The primary information included in the Coast  Guard’s COP is vessel and aircraft position information—or tracks— and descriptive information about the vessels, their cargo, and crew. Command and control systems. These procedures address the  development and the use of the COP. It would also include the requirements document, which  identifies the essential capabilities and associated requirements  needed to make the COP function. The Coast Guard’s SDLC process is documented in the U.S.  Coast Guard SDLC Practice Manual. This could increase the time it takes for COP  information gathered by a vessel operating with a classified system to be  shared with an aircraft operating with an unclassified system. In February 2012, we reported that the Coast Guard had increased  access to its WatchKeeper software by allowing access to the system for  Coast Guard port partners; however, the Coast Guard had limited  success in improving information sharing between the Coast Guard and  local port partners. We found that the Coast Guard did not follow  established guidance during the development of WatchKeeper—a major  component of the $74 million Interagency Operations Center acquisition  project—by, in part, failing to determine the needs of its users, define  acquisition requirements, or determine cost and schedule information. The Coast Guard Has Made Some Progress in Increasing the Availability of COP Information to Users, but Has Experienced Challenges in Implementing COP- Related Systems

The Coast Guard has made some progress in increasing the amount and  type of information included in the COP, and has increased the number of  users with access to that information. However, it has faced challenges in  implementing some COP-related systems. The Coast Guard Has Made Progress in Adding Information to the COP and Making That Information Available to More Users

Since the COP became operational in 2003, the Coast Guard has made  progress in adding useful data sources and in increasing the number of  users with access to the COP. The Coast Guard has Encountered Challenges in Meeting its Goals for Multiple COP-Related Systems

The Coast Guard has experienced multiple challenges in meeting its  goals for multiple COP-related systems. Our site visits to area, district, and sector command  centers in six Coast Guard field locations, and discussions with  headquarters personnel identified numerous examples of user concerns  about EGIS. When EGIS was installed on these  older computers performance suffered. The Coast Guard Has Not Adhered to its Information Technology Development Guidance for Most Recent COP Technology

Although the SDLC process has been in place since 2004, the Coast  Guard has not adhered to this guidance for the development of more  recent COP-related technology—Coast Guard One View, or CG1V. Although officials stated in October 2012 that efforts were underway to  complete phase one documents for CG1V, as of February 2013, almost a  year after CG1V’s April 2012 designation into the second phase of the  SDLC, the Coast Guard has not completed two of the five key documents  needed to exit the first phase. The tailoring plan  is to provide a clear and concise listing of SDLC process requirements  throughout the entire system lifecycle, and facilitates the documentation  of calculated deviations from standard SDLC activities, products, roles,  and responsibilities from the outset of the project. Though the SDLC  manual clearly states that the tailoring plan is a key first step in the SDLC,  CG1V’s tailoring plan was not approved until February 2013, almost a  year after CG1V was designated into the SDLC. Coast Guard officials  stated that they were completing some documents retroactively because  projects cannot exit any phase of the SDLC process without completing  the documents required in each of the preceding phases. Recommendation for Executive Action

To better ensure that the Coast Guard follows the SDLC as required, we  recommend that the Commandant of the Coast Guard direct the Coast  Guard Chief Information Officer to issue guidance clarifying the  application of the SDLC for the development of future projects. Agency Comments

We provided a draft of this report to the Department of Homeland Security  for comment. With regard to our recommendation, that the Coast Guard issue guidance  clarifying the application of the SDLC for the development of future  projects, DHS stated that the Coast Guard will review, clarify, and issue  guidance related to the applicability of the SDLC process to mitigate risks  of implementation challenges and maximize the potential contribution of  future technology development for the COP. EGIS can display this information on multiple  viewers.
Why GAO Did This Study

To facilitate its mission effectiveness and share maritime situational awareness, the Coast Guard developed its COP--a map-based information system shared among its commands. The COP displays vessels, information about those vessels, and the environment surrounding them on interactive digital maps. COP information is shared via computer networks throughout the Coast Guard to assist with operational decisions.
GAO was requested to evaluate the Coast Guard's development of COP-related systems. GAO assessed the extent to which the Coast Guard (1) has made progress in making information included in the COP available to users and any challenges it has encountered in implementing COP-related systems, and (2) followed its approved information technology development guidance when developing new technology.
GAO conducted site visits to six Coast Guard sector commands and five district command centers, based on geography to engage a broad range of COP users, analyzed Coast Guard policies and documents, and interviewed Coast Guard headquarters officials managing the COP's development and implementation.

What GAO Found

The U.S. Coast Guard, a component of the Department of Homeland Security, has made progress in developing its Common Operational Picture (COP) by increasing the information in the COP and increasing user access to this information, but the Coast Guard has also faced challenges in developing COP-related systems. The Coast Guard has made progress by adding internal and external data sources that allow for better maritime domain awareness--the effective understanding of anything associated with the global maritime domain that could affect the United States. In addition, the COP has made information from these sources available to more COP users and decision makers throughout the Coast Guard. However, the Coast Guard has also experienced challenges in meeting the COP's goals and implementing systems to display and share COP information. For example, it experienced challenges when it deployed its Enterprise Geographic Information System (EGIS), a tool that did not meet user needs. The challenges Coast Guard personnel experienced with EGIS included system slowness and displays of inaccurate information. Our prior work found similar challenges with other Coast Guard COP-related systems not meeting intended objectives. For example, in February 2012, GAO reported that the intended information-sharing capabilities of the Coast Guard's WatchKeeper software, a major part of the $74 million Interagency Operations Center project, did not meet port partners' needs, in part, because the agency failed to determine these needs.
The Coast Guard has not followed its own information technology development guidance when developing new technology. A recent example occurred in 2012 when the agency did not follow its System Development Life Cycle (SDLC) guidance during its initial development of Coast Guard One View (CG1V), its new planned COP viewer. The SDLC requires documents to be completed during specific phases of product development. The Coast Guard, however, did not follow this process during the early development of CG1V. Specifically, we found in February 2013, 9 months after CG1V had entered into the SDLC that the Coast Guard either had not created certain required documents or had created them outside of the sequence prescribed by the SDLC. For example, the SDLC-required tailoring plan is to provide a clear and concise listing of SDLC process requirements throughout the entire system lifecycle, and facilitates the documentation of calculated deviations from standard SDLC activities, products, roles, and responsibilities from the outset of the project. Though the SDLC clearly states that the tailoring plan is a key first step in the SDLC, for CG1V it was not written until after documents required in the second phase were completed. Coast Guard officials stated that this late completion of the tailoring plan occurred because the Coast Guard's Chief Information Officer had allowed the project to start in the second phase of the SDLC because they believed it was a proven concept. Without key phase one documents, the Coast Guard may have dedicated resources without knowing project costs. In October 2012, Coast Guard officials acknowledged the importance of following the SDLC process and stated their intent to complete the SDLC-required documents. Clarifying the application of the SDLC to new technology development would better position the Coast Guard to maximize the usefulness of the COP.

What GAO Recommends

GAO recommends that the Coast Guard clarify the application of the SDLC for the development of future technology projects. DHS concurred with our recommendation.