The Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA) has unveiled a new product roadmap for the agency’s National Background Investigation Services (NBIS) system, which is the Federal government’s IT system for end-to-end personnel vetting.
The roadmap is geared toward customers and stakeholders in the defense industry and across the Federal government, and it aims to help NBIS customer agencies better plan their transition to use of the system as outlined in the Federal Trusted Workforce 2.0 (TW 2.0) policy.
“The product roadmap outlines the plan for the release, testing, and operationalization of products and services to DCSA customers and stakeholders. The included products and services were validated against the NBIS capability needs statement, a foundational document that supports personnel vetting reform initiatives under TW 2.0,” said Rob Schadey, DCSA’s NBIS executive program manager.
“NBIS is crucial to realizing the TW 2.0 vision for the Federal government – the product roadmap informs the milestones and metrics published in the Trusted Workforce quarterly progress report,” Schadey added.
DCSA Director David Cattler first teased the product roadmap last month, explaining that it outlines the agency’s plans for rolling out new capabilities over the next three years.
DCSA said the roadmap was developed using the Agile software development methodology. The agency explained that any updates to the roadmap will be communicated to customers and stakeholders throughout the NBIS development process.
The NBIS program is currently undergoing a digital transformation. It aims to support TW 2.0 – launched in 2018 – by reducing onboarding time, enabling workforce mobility, and improving insights into workforce behaviors.
Last month, DCSA announced it has fully transitioned all required customer agencies to the NBIS eApp for the initiation of background investigations. This marked a key milestone in the NBIS program and the TW 2.0 personnel vetting reform.
The NBIS eApp serves as the entry point for initiating background investigations, incorporating the investigative standards forms that Federal applicants and employees use to process their personnel background checks.
Customer agencies and industry partners began transitioning to eApp in March 2023, with it becoming the primary system for case initiations in October 2023.
