Better-business tech projects OK'd

List of DOD Business Initiative Council-approved projects

The Defense Department's effort to buy enterprisewide software licenses is one of several initiatives that received high-level approval from a new council working to improve DOD business operations.

The initiatives were given the green light by the DOD Business Initiative Council, a group formed by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in July to help modernize and improve business practices. The council — headed by Pete Aldridge, undersecretary of Defense for acquisition, technology and logistics — is part of Rumsfeld's battle against bureaucracy.

The Defense Department's Enterprise Software Initiative seeks to streamline the acquisition process by providing best-priced software that meets DOD standards. The project requires $515,000 in fiscal 2002.

The ESI was among 10 projects approved by the Business Initiative Council, several of which featured technology. Among the others:

* Common range scheduling tool: A Web-based scheduling tool that will help improve coordination of testing schedules across multiple sites.

* Web-based invoice/receipt processing: A system that seeks to reduce the incurrence of incorrectly prepared or missing receiving reports and move toward a paperless process using an existing automated system so that the Defense Financial Accounting System can pay vendors faster and more accurately.

* Common flight clearance process: A system that would create a common flight clearance process by incorporating IT to reduce clearance turnaround time.

* Cell phone pooling: Negotiate new local or regional cell phone contracts to consolidate cell phone users into appropriate pools to reduce cell phone costs.

Overall, the project could result in $200 million in savings, DOD officials said.

The criteria for selecting the projects was simple, Aldridge said. "Before it can win adoption by the [Business Initiative Council], each proposal must show benefit for our warfighters, provide common good across DOD and provide identifiable savings," he said.