Recent Statistical Advances in the DoD Acquisition and Test and Evaluation Communities

• Activity Number: 67
• Type: Topic Contributed
• Date/Time: Sunday, August 3, 2014 : 4:00 PM to 5:50 PM
• Sponsor: Section on Statistics in Defense and National Security
• Author(s): G. Geoffrey Vining*+ and V. Bram Lillard*+ and Peter Parker*+ and Michael Cohen*+
• Companies: Virginia Tech and IDA and NASA and National Academy of Sciences
• Keywords: DoD ; Test and Evaluation ; NASA ; Design of Experiments ; Applied Statistics

Abstract

The Department of Defense acquires and tests some of the world's most complex systems. This development and testing of these systems is ripe for the application of statistical design and analysis techniques. However, as seen in the recent push by DOT&E to included Design of Experiments (DOE) in operational testing of these systems, there is vast room for improvement in the application of statistics in defense. Additionally, there are often educational and expertise shortfalls that limit the application of advanced statistical methods. This panel discussion will discuss recent advances in the application of statistics in the Defense acquisition process. Recent National Academy of Sciences studies will be discussed as well as their impact on DoD policy. Research efforts and engagement between the Defense and Statistical communities will be highlighted. Finally, we will discuss a new statistical engineering agreement between NASA and DOT&E aimed at sharing knowledge and experience across organizations. The agreement aims to support the effective application of statistical thinking and methods across the research, development, and procurement lifecycle in the DoD and NASA.