List of BIC intiatives approved in round six

Improve Visibility of Contract Services

Planners and programmers at the departmental level lack visibility of the labor and costs associated with the contract workforce and of organizations and missions that the contract workforce supports. This initiative obtains better visibility of the contractor work force, establishing the Army as the DoD pilot to test the contractor manpower and cost reporting process.

Consolidate Defense Agency Overhead Functions

This initiative will examine opportunities for potential consolidation of the non-core functions performed by Defense Agency and Field Activities. These non-core functions include resource management (PPBS), human resource activities, information technology, legal, contracting, facility management and public affairs.

Reengineer Personnel Security Investigation

This initiative seeks relief from the burdensome and slow processes associated with granting personnel security investigations. A two-phased approach will begin by gathering quick fix remedies to obstacles identified through current studies of the personnel security investigative process. With the quick-fix remedies implemented, the next phase will review and redesign the end-to-end process, from request to adjudication. The reengineering effort, which will carry an up-front cost, is expected to improve timeliness and reduce long-term costs.

E-Content Enterprise Licensing

Description of Initiative: Several DoD organizations have found that they can reduce their costs for subscription services for electronic content by joining together to consolidate their leases. This initiative expands the enterprise agreement methodology in order to further leverage the purchasing power of DoD.

International Electronic Information Release Policy

This initiative will determine the best method of sharing information between U.S. government offices and foreign government organizations for the purpose of conducting foreign military sales (FMS) business, military equipment loans, and cooperative programs for the development and production of military equipment.

Managing for Results

This initiative will link resources consumed by DoD installation activities to performance outcomes (results), customer demands, and work outputs by using Activity-Based Costing and Management (ABC/M) tools, performance measuresand benchmarks. The initiative designates the USMC as a prototype to develop an improved approach to budget-performance integration by implementing activity-based resource management. A multi-Service coordination and Review Board will work with the Marine Corps' implementation project to identify, share and transfer best practices across the services, identify and recommend Service and joint requirements, develop and propose recommended DoD policy and procedures designed to adopt and implement ABC/M practices, and provide a proof of concept for the use of techniques in other areas of DoD management, such as logistics and acquisitions.

Guaranteed Fixed-Price Remediation

A GFPR contract is a new contracting method that obligates the contractor to guarantee achievement of DoD's environmental clean-up objectives (i.e. regulator closure by a certain date) for a fixed price. The contractor uses insurance to protect against cost overruns. This technique has already been used successfully by the Army, which has awarded eight GFPRs (6 BRAC, 2 Active). The Army's initial GFPR contracts have produced significant improvements in both cost and timeliness.

Reengineer Legislative Coordination Process

This initiative will redesign DoD's procedures for formulating, reviewing and submitting legislative proposals to Congress. The new process, which is being developed by an Integrated Process Team (IPT) under the leadership of the OSD General Counsel and OSD Legislative Affairs, will include the development of high-level "themes" for DoD's annual legislative package, more precise definition of roles and responsibilities and a comprehensive timeline designed to better serve the needs of DoD, OMB and Congress.

Cost-Effective Multi-Year Contracting Arrangements and/or Purchase of Military Sealift Command (MSC) Ships

MSC faces numerous challenges in acquiring sealift capability in the most efficient and effective manner. This initiative will explore alternative approaches for acquiring the required capability, with the primary objective of reducing rates charged to customers while still meeting mission requirements. The cross-Service IPT convened to implement this initiative will consider alternative approaches that include purchase, long-term lease, and construction.

Working Capitol Fund - Business Practices

The objective of this initiative is to improve the business practices and financial policies of the Defense Working Capital Fund (WCF) across all business areas. To achieve this objective, the OSD Comptroller has been asked to assemble a WCF Task Force that will conduct a focused review of selected business practices and financial policies. The task force, with senior representatives from all Services, OSD Staff, and selected Defense agencies, will identify both short and long-term actions to improve WCF operations.

Provide Adequate Fitness Facilities

Fitness facilities at many installations need to be improved in order to provide the proper level of support to the military and civilian personnel who use them. Each Service has developed a plan to meet the requisite standards in a timely manner. However, recognizing that there might be alternative approaches that are worthy of consideration, the Services and the OSD Staff will form an IPT to explore possible alternatives. These could include a combination of military construction, public-private ventures, facilities consolidation, and new facilities designs. The intent of this initiative is not to prescribe a single approach for all Services, but rather to develop a robust slate of alternatives that each Service can use as appropriate to address its unique requirements.

Improve the Speed and Quality of the Decision-Making Process within DoD

Under this initiative, a cross-Component IPT will be formed to study the reengineering of DoD's decision-making process. The IPT will define the problems and issues associated with the current process, identify constraints and opportunities that should be addressed in a reengineered process, and then present options to the Senior Executive Council or Business Initiative Council. This initiative specifically excludes decision-making that is part of the DoD Planning, Programming and Budgeting System. (This is a restructuring of an initiative titled "Streamline the Administrative Coordination Process," which the BIC approved on December 3, 2001.)

Source: Department of Defense Business Initiative Council