This is the first phase of a potentially multiphase activity that aims to identify and address limitations and potential areas for improvement in the risk based assessment (RBA) process and also the…

This is a grant awarded by NASA's Shared Services Center to Geocontrol Systems, Inc., a SBA Certified HUBZone firm, for $82,976.44. The purpose is to assess and identify potential improvements to NASA's Risk-Based Assessment (RBA) process and the translation of RBA outputs into Independent Verification & Validation (IV&V) scope and focus. The contract is not associated with a larger vehicle and does not have a set-aside designation. Geocontrol Systems, Inc. is the prime contractor and there are no major subcontractors mentioned. This grant is part of NASA's efforts to enhance its project risk assessment and IV&V practices.

This is the first phase of a potentially multiphase activity that aims to identify and address limitations and potential areas for improvement in the risk based assessment (RBA) process and also the process used to translate RBA outputs into IV & V scope and focus for a given project. The GCS scope of this activity involves the following steps: 1. Perform an assessment of the RBA process specifically examining: a. Approach and criteria used for consequence and likelihood scoring of capabilities and entities. Do they result in adequate differentiation of projects with similar characteristics? Do they provide discrimination among capabilities for projects with unique characteristics (e.g., safety for HEO projects)? 2B. Approach/process for mapping entities to capabilities including recommendations for how architecture and entity interactions should be accounted for in the RBA process. C. Process for scoring entities. Determine if process adequately considers the role of the entities in enabling the system capabilities. Does IT provide adequate guidance to practitioners? D. Algorithm/approach that combines component risk scores to derive a combined risk score for capabilities and entities 2. Generate a summary of findings and conclusions which will be provided to the facility. 3. Identify opportunities for near-term process or product enhancements that could improve accuracy or repeatability or consistency among projects of the RBA process. 4. Identify areas and specific elements of the process for more detailed investigation.