ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, MD. – Project Manager Distributed Common Ground System – Army (DCGS-A) and the Intelligence & Information Warfare Directorate (I2WD) hosted an Industry Day Jan. 20 focused on technologies to be developed within the DCGS-A and I2WD framework centered around DCGS-A Increment 2.
More than 450 industry and government representatives participated in a morning of briefings to discuss the way forward for the Army’s intelligence program.
“This collaborative event was an opportunity for our government team to provide industry with a status update and path forward regarding DCGS-A Increment 2 competitive contract process. We are still in what we would consider to be the early stages of this process and we want to make sure industry is involved at every step of this path toward our next Increment,” explained Stephen Kreider, Program Executive Officer for Intelligence Electronic Warfare and Sensors.
During the briefings and discussions representatives from both small and large companies were able to obtain information regarding the requirements, technology capability focus areas, program hardware and software, ease of use, sustainment and the timeline for the acquisition process. There were also two panel discussions focused on cyber and data architecture.
After the morning sessions, the government team set aside multiple days to ensure an open dialogue with industry. More than 60 companies requested a one-on-one session with the government to increase understanding of government requirements and enable the Government and industry to better understand each other.
“It was very evident to me from the interaction we’ve had already that our industry partners are supporting this effort and are determined to help us move to the next Increment of our program to provide the best capabilities to our intelligence mission,” Project Manager DCGS-A, Colonel Robert Collins said.
Collins provided an overview briefing of the DCGS-A system of systems and acquisition notional concepts that may be used for the Increment 2 contract. He also explained how industry feedback has already been and will continue to be implemented into the acquisition process for the Increment 2 contract.
Lindsay Yowell, Chief, Test and Quality Division DCGS-A, gave the audience a better understanding of usability principles and the Soldier feedback process to achieve an easier to use product for Increment 2. Ease of Use is a key focal point for the DCGS-A program as it transitions from the current fielding to the next Increment.
“The Human System Integration team is solely focused on how to increase usability to help our Soldiers create products that work for them by incorporating Soldier feedback into the development process, and by following general usability guidelines,” Yowell explained.
Industry Days like the one at Aberdeen enable networking not only between the government and industry but also industry to industry. The interactions help to strengthen partnerships as well as highlight industry ingenuity and dedication to Soldiers.
Questions were gathered during the Industry Day session and answers will be made available on FedBizOpps along with the event’s briefings soon.