing of warfighting capabilities by applying industry best practices and tooling for scalability, advanced analysis, and data sharing on identified priority use cases; and to enable continuous and iterative testing throughout capability design, development, engineering, and fielding. The Director of the Defense Innovation Unit and the Director of the Test Resource Management Center, in coordination with the Director of Operational Test and Evaluation, shall— not later than 120 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, submit to the congressional defense committees an interim report that includes an implementation plan for the pilot program under paragraph (1); and following submittal of the report under subparagraph (A), but not later than 270 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, submit to the committees a report on the progress of the pilot program, which shall include a description of— the metrics used to measure the performance of commercial software under the program; the initial findings of the program; and based on such findings, any identified roadblocks or limitations to using commercial software and digital tools for accelerated testing. The authority to carry out the pilot program under this subsection shall terminate five years after the date of the enactment of this Act. In this section, the term covered Armed Force means the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Space Force.