DIA at work on new data-sharing system

The Defense Intelligence Agency is moving to an online Force Protection Assessment system to provide knowledge management and real-time updates on operational security analyses. DIA hired McDonald Bradley to develop the system under a one-year contract worth about $3 million with four one-year options that if exercised, could be worth about the same each year, said Kenneth Bartee, president and chief executive officer of McDonald Bradley. “This is part of a new effort at DIA, but it closely aligns with other things we have done for them,” Bartee said. “The expectation is that different capabilities will be delivered along the continuum. This is just the beginning. We will deliver capabilities during the first year, but I can’t say much more because it is classified.” The company said it will develop the Force Protection Assessment system using a service-oriented architecture (SOA) to let users search and analyze data in the Defense Department’s Intelligence Information Systems All Source Intelligence Environment (Alien). The system will let users visualize data instead of receiving it as text. Bartee couldn’t offer more details on what visualizing data means because it is classified. The company is also developing Alien under another contract. Bartee said the third major release of the program is scheduled for Jan. 1. “Under Alien, we are establishing the information-sharing environment for DIA on its top-secret network,” Bartee said. “It is a real leap forward in applying technology such as open architecture and Web services, to meet their mission.” Under the Force Protection contract, McDonald Bradley also will use new analytical technologies to provide a one-stop shop for finding information in DOD and federal intelligence community databases. John Sutton, a senior vice president at the company, said the Force Protection Assessment system will reuse Alien’s SOA components. DIA officials hope the system will improve cross-agency collaboration, enhance analytical products and accelerate subject matter expertise when sharing data, the company’s release states. McDonald Bradley also says the initiative aligns with the Office of the Director for National Intelligence’s transformational efforts, such as A-Space and the Library of National Intelligence.