Summary: Small businesses are concerned about their continuing inability to compete for Defense Department (DOD) contracts because they cannot get timely access to current, accurate, and complete technical data. DOD is still working on automating its systems to provide data in digital form. The military services run 24 repositories to manage the receipt, storage, and distribution of technical data for DOD procurement. The repositories generally lack the necessary records to monitor their own timeliness, although they generally respond promptly to most requests for technical data. Data problems continue to inhibit contractors from competing for government work or completing the work after a contract is awarded. Repository managers say that data quality problems often begin during the acquisition process and cannot be fixed. Repositories mainly receive, store, and distribute information. DOD is relying heavily on automation to improve the operations of its technical data repositories. Although the automation effort began slowly because of inadequate direction and coordination, DOD is now making progress.
