On October 18, 2024, Dr. William LaPlante, Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment (USD(A&S)) and Decision Authority for the National Background Investigation Services (NBIS) program signed an acquisition decision memorandum, which documents the way forward for the NBIS program and approves DCSA's plan for the NBIS digital transformation. This achievement is the result of close coordination between the USD(A&S), the Acting Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security (A/USD(I&S)), the Department of Defense (DoD) Office of the Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Officer, and the DoD Chief Information Officer.
To reach this milestone, the Honorable Milancy D. Harris, A/USD(I&S) and NBIS program sponsor, oversaw a series of focused recovery sprints to lay the foundation for NBIS program readiness. The contributions from all partners ensure the NBIS program will exercise rigorous acquisition planning, apply best practices for modern software acquisition and development, and set measures for cybersecurity compliance.
These steps position DCSA to launch the migration-and-modernization of NBIS existing capital investments to the cloud and accelerates the retirement of current personnel vetting IT systems.
DCSA also recently elevated the authority of the Agency Component Acquisition Executive to the DCSA Director, Mr. David Cattler. This allows the Director to effectively oversee cost, schedule, and performance, support the strategic management of the program, and implement innovative practices. With this change, DCSA is positioned to provide effective oversight of all DCSA acquisition programs.
“I welcome these decisions as they ensure appropriate oversight, establish clear guidance, and provide the solid foundation we need to move forward,” said Cattler. “This foundation will enable us to address accountability and security in development and deliver a product that supports the personnel vetting mission and optimizes customer experience.”
NBIS is the IT system enabling the end-to-end personnel vetting process and is critical to Trusted Workforce (TW) 2.0, the whole of government effort aiming to better support the federal government and cleared industry. TW 2.0 implementation across the Federal government will reduce the time required to bring new hires onboard, enable mobility of the Federal workforce, and improve insight into workforce behaviors. For more information on NBIS, please visit
www.dcsa.mil.
ABOUT DCSA: “AMERICA’S GATEKEEPER”
DCSA safeguards the nation as the premier provider of integrated security services – national security is our mission; people are our greatest asset. Through vetting, industry engagement, education, and counterintelligence and insider threat support, DCSA secures the trustworthiness of the United States Government's workforce, the integrity of its cleared contractor support, and the uncompromised nature of its technologies, services, and supply chains.
Safeguarding tomorrow, today.