In case you hadn’t already seen it, the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (R&E) issued a memo on June 18, 2018 entitled “Framework for Risk Categorization for Use During Independent Technical Risk Assessments”, along with the June 2018 “DoD Independent Technical Risk Assessment (ITRA) Framework for Risk Categorization”.

According to the framework “Independent Technical Risk Assessment (ITRA) will assess technical risks for Major Defense Acquisition Programs as described in this framework and the Department of Defense (DoD) Risk, Issue, and Opportunity (RIO) Management Guide for Defense Acquisition Programs including risks related to critical technologies and manufacturing. For the purposes of this discussion, the term “risk” will refer to both risks and issues, although a risk differs from an issue in that risk occurrence is probabilistic whereas an issue is certain or has already occurred.

In general, technical risks are those events or conditions typically emanating from areas such as mission/requirements, technology, engineering, integration, test, software, manufacturing/quality, logistics, and system security/cybersecurity that may prevent a program from meeting cost, schedule, and/or performance objectives.

ITRAs will leverage ongoing program activities whenever practical, e.g., Technology Readiness Assessments (TRA), Manufacturing Readiness Assessments (MRA), Systems Engineering Technical Reviews, and Industry Days. These assessments and activities will inform the ITRA; however, the team will provide an independent assessment of any risks or maturity concerns identified. As such, there may not be a direct correlation between external assessments or measures, such as technology readiness levels, and the team’s assessment.”