The Data & Analysis Center for Software (DACS) was one of several United States Department of Defense (DoD) sponsored Information Analysis Centers (IACs), administered by the Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC). It was managed by the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and operated by Quanterion Solutions Inc. under a long term DoD contract. This organization was consolidated into the Cyber Security and Information Systems Information Analysis Center (CSIAC).
DACS is chartered to collect, analyze, and disseminate information relating to the software domainThe software domain refers to the broadest scope of software, anything that relates to software. to the DoD Software Engineering community, which includes Defense contractors and the academic community as well. DACS serves as an information broker, identifying resources that exist within the global community and making those resources available to the community through outreach venues such as an information rich web site, technical reports, technical journals and a variety of services offered free of charge.
Additionally, DACS, like all DTIC managed IACs, is a contract vehicle that serves the DoD by expediting the process for DoD components to acquire the services of commercial and academic providers to accomplish technical area tasks.
DACS Mission, Charter and History
DACS Mission and Charter The mission of DACS, like the other IACs in the DTIC IAC Program, is:
DACS receives its authority to operate from the following DoD Directives and Instructions, which constitute the IAC Charter.
History
How long has DACS existed? The DACS was established in the late 1970s. The software community, at that time, recognized the need for data and information about computer software, its development process and the software technology area in general. The rapid expansion of software engineering technology and the proliferation of tools and techniques made it difficult for an individual or organization to remain cognizant of the current status of the software engineering field. This situation resulted in the duplication of efforts in software research and seriously hampered the transfer of technology from the software research environment to the user sector of the software community.
Recognizing the need for an information analysis center to serve the government, industrial, and university community as a focal point for software development and experience data, in August 1978 the Rome Air Development Center (RADC), which is now called the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), contracted with IIT Research Institute (IITRI) to design such a center, named, The Data and Analysis Center for Software (DACS), that would acquire, analyze, synthesize, and disseminate information on software engineering technology.
The decision was based in part on the fact that the DoD and other Federal Agencies found that the establishment of special purpose information analysis centers and technology transfer programs were effective in overcoming problems in technology implementation and diffusion of mission-oriented developments. NASA was cited as an example for demonstrating a benefit-to-cost ratio in excess of ten to one for its Technology Utilization Program. At that time the DoD had already been successful in operating Information Analysis Centers for Metals, Ceramics, Hardware Reliability, and Machineability data.
What was the original purpose of the DACS? DACS initially functioned as the DoD librarian for software related topics. The objectives were to: Encourage the diffusion of technology to DOD, Civil Agencies, Government contractors, etc. Bring about higher levels of utilization of project results in a cost-effective manner Increase the productivity and quality of computer software by improving the transfer of software engineering technology Assist in diffusing new technology throughout the U. S. industrial base, thereby expanding its capability and competitive posture. Provide scientific and technical information analysis services to DoD, Civil Agencies, government contractors, and the private sector in areas relating to software technology needs, developments and trends Minimize duplication of effort thereby reducing costs
How has DACS evolved over time? Since its inception, DACS has been operated by various Defense contractors over the years and the library, and other resources constituting the DACS collection, have migrated to each contractor in turn. The objectives are essentially the same but the terminology used to define them has evolved as the software environment has changed. The means for improving the 'transfer of software engineering technology' now centers around use of web technology to deliver information to the mass community in electronic format, organized in ways that make it easy for the community to acquire and use the information.
Why The DACS Is Notable DTIC and the DTIC IAC program are notable. The DACS is an IAC. Some DACS products are gaining recognition.For example, the State-of-the-Art Report, Software Security Assurance, a joint product of IATAC and the DACS, is available from DTIC.
Some DACS reports have been published in peer-reviewed journals and collections.Robert L. Vienneau (2005) "A Review of Formal Methods", in Software Engineering, Volume 1: The Development Process, 3rd Edition (Ed. by R. H. Thayer and M. J. Christensen), John Wiley & SonsRobert L. Vienneau (1995) "The Present Value of Software Maintenance", Journal of Parametrics (April) Some DACS work is referenced in the professional literature. For example, Warren Harrison et al.Warren Harrison et al. (1999) "Technology Review: Adapting Financial Measures: Making a Business Case for Software Process Improvement, Software Quality Journal, V. 8, i. 3: pp. 211-231 and Raffo et al.Raffo et al. (2000) "The Role of Defect Potential in Understanding the Economic Value of Process Improvements", AMCIS 2000 Proceedings cite both Vienneau and Thomas McGibbon,Thomas McGibbon (1996)A Business Case for Software Process Improvement, A DACS State-of-the-Art Report the DACS Program Manager. Rini van SolingenRini van Solingen (2004) "Measuring the ROI of Software Process Improvement", IEEE Software (May/June): pp. 32-38 cites McGibbon.McGibbon (1999), an update to McGibbon (1996) David F. RicoDavid F. Rico (2004) ROI of Software Process Improvement: Metrics for Project Managers and Software Engineers, J. Ross acknowledges Thomas McGibbon for "inspirational" work that has "been critical to the formation of concepts in this book". Hossam A. GabbarHossam A. Gabbar (2006) Modern Formal Methods and Applications, Springer and Almstrum et al.Almstrum et al., "Support for Teaching Formal Methods: Report of the ITiCSE 2000 Working Group on Formal Methods Education cite Vienneau.Vienneau (1993), the DACS report later updated to Vienneau (1995) Michael R. LyuMichael R. Lyu (editor) (1996) Handbook of Software Reliability Engineering, IEEE Computer Society Press cites a DACS implementation of the Goel-Okumoto software reliability model, distributed by the DACS at the time.
Additional evidence of the effectiveness and outreach of DACS products and services is contained in a DTIC Success Story which describes the significance of a DACS core effort in providing value-added analysis in its synopsis and overview of a General Accounting Office (GAO) report, resulting in the subsequent use of that material by members of the defense community and software industry, as well as extending the usefulness and outreach of the original GAO report in both time and scope beyond two years. The DACS article providing the synopsis of the GAO report was published in the July 2005 issue of the DACS Software Tech News
DACS Products and Services In fulfillment of its charter, DACS engages in a continuous cycle of data and information collection, analysis, and dissemination. DACS adds value for the community by the manner in which it organizes and disseminates or otherwise packages information to make it accessible to the broadest spectrum of community members. Thus collection and dissemination are tightly integrated. DACS maintains an information rich web site, produces a quarterly technical journal, and periodically, develops State-Of-The-Art Reports (SOARs) on various software engineering topics in addition to focused research such as the ROI initiative and the Gold Practice initiative. The paragraphs below provide details about specific products and services.
DACS Web Site The primary means of dissemination is via the DACS web site. There, DACS presents information organized around the key software related research areas or topics. Each research area is further organized into content-specific subtopics and information categories. Visitors to a topic area can navigate among the categories to get the type of information desired. Information categories include (but are not limited to) literature, best practices, case studies and lessons learned, education and training resources, subject matter experts, glossaries and acronyms, blogs and other interactive venues for software topics, programs and organizations, service providers and consultants, tools, and other related resources. Subtopics provide greater coverage of the main topic as well as addressing a specific perspective, enabling the visitor to quickly navigate to the desired level of detail.
Some of the research topics included on the web site are: Software Acquisition, Software Architecture, Agile Software Development, Software Best Practices, Collaborative Software Engineering, Configuration Management,
From the web site registered DACS users can search DACS databases, including: Software Engineering Bibliographic Database—with more than 350,000 entries, representing the entire DACS collection since its inception. Searching returns bibliographic data, including where the artifact can be acquired. DACS adds to this collection on a continuing basis as resources emerge. Software Life Cycle Empirical Database—established to support the acquisition, maintenance, and dissemination of software empirical life cycle data for research purposes and to support the improvement of the software development process. DoD Acronym database—contains nearly 30,000 acronyms that relate to software technology and programs of interest to the DoD. This database is continuously updated. DACS ROI Dashbord—a collection of information that addresses the Return-On-Investment from Software Process Improvement. Data is collected from open literature and from collaboration with organizations involved with software process improvement such as the Software Engineering Institute.
DACS Software Tech News DACS publishes a quarterly technical journal, called The Software Tech News, which is distributed in printed and electronic format to registered DACS subscribers free of charge and also available for viewing and download from the DACS web site. Authors are solicited for their expertise or experience relative to a chosen theme. Recent themes have included: Future Directions in Software Engineering Grid Computing Net-Centric Software Architecture Open Source Performance Results from CMMI Based Process Improvement Service Oriented Architecture Software Archaeology Software Reliability Engineering
DACS Publications DACS periodically produces technical reports on a variety of software engineering topics. In keeping with the DACS mission, most reports are made available to the software engineering community as free PDF downloads from the DACS web site. These documents are reporting on current research in the subject and are typically authored by subject matter experts. Some recent reports include:
Modern Tools to Support DoD Software Intensive System of Systems Cost Estimation: A DACS State of the Art Report, August 2007