S.Amdt. 6589

SA 6589, submitted by Mr. KIM, aims to add a section to S. 4784 that requires the Secretary of Defense to assess if it is feasible and advisable to create a defense digital engineering center of excellence (the Center). This Center would be located at an accredited institution of higher education within a defense innovation corridor.

The amendment proposes that the Center focus on three main pillars:

• Secure data transfer and digital engineering: Assessing the possibility of a secure way to exchange digital engineering artifacts between government agencies, military labs, shipyards, operational platforms, and industry partners.

• Model-based acquisition pilot program: Creating a pilot program for at least one naval acquisition program of record to test model-based technical data packages. This is intended to stop the duplicate recreation of data.

• Workforce development program: Providing digital engineering training for Department of Defense personnel at three levels: executive, program management, and working level.

The amendment requires the Secretary of Defense to submit a report on these findings to the congressional defense committees within one year of the Act's enactment.