DOD Should Adopt Leading Practices for Product Development in Test and Evaluation Policies

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has published a report recommending improvements to the Department of Defense’s testing and evaluation process. The report outlines 13 recommendations for the DoD and services, including revising test and evaluation policies to reflect leading practices in product development. The GAO suggests involving testers early, conducting iterative testing, and obtaining user feedback iteratively. The Army has agreed with all three recommendations directed its way, while the Navy partially concurred with one recommendation. According to Breaking Defense, the report’s findings suggest that the current process is missing opportunities to provide testing that is tailored and responsive to rapid design iterations.