35076 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 124 / Thursday, July 1, 2021 / Notices 

section of the NDAA for FY 2021 within 

the acquisition regulations. 

Authority: DoD Instruction 5000.35, 

Defense Acquisition Regulations (DAR) 

System. 

Jennifer D. Johnson, 

Editor/Publisher, Defense Acquisition 

Regulations System. 

[FR Doc. 2021–14009 Filed 6–30–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 5001–06–P 

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

Office of the Secretary 

[Docket ID: DoD–2021–OS–0056] 

Submission for OMB Review; 

Comment Request 

AGENCY: Office of the Under Secretary of 

Defense for Personnel and Readiness, 

Department of Defense (DoD). 

ACTION: Information collection notice. 

SUMMARY: Consistent with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and 

its implementing regulations, this 

document provides notice DoD is 

submitting an Information Collection 

Request to OMB to collect information 

on establishing an understanding of the 

beliefs and attitudes of active 

component mid-grade (O–4 to O–6) and 

junior officers (O–2 to O–3) toward 

diversity and inclusion (D&I), retention 

and promotion, and specifically any 

perceived differences of retention and 

promotion related to race, ethnicity, and 

gender. The study will identify potential 

and existing factors that serve as barriers 

which may affect such differences in 

retention and promotion to inform D&I 

policies, programs, and procedures. 

DATES: Comments must be received by 

July 16, 2021. 

ADDRESSES: The Department has 

requested emergency processing from 

OMB for this information collection 

request by 15 days after publication of 

this notice. Interested parties can access 

the supporting materials and collection 

instrument and submit comments and 

recommendations to OMB at 

www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. 

Find this particular information 

collection by selecting ‘‘Currently under 

15-day Review—Open for Public 

Comments’’ or by using the search 

function. Comments submitted in 

response to this notice will be 

summarized and included in the request 

for OMB approval of this information 

collection. They will also become a 

matter of public record. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Angela Duncan, 571–372–7574, or 

whs.mc-alex.esd.mbx.dd-dodinformation-collections@mail.mil. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Officer Retention and Promotion Barrier 

Analysis is a qualitative study which 

will include virtual interviews and 

focus groups with active component 

mid-grade and junior officers from 

Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine 

Corps to examine their beliefs and 

attitudes toward D&I, retention and 

promotion, and specifically any 

perceived differences of retention and 

promotion related to race, ethnicity, and 

gender. The study will identify potential 

and existing factors that serve as barriers 

which may affect such differences in 

retention and promotion. The study will 

assess topics related to retention and 

promotion such as career progression 

and mentorship, leadership, workplace 

climate and culture, and work-life 

balance. The Office of Diversity, Equity, 

and Inclusion (ODEI) will analyze data 

in aggregate and provide key themes 

that emerge. In order to meet reporting 

requirements per the Fiscal Year (FY) 

2021 National Defense Authorization 

Act (NDAA), the study needs to begin in 

FY 2021 and completed by FY 2022. As 

required by the NDAA, the study will 

identify barriers to diversity to assist in 

developing and implementing plans and 

processes to resolve or eliminate any 

barriers to diversity, and reviewing the 

progress of the Services in 

implementing previous plans and 

processes to resolve or eliminate 

barriers to diversity. 

Title; Associated Form; and OMB 

Number: Officer Retention and 

Promotion Barrier Analysis; OMB 

Control Number 0704–ORPB. 

Type of Request: Emergency. 

Number of Respondents: The study 

will include 340 respondents (total of 20 

interview respondents and 320 focus 

group participants). 

Responses per Respondent: 1. 

Annual Responses: 340. 

Average Burden per Response: 

Interviews will require 60 minutes per 

response. Focus groups will require 90 

minutes per response. 

Annual Burden Hours: The total 

annual amount of burden hours for 

interviews is 20 hours. The total amount 

of annual burden for focus groups is 480 

hours. The total annual burden hours 

are 500. 

Affected Public: Individuals or 

households. 

Frequency: Once. 

Respondent’s Obligation: Voluntary. 

Request for Comments: Comments are 

invited on: (1) Whether the proposed 

collection of information is necessary 

for the proper performance of the 

functions of DoD, including whether the 

information collected has practical 

utility; (2) the accuracy of DoD’s 

estimate of the burden (including hours 

and cost) of the proposed collection of 

information; (3) ways to enhance the 

quality, utility, and clarity of the 

information to be collected; and (4) 

ways to minimize the burden of the 

collection of information on 

respondents, including automated 

collection techniques or the use of other 

forms of information technology. 

Dated: June 28, 2021. 

Kayyonne T. Marston, 

Alternate OSD Federal Register Liaison 

Officer, Department of Defense. 

[FR Doc. 2021–14075 Filed 6–30–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 5001–06–P 

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

Office of the Secretary 

[Docket ID: DOD–2021–OS–0055] 

Request for Information Related to IP 

Evaluation and Valuation Methods and 

Techniques 

AGENCY: Office of the Deputy Assistant 

Secretary of Defense (Acquisition 

Enablers), Department of Defense (DoD). 

ACTION: Request for information. 

SUMMARY: The Secretary of Defense is 

soliciting information from the public 

(including, but not limited to, the 

private sector, academia, and other 

interested parties) related to Intellectual 

Property (IP) evaluation and valuation 

methods and techniques. 

DATES: The due date for submitting 

comments is August 2, 2021. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, 

identified by docket number and title, 

by any of the following methods: 

Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://

www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

Mail: The DoD cannot receive written 

comments at this time due to the 

COVID–19 pandemic. Comments should 

be sent electronically to the docket 

listed above. 

Instructions: All submissions received 

must include the agency name, docket 

number and title for this Federal 

Register document. The general policy 

for comments and other submissions 

from members of the public is to make 

these submissions available for public 

viewing on the internet at http://

www.regulations.gov as they are 

received without change, including any 

personal identifiers or contact 

information. 


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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 124 / Thursday, July 1, 2021 / Notices 35077 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. 

George Winborne, Communications, 

Knowledge and Performance 

Management Lead, Intellectual Property 

Cadre, Office of the USD (Acquisition & 

Sustainment), at 202–815–3995, or 

email: george.o.winborne.civ@mail.mil. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The DoD 

has been authorized to carry out a Pilot 

Program on IP Evaluation for 

Acquisition Programs under Section 801 

of the National Defense Authorization 

Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2020. 

To gain a better understanding of IP 

valuation and evaluation strategies and 

recommendations, the Pilot Program 

seeks to obtain the views of industry, 

academia, and the public. 

Given the broad functional, technical, 

and operational considerations of the 

DoD and the assessment scope spanning 

IP evaluation and valuation methods 

and techniques, interested parties do 

not need to respond to every category of 

information requested or question and 

may choose to offer additional 

information pertinent to the topic in the 

manner or format they prefer. 

Interested parties may respond to 

questions pertinent to their 

organization’s technical focus, expertise, 

and evaluation and/or valuation 

capabilities. Submitted responses are 

entirely voluntary, may be unstructured, 

and should include only public 

information (e.g., do not include 

proprietary, business sensitive, or other 

forms of confidential information). 

Although not required, respondents are 

encouraged to identify the industry, 

academic, or occupational sector to 

which they belong. 

The following guidance applies 

generally to all responses to questions in 

topic areas (1) through (6) below. 

A. Each response should consider and 

identify the extent to which the 

response may be limited or otherwise 

affected by— 

• The particular industry or academic 

sector; 

• The particular technologies 

involved; 

• The type of IP protections 

governing the technology; 

• The particular type of contract or 

contracting vehicle used; 

• Whether your organization is 

responding as an IP/technology 

purchaser, seller, or both; and; 

• Whether your organization is a 

prime contractor, subcontractor, or both. 

B. Responses should include only 

public information (e.g., do not include 

proprietary, business sensitive, or other 

forms of confidential information). 

However, if applicable, the response 

may indicate that additional responsive 

information may be available but is not 

being provided because it is non-public 

and would be subject to confidentiality 

restrictions. Preferably, in such cases 

the response will provide information in 

a more abstract or generic form that may 

still provide information responsive to 

the question, but would not contain any 

detailed, non-public information. 

(1) Assessment Mechanisms for 

Program IP Evaluation 

a. What IP evaluation mechanisms 

and techniques used by your 

organization, or your industry or 

academic sector in general, could be 

adapted for use in DoD acquisition 

programs? 

b Please rank the IP evaluation 

mechanisms identified in your answer 

above from the most beneficial to those 

that are less promising, and provide any 

relevant examples and rationale for such 

ranking. 

b. What commercially available IP 

valuation analysis and methods used by 

your organization, or your industry or 

academic sector in general, could be 

adapted for use in DoD acquisition 

programs? 

b Please rank the IP valuation 

analysis and methods identified in your 

answer above from the most beneficial 

to those that are less promising, and 

provide any relevant examples and 

rationale for such ranking. 

a. Please identify any other emerging, 

innovative, novel, or otherwise ‘‘outside 

of the box’’ methods for IP valuation, 

prioritization, and IP evaluation 

techniques not identified above (in your 

responses to questions 1a. or 1b.) that 

could be adapted for use in DoD 

acquisition programs. 

b. Please identify acquisition planning 

and technology assessment techniques 

used by your organization, or your 

industry or academic sector in general, 

to analyze the use of a commercial 

product or service or nondevelopmental item as an alternative to 

acquiring a product or service that must 

be specifically developed for a 

particular DoD acquisition program. 

(2) Development of Cost-Effective IP 

Strategies 

a. What does your organization, or 

your industry or academic sector in 

general, consider best practices for 

utilizing IP valuation and evaluation 

methods to develop cost-effective IP 

strategies? 

b. What factors should DoD consider 

in developing IP strategies that plan for 

uncertainties (e.g., design, requirement 

changes; emergence of disruptive 

technologies; selection of particular 

vendors; defining the sustainment 

strategy) associated with predicting 

downstream events, and for identifying 

appropriate flexibility and other 

potential options, when these 

uncertainties become more defined? 

(3) Assessment and Management of IP 

Value and Costs 

a. Given the specialized mechanisms 

governing IP acquisitions in the national 

defense mission space, how can the DoD 

best identify, assess, and validate the 

value of different kinds of IP across the 

acquisition lifecycle? 

(4) Cross-Functional Team of Subject 

Matter Experts 

a. Does your organization, or your 

industry or academic sector in general, 

utilize a designated group or team of 

subject matter experts to identify and 

manage IP issues on behalf of the 

organization (e.g., an IP Management 

Team; or a cadre of cross-functional 

subject matter experts analogous to that 

required for DoD at 10 U.S.C. 2322(b))? 

b. If so, how is such team or group 

structured, and what functional areas of 

subject matter expertise are represented 

(e.g., intellectual property, law, 

engineering, contracting, program 

management, product support and 

sustainment, financial analysis)? 

(5) Engagement With the Private Sector 

a. In conducting the Section 801 Pilot 

Program, how can the DoD best engage 

the public (including but not limited to 

the private sector, academia, and other 

interested parties) to support and inform 

the development of IP strategies? 

b. In general, what processes and 

procedures can the DoD implement to 

enable its acquisition programs to better 

engage with interested parties in 

identifying appropriate IP evaluation 

methods in the development of IP 

strategies, preservation of program 

flexibility, increases in costeffectiveness, and improvements in 

sustainment efforts? 

(6) Future Activities 

a. What specific topics and questions 

not discussed above should the DoD 

consider including as part of future 

requests for information related to this 

IP Pilot Program? 

b. Please provide any additional 

comments or recommendations 

regarding the Section 801 Pilot Program 

that were not included in your answers 

above that may improve DoD’s 

acquisition of IP. 

c. Although this initial request for 

information is limited to responses 

having only publicly available 

information, the DoD recognizes that 

respondents may have non-public 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
35078 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 124 / Thursday, July 1, 2021 / Notices 

information that would otherwise have 

been responsive to one or more 

questions. Please indicate whether your 

organization possesses any such nonpublic information (e.g., proprietary, 

business sensitive, or other forms of 

confidential information) that your 

organization may be willing to share 

with the DoD in support of this IP Pilot 

Program effort in the future, provided 

that such information could be shared 

subject to appropriate confidentiality 

protections. If so, please identify the 

nature or type of confidentiality 

protections that would be necessary to 

allow for such sharing (e.g., use and 

disclosure authorized only for particular 

purposes or to particular categories of 

organizations or individuals). As 

discussed, please note that your 

participation is voluntary and that your 

responses may be unstructured. 

Dated: June 25, 2021. 

Aaron T. Siegel, 

Alternate OSD Federal Register Liaison 

Officer, Department of Defense. 

[FR Doc. 2021–14004 Filed 6–30–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 5001–06–P 

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

Office of the Secretary 

[Docket ID: DOD–2021–OS–0033] 

Submission for OMB Review; 

Comment Request 

AGENCY: Office of the Under Secretary of 

Defense for Personnel and Readiness, 

Department of Defense (DoD). 

ACTION: 30-Day information collection 

notice. 

SUMMARY: The DoD has submitted to 

OMB for clearance the following 

proposal for collection of information 

under the provisions of the Paperwork 

Reduction Act. 

DATES: Consideration will be given to all 

comments received by August 2, 2021. 

ADDRESSES: Written comments and 

recommendations for the proposed 

information collection should be sent 

within 30 days of publication of this 

notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/ 

PRAMain. Find this particular 

information collection by selecting 

‘‘Currently under 30-day Review—Open 

for Public Comments’’ or by using the 

search function. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Angela Duncan, 571–372–7574, or 

whs.mc-alex.esd.mbx.dd-dodinformation-collections@mail.mil. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Title; Associated Form; and OMB 

Number: Defense Biometric 

Identification System (DBIDS) 

Registration Application; OMB Control 

Number 0704–0455. 

Type of Request: Extension. 

Number of Respondents: 2,500,000. 

Responses per Respondent: 1. 

Annual Responses: 2,500,000. 

Average Burden per Response: 7.5 

minutes. 

Annual Burden Hours: 312,500. 

Needs and Uses: The information 

collection requirement is necessary to 

obtain and record the biographic and 

biometric data connected with 

positively identifying identity, 

eligibility for access, and fitness within 

DBIDS and shared with Identity 

Matching Engine for Security and 

Analysts (IMESA)/Interoperability Layer 

Service (IoLS). The form data is used in 

the determination of access at DBIDS 

sites and affiliated systems through use 

of IMESA/IoLS. 

Affected Public: Individuals or 

households. 

Frequency: On occasion. 

Respondent’s Obligation: Required to 

Obtain or Retain Benefits. 

OMB Desk Officer: Ms. Jasmeet 

Seehra. 

You may also submit comments and 

recommendations, identified by Docket 

ID number and title, by the following 

method: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

Instructions: All submissions received 

must include the agency name, Docket 

ID number, and title for this Federal 

Register document. The general policy 

for comments and other submissions 

from members of the public is to make 

these submissions available for public 

viewing on the internet at http://

www.regulations.gov as they are 

received without change, including any 

personal identifiers or contact 

information. 

DOD Clearance Officer: Ms. Angela 

Duncan. 

Requests for copies of the information 

collection proposal should be sent to 

Ms. Duncan at whs.mc-alex.esd.mbx.dddod-information-collections@mail.mil. 

Dated: June 28, 2021. 

Kayyonne T. Marston, 

Alternate OSD Federal Register Liaison 

Officer, Department of Defense. 

[FR Doc. 2021–14074 Filed 6–30–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 5001–06–P 

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

Office of the Secretary 

[Docket ID: DoD–2021–OS–0010] 

Submission for OMB Review; 

Comment Request 

AGENCY: Office of the Under Secretary of 

Defense for Research and Engineering, 

Department of Defense (DoD). 

ACTION: 30-Day information collection 

notice. 

SUMMARY: The DoD has submitted to 

OMB for clearance the following 

proposal for collection of information 

under the provisions of the Paperwork 

Reduction Act. 

DATES: Consideration will be given to all 

comments received by August 2, 2021. 

ADDRESSES: Written comments and 

recommendations for the proposed 

information collection should be sent 

within 30 days of publication of this 

notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/ 

PRAMain. Find this particular 

information collection by selecting 

‘‘Currently under 30-day Review—Open 

for Public Comments’’ or by using the 

search function. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Angela Duncan, 571–372–7574, or 

whs.mc-alex.esd.mbx.dd-dodinformation-collections@mail.mil. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title; Associated Form; and OMB 

Number: Certification of Qualified 

Products; DD Form 1718; OMB Control 

Number 0704–0487. 

Type of Request: Extension. 

Number of Respondents: 1,320. 

Responses per Respondent: 1. 

Annual Responses: 1,320. 

Average Burden per Response: 30 

minutes. 

Annual Burden Hours: 660. 

Needs and Uses: The information 

collection requirement is necessary to 

obtain, certify, and record qualification 

of products or processes falling under 

the DoD Qualification Program. 

Qualification ensures continued product 

performance, quality, and reliability. DD 

Form 1718 is sent to manufacturers 

every two years by the Qualifying 

Activity when the applicable 

specification does not contain complete 

requalification testing, and requests that 

manufacturers complete the form, 

certifying that their products still meet 

the specification requirements as 

originally tested. DD Form 1718 is 

included as an exhibit in an appeal or 

hearing case file as evidence of the 

reviewers’ products or process 

qualifications in advance of, and 

independent of, acquisition. 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES