COMPUTERIZED DECISION SUPPORT FOR RESOURCE ALLOCATION

DCS PROPOSES TO DEVELOP A COMPUTER-BASED DECISION AID TO SUPPORT RESOURCE ALLOCATION DECISION MAKING IN THE RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT, TEST, AND EVALUATION ENVIRONMENT. THIS DECISION AID WILL INCORPORATE THE BEST METHODS FOR CATEGORIZING, PRIORITIZING, AND ALLOCATING RESOURCES TO THE MOST PROMISING PROJECTS. PREVIOUS METHODOLOGIES FOR PROGRAM PLANNING HAVE TENDED TO BE NARROWLY FOCUSED ALONG TECHNICAL DISCIPLINES, NOT INTEGRATIVE ACROSS DISCIPLINES. WE PROPOSE TO COMBINE IDEAS FROM THE FIELDS OF TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT, DECISION ANALYSIS, PROBABILITY MODELING, OPTIMIZATION THEORY, AND PORTFOLIO THEORY INTO A UNIFIED METHODOLOGY. IN PHASE I, WE PROPOSE TO: 1) IDENTIFY IMPORTANT FACTORS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO NAVAL AIR TEST CENTER'S ASSESSMENT AND PLANNING, 2) DEVELOP AN INTEGRATIVE RESOURCE ALLOCATION METHODOLOGY, AND 3) DEVELOP AN INITIAL IMPLEMENTATION OF THE METHODOLOGY ON A MICROCOMPUTER SYSTEM. IN PHASE II, THE COMPUTERIZED IMPLEMENTATION WILL BE DEVELOPED FULLY. THE METHOD WILL BE APPLIED TO NAVAL AIR TEST CENTER'S RESOURCE ALLOCATION DECISIONS TO THE EXTENT DESIRABLE.