mitre 2012 annual report

THE MITRE CORPORATION | Annual Report 2012

www.mitre.org 1

From Our President and the Chairman of the Board ..................................2

Changing the Game Fulfilling a Commitment to Our Sponsors ................................................................4As the operator of FFRDCs, we are committed to advancing our sponsors’ missions by leaps in capability, with an emphasis on transitioning what we develop to real-world use by government and industry.

Affordable Solutions, Effective Capabilities Practical Approaches for Complex Challenges ...................................................10Our sponsors operate in a budget-constrained environment. To help them accomplish their core missions, our engineers and scientists respond to their challenges with a focus on affordability, effectiveness, and efficiency.

Collaboration Without Barriers The Value of Public-Private Partnerships .............................................................. 18MITRE’s lack of organizational conflicts of interest enables us to bring together the best ideas from government, industry, and other not-for-profit organizations to benefit the public good.

Inside MITRE ....................................................................................................................24

Notable News..................................................................................................................26

Locations ............................................................................................................................27

Financial and Staffing Data......................................................................................27

Leadership .........................................................................................................................28

Board of Trustees ..........................................................................................................30

The MITRE Corporation—FFRDCs ........................................................................32

Table of Contents

The MITRE Corporation is a not-for-profit organization chartered to work in the public interest.

MITRE manages federally funded research and development centers (FFRDCs). An FFRDC is a unique organization that assists the United States government with scientific research and analysis, development and acquisition, and systems engineering and integration. We also have an independent research and development program that explores new technologies and new uses of technologies to solve our sponsors’ problems in the near term and in the future.

The MITRE Corporation

2 The MITRE Corporation | Annual Report 2012 www.mitre.org 3

From Our President and the Chairman of the Board

James SchlesingerChairman of the Board of Trustees

Alfred GrassoPresident and Chief Executive Officer

As the federal government continues to grapple with the realities of shrinking budgets and continuing resolutions as the “new normal,” it is clear that critical national priori-

ties demand operational capabilities delivered in a timely, affordable way. Success will depend on the ability of all stakeholders—government, industry, academia, federally

funded research and development centers (FFRDCs), and national laboratories—to work together, leveraging the best each has to offer. We at MITRE believe that trans-

lates into an obligation that MITRE’s own FFRDCs apply sound systems engineering principles and innovative approaches that produce game-changing improvements in

efficiency, effectiveness, and affordability.

FFRDCs are unique organizations, limited in number, and frequently not in the public eye. As such, they are not always well understood. Concerns are sometimes

expressed about sole-source contracts, comparative costs, and the ability of commercial firms to perform the same work. We believe a richer understanding of the FFRDC

role can eliminate these concerns and increase awareness of their long-term value.

FFRDCs are established to operate as long-term strategic partners with their government sponsors, providing expertise in critical areas and performing work closely

aligned with inherently governmental roles. The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), which governs the establishment and management of FFRDCs, sets conditions that

position them for success in their unique role. For example, FFRDCs are required to operate in the public interest and be free from any organizational conflict of interest.

They are prohibited from manufacturing products, competing with industry, or working for commercial companies. These conditions, combined with annual staffing and

funding caps and strong governance, ensure that FFRDCs focus only on critical issues, providing objective, independent advice with no bias in favor of any solution or product.

New FFRDCs are often established through a competitive process, as were three of the ones MITRE currently operates. Prior to renewing a contract, sponsoring

organizations must conduct a comprehensive review of the use and need for the FFRDC. If, in the course of this review, they determine the need is ongoing and the operation

of the FFRDC meets or exceeds expectations, it is clearly most cost-effective for them to continue that relationship, thereby avoiding unnecessary expense and preserving the

institutional memory and continuity the FAR encourages. This process determines relevance and effectiveness of the FFRDC and has resulted in the closure of more than 60

FFRDCs as national priorities have shifted and needs changed. These reviews also examine the costs associated with the operation of the FFRDC. Because of the attention

we pay to cost management at MITRE, over the past five years we have absorbed inflationary costs and delivered average annual cost growth per technical staff of less than

one-third of one percent in current dollars.

Finally, while it is true that on a task-by-task basis one might conclude that the work done by an FFRDC could also be performed by a commercial contractor, this type

of comparison ignores the more important context in which it is performed. If the work is closely aligned to inherently governmental functions and requires a high level of

integration across domains, disciplines, and organizations, supported by the application of unique capabilities, a high degree of objectivity, freedom from conflict of interest,

and/or access to sensitive and proprietary information, then an FFRDC is uniquely qualified to offer its services. The stories of MITRE contributions found in this report

clearly illustrate the value of those criteria in practice.

Challenges to the FFRDC proposition have been made in the past, and a num-

ber of studies conducted to evaluate their ongoing relevance and management. Some

have led to important improvements in governance. All have affirmed the value of the

FFRDC model. Recently, the National Academy of Public Administration evaluated

the Department of Energy’s national labs, a subset of FFRDCs. Their findings once

again confirmed that FFRDCs provide enduring value to the nation.

That value is well demonstrated here at MITRE by the good progress we

made in FY12 on a number of fronts, as we found ways to help our sponsors

increase capabilities (sometimes by as much as an order of magnitude), save money,

or optimize decision making.

For example, we matured our “cyber kill chain” methodology and developed reconfigurable cyber defense capabilities that analyze large amounts of data and focus

defense and response mechanisms. We worked with the FAA to introduce a new runway separation standard in Atlanta that uses advanced navigation technology resulting in

10 more departures per hour, saving airlines $10 million annually and lowering environmental impact. And effective collaboration between the IRS, MITRE, and commercial

contractors produced results that increased confidence in the successful execution of the Business Systems Modernization program and led the Government Accountability

Office to remove it from its high-risk list.

As the Affordable Care Act goes into effect, health care continues to be a central issue on the national landscape. To bolster its ability to develop programs that empha-

size quality care while constraining costs, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services chose to create an FFRDC. We are proud that, following an open competition, we

were selected to operate it. We are equally proud that RAND is joining us as a partner in this unique endeavor.

These are challenging times, but history tells us that success overcoming challenges comes when people pull together. As we noted in our opening, all stakeholders—

government, industry, laboratories, and FFRDCs—have roles to play, and all must play them well. At MITRE, we remain committed to do our part to help our nation thrive.

4 The MITRE Corporation | Annual Report 2012 5

Changing the GameFulfilling a Commitment to Our Sponsors

Imagine a system that speeds foreign visitors through airports five times faster. Or a new standard for aircraft

departures that uses advanced navigation capabilities to shorten wait times, reduce environmental impact,

and save millions of dollars. As the operator of FFRDCs, we are committed to advancing our sponsors’

missions by leaps in capability, not just incremental improvements. For example, our bistatic radar system—

a revolutionary technology for ground-based surveillance—provides life-saving information for our

warfighters with a far smaller footprint and substantially lower cost than conventional radars. Our method

for hyperspectral sensing promises to open windows onto the invisible world—with valuable outcomes for

national security and public health. Once we identify a potential game changer, we pursue it tirelessly—

as with our contributions to the integration of unmanned aircraft into civil airspace. And because we’re

striving to meet critical operational needs, we quickly and cost-effectively transition what we develop to our

sponsors and industry partners for real-world use.

Searching enormous databases of fingerprints at border crossings currently requires costly proprietary systems. To reduce costs and increase processing speed, MITRE developed BioACE, or Biometric Architecture Concept Evaluation, a working prototype funded by US-VISIT.

Changing the Game 5

FROM OUR SPONSOR

Changing the Game 76 6 The MITRE Corporation | Annual Report 2012

“MITRE’s people, through

their dedication, expertise,

and combined intellect,

made US-VISIT a success.

You should be proud of the

tree that’s grown from the

early seeds we planted and

nurtured together. MITRE

was not in the shadows,

but out front, helping do

the strategic and tactical

things that make programs

like US-VISIT gigantic

accomplishments.”

Jim Williams, Former Director, US-VISIT, Department of Homeland Security

A Transformation in Radar Technology

During the last few years, MITRE solved a long-standing problem in bistatic/multistatic ground-moving target indications (GMTI) radar. Many organizations pursued the concepts behind bistatic radar for decades, but none had achieved an operationally viable implementation for ground surveillance until now. Using an algorithmic approach, our team developed a system that marks a breakthrough in size and cost with no loss in effectiveness.

The team’s system begins with two relatively simple devices—each only one cubic-foot in size, weighing 20

pounds, with a $150 antenna. Using the MITRE signal processing algo-rithms, they work in concert to gener-ate pristine GMTI data for a fraction of the cost of existing systems.

After the team validated its approach, the Department of Defense’s Joint IED Defeat Organization supported the rapid development of system prototypes and deployed them in Afghanistan, where they currently provide a significant operational capability. We are now transitioning the technology to the Army, which is procuring and building multiple sys-tems. We’re also working with other sponsors to help them adapt the technology for their specific needs.

A Breakthrough in Biometric Matching

Our sponsors use biometrics, such as fingerprints or iris patterns, to deter-mine foreign travelers’ identities. However, searching enormous data-bases currently requires proprietary systems that scale poorly to border crossing demands. MITRE commit-ted to discover a better way—and developed technology potentially up to 5 times faster and 1/10th the cost of DHS’s most critical and costly fingerprint matching subsystem.

The capability began as a research project, the “3x2 Fingerprint Challenge.” In 2010, Fast Company magazine recognized the work for

its innovation. A great idea has since evolved into BioACE (Biometric Architecture Concept Evaluation), a prototype funded by US-VISIT. Our staff created the system with low-cost, off-the-shelf hardware using custom, open-source, and some com-mercial software.

Critical BioACE elements include coarse matching, filters, and fine matching via MITREmatcher, which scans large biometric identity data-bases for candidates to determine if any match the traveler’s biometric signature. We are now assessing performance and cost improvements through testing, patenting the tech-nology, and exploring how to transfer BioACE to government and industry.

A Major Step for UAS in Civil Airspace

The government and private sector have big plans for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS)—for military train-ing, border enforcement, disaster response, and more. For safety rea-sons, the FAA limits where and when UAS can operate. Easing restrictions will require UAS to sense and avoid other air traffic—from gliders to hot air balloons—even if it loses commu-nication with its ground-based pilot.

Engineers from MITRE, the University of North Dakota, and NASA reached a milestone in 2012 in the skies over eastern North Dakota. The team loaded two sense-and-avoid

algorithms into the computer of a NASA test aircraft representing a UAS, flying over 100 encounters. The Limited Deployment-Cooperative Airspace Project (LD-CAP) demon-strated how UAS could automatically detect and avoid other aircraft. The flight tests also validated a computer-ized simulation capability that evalu-ated sense-and-avoid algorithms with thousands of simulated encounters.

The team is using the test data to mature both the sense-and-avoid algorithms and the simulation capability. Additionally, we will incorporate the results into MITRE’s broader program aimed at integrating unmanned aircraft into non-segre-gated civil airspace.

FROM OUR PARTNER

8 The MITRE Corporation | Annual Report 2012 Changing the Game 9

PRISM: A New Way to See the Invisible

From health care to national defense to environmental monitoring, imag-ine the advances possible if we could see more of the invisible world. This quest for knowledge spurs MITRE’s research in hyperspectral sensing—the science of capturing images at multiple wavelengths beyond the visible spectrum. One such project, PRISM (Probabilistic Identification of Solid Materials), is transforming the science of remote sensing.

Conventional remote sensing already detects materials on the earth’s surface, but PRISM’s algorithm helps analysts identify a specific material

with confidence. A big barrier to success involves separating materi-als of interest from other materi-als—known as “confusers”—that look spectrally similar and can cause false alarms during the identification process. PRISM offers an improved technique that averages data over a large set of possible models to gener-ate accurate material probabilities.

This decreases the false alarm rate by an order of magnitude and drastically reduces the time it takes to receive results. MITRE researchers envision PRISM, which we are now patenting, to evolve into an enabling capability for a wide range of uses across our sponsors’ domains.

“MITRE did a great study

on Equivalent Lateral

Spacing Operation

departures. They did an

evaluation, benchmarked

it prior to the reduced

departures, and did a

great data analysis once

we implemented the

departures. There was

absolutely no doubt the

data showed improved

operations.”

Captain Mark Bradley Chief Technical Pilot, Delta Air Lines

Finding the Needle in a Multimedia Haystack

Unlike standard text searches, finding information in audio or video files requires a time-consuming process for transcribing audio signals into words for text search. For nearly a decade, MITRE’s Audio Hot Spotting (AHS) research team has extended the state of the art of mul-timedia information retrieval, often in collaboration with MIT-Lincoln Laboratory and industry leaders.

By fusing results from transcription-based speech recognition and phoneme-based audio retrieval, AHS offers better precision and recall than any other individual system.

AHS also provides other information embedded in the audio, such as the speaker’s identity and the language he or she is speaking.

We have adapted and extended our U.S.-patented system to offer mission-specific functionality for our sponsors by adding such features as cross-lingual capability, automatic monitor-and-alert, and Audio Gazetteer, which connects audio recordings with geographical information about the source file’s mention of place names. AHS signifi-cantly reduces how long it takes to find crucial and often time-sensitive information previously buried in countless hours of multimedia files.

New Standards Deliver Shorter Takeoff Lines

A new flight separation standard advanced by MITRE is enabling shorter airport takeoff queues. This translates into less time on the ground, lower fuel consumption, and more satisfied fliers. The new stan-dard, which reflects improvements in the accuracy of aircraft navigation capabilities, is being used by the FAA at Atlanta-Hartsfield International Airport to add a new departure path, allowing 10 additional departures each hour and saving the airlines about $10 million yearly.

MITRE engineers realized that with the improvement in aircraft

navigation technology, changes could be made to the existing separation standard to allow more takeoffs per hour. This idea led to the development of the Equivalent Lateral Spacing Operation (ELSO) standard, which uses advanced area navigation Standard Instrument Departure procedures to reduce the minimum angle required between an airport’s departure routes.

The new standard allows aircraft routes to be spaced more closely together without compromising safety. The result is that airlines can take better advantage of the airspace surrounding the airport and mini-mize the environmental impact on adjacent communities.

10 The MITRE Corporation | Annual Report 2012

Affordable Solutions, Effective CapabilitiesPractical Approaches for Complex Challenges

MITRE’s sponsors operate in a budget-constrained environment, but that doesn’t change the imperative to

accomplish their core missions, from national defense to tax collection to health care delivery. Our engineers

and scientists may consider different ways to respond to our sponsors’ challenges, but every response must

strike a balance among affordability, effectiveness, and efficiency. That’s why we support the use of open

source software whenever possible, which helps speed innovation at lower cost. And it’s why we’re tapping

into the power of mobile technology, from developing prototypes for robot “brains” to reducing the size,

weight, and cost of infantry communications gear. We use our expertise to analyze alternative technologies,

so our sponsors can choose the best path forward for complex systems, such as military GPS. In 2012, this

focus on giving the government the most “bang for the buck” helped the IRS save money and time on its IT

investments and introduced a cost-effective way for patients and doctors to share electronic health records

securely on the Web or on smartphones.

GPS is now ubiquitous in everyday life, but it’s first and foremost a vital tool for national defense. The MITRE-led analysis of alternatives for military GPS modernization resulted in recommendations that will save billions of dollars over the next 15 years.

Affordable Solutions, Effective Capabilities 11

Affordable Solutions, Effective Capabilities 1312 The MITRE Corporation | Annual Report 2012

Answering the Call for Cost-Effective Robots

From reconnaissance to search and res-cue, robots perform increasingly com-plex tasks. Traditional robot systems come with expensive and proprietary control systems, making customization, upgrades, and security costly and time-consuming. To address these issues, our researchers introduced the Android operating system as a cost-effective robot “brain,” and agile manufactur-ing as a way to redesign platforms quickly and inexpensively.

Android smartphones serve as effective robotic system control-lers: they have built-in sensors, a powerful application architecture,

and can integrate with a wide range of devices. 3-D printing, one form of agile manufacturing, can build platforms shaped to fit various sen-sors and environments. This pairing reduces cycle time, improves adapt-ability, and lowers costs.

In 2012, MITRE demonstrated the Android control system for sponsors, once with ground systems and once with a 3-D-printed, unmanned aerial vehicle. These successes showcased the practicality of building state-of-the-art control systems in recon-figurable bodies. Such a capability significantly reduces cost and offers a model for developing the next generation of robotic systems.

“The mission, jointly

funded by the Department

of Defense and MITRE,

is to develop cheaper

and faster solutions to

expensive government

programs, such as building

autonomous aircraft….

When completed, MITRE’s

system will offer a drastic

price reduction over the

expensive custom UAVs

that are contracted by the

government.”

“Want a Flying Drone? These Students 3-D Printed Their Own,” WIRED, 11.28.12

Promoting the Benefits of Open Source Standards

Our commitment to vendor neu-trality enables us to lead in creating and spreading open source software standards—common formats used for document, file, and data transfers. Standards let software products work together seamlessly, save money, and speed the technology transfer process.

For example, MITRE, the Object Management Group (OMG), and HL7—a health IT standards organiza-tion—are currently refining and pro-moting the MITRE-developed hData, which is well on its way to becoming a worldwide standard in electronic health information exchange.

Our collaboration with OMG over two decades has resulted in several other modeling language definitions and profiles, with some becoming DoD-mandated standards. Others support military communications, command and control systems, and data sharing for civil and defense agencies. One recent standard, the Systems Modeling Language (SysML)—a graphical modeling language that enables the analysis and design of complex systems— has been adopted by numerous MITRE sponsors. SysML and similar standards are integral to the government’s ability to reduce devel-opment costs and promote system-of-systems integration.

Lighter, Cheaper Gear For Soldiers on the Move

To remain alert and agile on patrol, today’s infantry must carry substan-tial communications technology. The current gear, which weighs about 30 pounds and costs several thousand dollars, elevates soldiers to self-contained command-and-control (C2) nodes. A MITRE team, working with the Mass.-based Natick Soldier Research Development and Engineering Center (NSRDEC), took on the task of developing lighter, cheaper, faster, and better technology.

We developed key components of the Nett Warrior Android proto-type, a device capable of supporting

advanced navigation, situational awareness, GPS, and other sensors. The unit replaces current technol-ogy with an Android-based phone. It provides an open-source tool loaded with communications and C2 capa-bilities each soldier needs, at less than two percent of the weight of today’s system. In early tests at the Army Expeditionary Warrior Experiment, soldiers rated it five out of five stars.

Late in 2012, NSRDEC transitioned the prototype to the program of record, PM Soldier Warrior. During 2013, the military will deploy 3,000 Android units, each at a cost of between $500 and $600—far less than the cost of individual compo-nents of the current system.

IN THE NEWS

IN THE NEWS

14 The MITRE Corporation | Annual Report 2012 Affordable Solutions, Effective Capabilities 15

Preparing VA Response to Impending Threats

As Superstorm Sandy approached the East Coast, Department of Veterans Affairs officials at the VA Integrated Operations Center (IOC) could track how many veterans, employees, and facilities the storm would affect using a MITRE-proof of concept Common Operating Picture (COP). The COP, an operational dashboard, gives VA access to the information it needs for timely deci-sion-making and crisis management.

As the second-largest federal agency, VA—supporting 22 million veterans, over 300,000 employees, and 1,600 field sites—must be ready for potential

threats, from terror attacks and natu-ral disasters to disease outbreaks. The VA now has improved situational awareness and emergency prepared-ness capabilities as a result of the new COP, and a Subject Matter Expertise Center for biological events (SMEC-bio) application stemming from MITRE’s proof-of-concept work.

Because MITRE manages several FFRDCs, we could access a broad range of data, systems, and experts—in civil systems, health, defense, and intelligence—to create and evalu-ate the proof of concept. The VA subsequently transitioned the proof of concept to a contractor to build out and field.

Cyber Centers Improve Threat Awareness

For speed and cost savings, the government increasingly conducts business on the Internet instead of building and using proprietary net-works. Yet this leaves more oppor-tunities for those with malicious intent—from criminals to rogue nation-states—to attempt attacks on government systems. To counter these threats, MITRE has helped establish and refine Cyber Security Operations Centers (CSOCs) for our sponsors to take advantage of new cyber tools and processes.

We have created a “CSOC template” to establish standards for processes

and technical solutions that enable agencies to expand the ability to defend their networks and share infor-mation with related organizations.

For example, MITRE personnel supporting the U.S. Transportation Command’s Joint Cyber Center (JCC) at Scott Air Force Base provide advice to the organization on moni-toring its networks. During 2012, we supported the development of automated analysis methods that sort through large amounts of data and present information to JCC personnel in a way that’s easier to assess and act upon. This improves threat awareness, allowing analysts to respond quickly and prevent military operations from being disrupted or compromised.

“The hData RESTful

Transport specifications,

developed with the

assistance of MITRE, are

low-cost and easy to

deploy compared with

other exchange standards….

That means physicians

could download from an

electronic health record

just certain pieces of data

needed to make decisions,

and the specifications

support access via mobile

computing devices.”

“New Standards Support Patient Data Exchange,” Health Data Management, 2.15.12

Secure Sharing for a Full Medical Picture

It can be difficult to assemble the complete picture of a patient’s medi-cal history because a person’s medical records generally reside at multiple health care organizations. For several years, MITRE researchers have advanced the technology of elec-tronic health information exchange, which gives patients and care givers access to the records they need. Most recently, we’ve led the development of RESTful Health Exchange (RHex), which uses Web technologies to cre-ate a simple, secure, standards-based health information exchange, even for mobile devices.

RHex breaks bulky health records into manageable Web-based “links,” allowing different doctors, for example, to easily find and exchange clinical information about a patient. To test the concept, MITRE is piloting a RHex-enabled health data exchange to promote information sharing between primary care doctors and consulting experts. We’re also teaming with the state of Maine to use RHex in securely transporting health information from provider facilities to the state health data repository.

RHex builds on the hData specifi-cation, a MITRE-funded research initiative on track for adoption as an international standard.

Affordable Solutions, Effective Capabilities 1716 The MITRE Corporation | Annual Report 2012

Shaping the Military’s GPS Modernization

The U.S. military and its allies use precise positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) to obtain a key information advantage. Before enter-ing the next major phase of Global Positioning System (GPS) modern-ization, the Department of Defense performed an analysis of alternatives (AoA) to evaluate potential PNT warfighter solutions. The DoD was looking for the best balance in terms of mission capability, cost, suitability, and schedule in the face of future threats. MITRE played a primary role in this AoA, which identified how to deliver needed capabilities while

saving several billion dollars over the next 15 years.

Because of our experience in military PNT, the DoD assigned us lead tech-nical roles in all three components of the AoA. We developed detailed models of the most promising alternatives and obtained quantita-tive performance and cost results. Recommendations based on the results included accelerating some planned developments, eliminating funding of others, and making some investments in lower-cost approaches to provide planned capabilities.

The DoD accepted the analysis in 2012 and is beginning to implement the recommendations.

On-Demand Access to Geospatial Analysis

The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) supplies crucial information on geographic features, known as GEOINT, to national secu-rity organizations. The NGA’s vision: put more power into the hands of its mission partners and analysts by pro-viding online access to geospatial data and customized analysis of that data.

To help NGA realize this vision, MITRE designed a new Web archi-tecture and virtual infrastructure, the Integrated Analytic Environment, which includes a variety of geospa-tial applications available through the agency’s “App Store.” The

environment enables rapid deploy-ment of geospatial apps for desktop and mobile devices, using common Web browsers. We also created a uniform set of design guidelines, templates, and standards, along with common libraries for use by NGA developers. NGA successfully demonstrated the new approach dur-ing the 2012 Colorado wildfires and Hurricane Sandy by making vital geo-graphic information available faster.

With the combination of the Integrated Analytic Environment and uniform design tools, we are helping NGA achieve its national-security mission while offering stakeholders greater capabilities faster and for less money.

Tackling Enterprise-Wide IT Planning at the IRS

When the Internal Revenue Service scheduled a complex series of information technology rollouts, it turned to MITRE for planning guidance. Our team placed particular emphasis on upgrades in the crucial taxpayer account-management sys-tem. Working with IRS IT staff, we developed what became the agency’s first-ever Integrated Release Plan.

Since 2011, the plan has evolved into a fundamental decision-making tool that the joint team refines continually. The IRS can readily see how dozens of IT systems affect one another, how modifications affect

daily operations, and how to avoid overlaps in investments. With this holistic view, the agency saves money and makes better staffing decisions across its massive IT enterprise.

“MITRE is the key force behind the manipulation of the data and the assimilation of it in a manner that makes sense,” says Kenneth W. Nesbit, Sr., former director of Requirements and Demand Management for the IRS’ IT orga-nization. “MITRE also provides thought leadership on how the data should be used.” The agency further acknowledged the value of the plan with its IRS Chief Technology Officer Award, given jointly to the IRS and MITRE team.

“The plan provides IRS

leadership with the

ability to react quickly to

changing needs, budget

changes, and

legislative issues.

MITRE is instrumental

in the continued

success and eventual

knowledge transfer

of this vital product,

which supports IRS

leadership.”

Kenneth W. Nesbit, Sr., former director of Requirements and Demand Management for the IRS’ IT organization

FROM OUR SPONSOR


Collaboration Without BarriersThe Value of Public-Private Partnerships

How do you make it easier for first responders to communicate with each other at large-scale events when

they use different technologies? How can you make a potentially life-saving mobile app to prevent runway

incidents available to pilots as quickly as possible? These are the kind of questions MITRE loves to answer.

Because of our role as the operator of FFRDCs, our lack of organizational conflicts of interest enables us to

bring together the best ideas from government, industry, and other not-for-profit organizations to benefit

the public interest. We have served in this linchpin role for more than five decades, working with partners

across the spectrum—partners that trust us to work with them toward the right outcome. In 2012, for

example, these collaborations resulted in valuable insights into how social media affects the actions of

government officials during crises and how military cyber-warriors can better defend their systems and

accomplish their missions.

To boost communication between public officials and private citizens in emergencies, MITRE ran a realistic crisis simulation on the campus of George Mason University. We’re trying to answer the question: Can social media influence government decision-making during a crisis?

Collaboration Without Barriers 19

IN THE NEWS

Collaboration Without Barriers 2120 The MITRE Corporation | Annual Report 2012

“MITRE has the mission

of providing homeland

security stakeholders,

like first responders,

with tools for integrated

communications. Unlike

others, MITRE didn’t

come to us with a tool

built for something else,

insisting it would solve all

our problems. They came

to us with a question:

‘What do you need?’”

“The Right Idea,” Regional Catastrophic Planning Team (RCPT) Newsletter, January 2012

Boosting Public Safety at Large Events

For several years, our researchers have helped local public safety officials apply new communications technol-ogy and processes formerly reserved for the military. Taking our lead from brainstorming sessions with first responders, we created customizable software tools with the Emergency Data Exchange Language (EDXL). These open source tools enable data exchange among the wide array of sys-tems fire and police departments use.

In 2012, we took the work further—demonstrating how to deliver faster and better situational awareness at events that require a sizable law

enforcement presence. The team tested a mobile communications system, which is deployable in just a few hours, at events such as the 2012 NATO Summit and both major politi-cal conventions.

At the 2012 LA Marathon, for example, we introduced our tracking capability for emergency service vehi-cles. Police and other first responders saw vehicle and personnel locations on geographic information system displays or on their smartphones—a far cry from moving magnets across a paper map, as in the past. Initial feed-back shows such tools hold enormous potential for enhancing public safety during large events or natural disasters.

Helping Pilots Reduce Runway Incursions

Runway incursions, where aircraft enter active runways without permis-sion, have caused some of the world’s deadliest aviation disasters. Every year, about 950 incursions occur in the United States alone; fortunately, the majority of them don’t cause accidents. MITRE has a long history of collaborating on the development of incursion-warning systems for the country’s busiest airports.

Most incursions now occur at general aviation airports, which don’t have incursion-warning systems. MITRE researchers spent three years developing a low-cost

incursion avoidance system that works with a pilot’s smartphone. The resulting application captures the controller’s instructions using speech recognition and displays them on the device. The app also issues an audible warning if the pilot does not comply with those instructions.

Because of the urgency of the prob-lem, MITRE released the software as open source. This makes it available immediately and at no cost to ven-dors who want to add the capability to existing products. ForeFlight, maker of a popular smartphone and tablet app for pilots, has already incorporated the system into its soft-ware, and other vendors are consid-ering doing the same.

An Online Test Bed Improves IRS Web Tools

A better online experience makes it easier for taxpayers, while also bring-ing in revenues that fund government services. That’s been a guiding prin-ciple in the IRS’s efforts to enhance its Web presence through IRS.gov. Now, the IRS is improving and expanding the content and usability of its Web-based services, through its new Office of Online Services (OLS), aided by MITRE and key industry partners.

Drawing on best applied prac-tices in the private sector, MITRE and the IRS designed the Online Services Innovation and Evaluation

Environment (IE2), an evaluation and test bed. IE2 enables taxpay-ers and tax preparers to help assess the effectiveness of potential online services. It also allows the IRS and MITRE to engage with industry to evaluate new commercial products.

With IE2, OLS is improving search results of IRS.gov content by inviting taxpayers to participate in a blind test of leading search engines. We aggre-gate and analyze usage data from the tests to recommend how to optimize IRS.gov search performance. IE2 accelerates IRS’s ability to design and produce Web services that are easy to use, meet taxpayer needs, and encourage return visits to IRS.gov.

IN THE NEWS

22 The MITRE Corporation | Annual Report 2012 Collaboration Without Barriers 23

“While the emergency

operators did their

work, the MITRE team

collected data. Observers

wandered through the

simulation taking notes,

but software collected

a much larger share

of the data through

programs that tracked

emergency operators’

eye movements and

captured every page and

image that scrolled across

their computer screens.”

“This Is Just a Test: Emergency Responders Tap the Twitterverse,” NextGov.com, 10.5.2012

Operator Feedback Advances Cyber Resiliency

Organizations typically address cyber threats by focusing on prevention. But what if threats make it past fire-walls to critical networks? MITRE’s Resilient Architectures for Mission and Business Objectives (RAMBO) program begins with this question. Our researchers are showing how computer networks can bounce back from even the most clever cyber attacks, enabling missions to continue.

In 2012, we tested RAMBO’s concepts using a real-world scenario during our Cyber Resiliency Simulation Experiment (SIMEX). In our Net-Centric C4ISR Experimentation Lab, we developed

network architectures that emulated a military mission environment. Numerous Navy cyber and mission operators and government experts helped plan and execute the experiment.

For realism, the SIMEX integrated network and mission operations, overlaying cyber attack and defense on a Navy operation. Participants also used a new MITRE-developed concept, “mission maps,” which detail dependencies between mis-sions and cyber assets. The SIMEX produced several specific findings, including the need for integrated cyber-mission responses, unified cyber-mission situational awareness tools, and tailored personnel training.

Harnessing the Power of Social Media

We know people use social media in crises. But can social media influence the actions and decisions of emer-gency responders? To begin answer-ing that question, a MITRE team conducted a simulation experiment, or SIMEX, in cooperation with George Mason University in Fairfax, Va.

Approximately 140 students (representing the public) enacted a high-casualty disaster scenario our researchers created. Meanwhile, representatives from the university, Fairfax County, and the military staffed an operations center at our Net-Centric C4ISR Experimentation

Lab. The SIMEX tested the Citizens’ Emergency Response Portal System (CERPS), a suite of social media tools that support distributed deci-sion-making between the public and emergency managers. The students and emergency managers quickly became engaged in the virtual event.

One key finding: Agencies often have an institutional bias toward com-municating through official channels; CERPS encouraged direct interaction. “This let us take social media to the next step by engaging the public one-to-one,” said Roy Shrout, deputy coor-dinator of Fairfax County Emergency Management. “We got a much clearer picture of what was going on.”

Priming Care Providers to Fight a Drug Epidemic

Prescription drug abuse has sur-passed automobile accidents as the leading cause of unintended deaths in the U.S., and the White House now recognizes prescription drug overdoses as a national epidemic. In response, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) directed MITRE to study ways to address the problem.

One promising option: Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs (PDMPs). Many states already have these

systems, which track patients’ pre-scription history and flag suspicious patterns, but most severely underuse them. As a first step, we gathered input from the health care technol-ogy industry that informed our ability to develop new workflows to boost PDMP usage.

During a multi-state pilot study, we applied systems engineering methods to reconfigure processes so health IT and PDMP applications functioned together—using technology already in place. The pilot showed streamlin-ing access to PDMP data increased usage and improved patient care. ONC and SAMHSA extended our assignment, enabling the team to expand the pilot into early 2013.


Inside MITRE

Building the Next Generation of Innovators

Our nation’s future depends in large part on fostering innovation in the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) fields—yet the number of American students pursuing STEM education contin-ues to decline. To help alleviate this shortage, MITRE invests substantial time and effort to engage the next generation of engineers and scientists.

Our Student Program, for example, enables 200 young people annually to join MITRE in a co-op, internship, or full-time job. These students—ranging from high school to doc-toral level—work with our staff on technical problems with real-world impact. While the majority of them study computer science, computer engineering, and electrical engineer-ing, we offer opportunities across numerous disciplines, including systems engineering, mathematics, cybersecurity, public health, and nanotechnology.

MITRE long ago recognized the need to increase the number of underrepresented groups in STEM fields. For more than 30 years, we have been an employer-member of the National GEM Consortium. This not-for-profit organization promotes participation by underrepresented groups in post-graduate science and engineering education and in

the technical workforce. MITRE has sponsored more than 70 GEM interns and hired many of them into permanent positions.

And because it’s important to reach students at an early age, many of our employees give their time and talent in the community. For instance, our annual Young Women in Engineering

events have reached hundreds of middle-school girls, many of whom go on to pursue STEM careers. Our employees also mentor students in the community, serve as judges in science fairs, host robotics and LEGO competitions, and speak at local schools—all to pass along their love of science and technology.

Sharing Knowledge though Peer-Reviewed Articles and PatentsWhen it comes to MITRE’s intellectual property, part of our public-interest mission is to share our research findings widely. In 2012, our staff published articles in several books and in dozens of peer-reviewed journals across a range of domains, from Physical Review A to Air Traffic Control Quarterly and IEEE Transactions on Information Forensics and Security. In some cases, we patent the innovations from our research program to protect the government’s use of the technology and prevent adverse use. The 15 MITRE patents from 2012 covered areas as diverse as a design for a wearable communication device for soldiers and a method for improving the efficiency of DNA sequencing.

Outstanding Governance from Our Board Representing a wealth of knowledge and experience, our Board of Trustees provides us with invaluable insights, advice, and guidance. We recently elected two new members, Michèle Flournoy (in 2012) and Elizabeth Rindskopf Parker (in early 2013). They bring notable familiarity with the national security landscape. We also said farewell to two of our trustees in 2012: Marty Faga, former MITRE president and CEO, and Cathy Minehan, dean of the Simmons College School of Management. We thank them both for their service and wish them all the best.

Good Works Beyond the Work DayEvery year, our staff members devote countless hours to volunteering in their own neighborhoods and around the world. Some raise funds to assist the families of premature babies; others help disabled teens and adults find independence through organized sports. One spurred an effort to revive a neglected rail-trail, which now serves thousands of cyclists and walkers. When Superstorm Sandy struck, a group of our New Jersey-based employees, along with colleagues in McLean, Va., raced to help those affected by the disaster, raising money and donating their time to help families with clean-up efforts.

First Women’s Leadership Conference Held“When one door closes, another one opens—but you’ve got to be waiting there at the door.” These words, from former Board of Trustees member Cathy Minehan, summed up a theme heard throughout MITRE’s first Women’s Leadership Conference: take intelligent risks, establish a trusted network, and focus on getting the job done. Her keynote discussion kicked off the event, held April 12 in McLean and Bedford. The conference drew several hundred participants and included breakout sessions related to today’s diverse workplace. Thanks to the event’s success, planning for the 2013 conference began almost immediately.


Financial and Staffing Data

Total Revenue ($ in millions)

$1,500

$0

Total Assets ($ in millions)

$450

$600

Total Staff 8,000

0

2008

2008

2008

$1,234

$526

7,006

2009

2009

2009

$1,263

$534

7,178

2010

2010

2010

$1,310

$556

7,544

2012

2012

2012

$1,421

$586

7,613

2011

2011

2011

$1,389

$558

7,887

MITRE’s revenue from operations increased 2.4% from $1,389 million in fiscal year 2011 to $1,421 million in fiscal year 2012. Year-over-year growth was driven primarily by the addition of work for the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Health and Human Services, as well as moderate growth within the NSEC FFRDC. Assets increased by $28 million from fiscal year 2011, driven primarily by the completion of the Bedford laboratory facility. Staff population decreased year-over-year, which reflects contractions and shifts in the work program.

Locations

202 Burlington RoadBedford, MA 01730(781) 271-2000

7515 Colshire DriveMcLean, VA 22102(703) 983-6000

BELGIUM Brussels

GERMANY Darmstadt Heidelberg Ramstein Air Base Stuttgart Wiesbaden

Domestic Locations

International Locations

Corporate Offices

ALABAMA HuntsvilleMontgomery

ARIZONA Fort Huachuca

CALIFORNIA El SegundoLa JollaSan DiegoVandenberg

COLORADO Colorado Springs

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

FLORIDA Fort Walton BeachMiamiOrlando Tampa

GEORGIA Fort Gordon

HAWAII Honolulu

ILLINOIS Shiloh

INDIANAIndianapolis

KANSAS Kansas CityLeavenworth

MARYLAND AberdeenAnnapolis Junction BaltimoreLexington ParkNew CarrolltonSilver SpringSuitland

MICHIGANAnn Arbor

NEBRASKA Omaha

NEVADA Nellis AFB

NEW JERSEYEatontown Picatinny Arsenal Princeton

NEW YORK Rome

NORTH CAROLINA Fort Bragg

OHIO Dayton

UNITED KINGDOMRAF Molesworth

Notable News

• MITRE’s Systems Engineering Guide becomes available as an eBook. Site reaches 200,000 visitors by the end of 2012.

• OVAL, an international community effort to standardize and promote publicly available information security content, celebrates 10 years.

• MITRE ranks in the top 25 percent of companies on the 2012 InformationWeek 500 list for innovative use of business technology.

• In its first year, the Advanced Cyber Security Center grows from 15 to 27 member organizations.

• The Boston Globe ranks MITRE 6th among region’s “Top Places to Work.”

• Glassdoor ranks MITRE as best employer for work-life balance.

• IDG’s Computerworld names MITRE a “Best Place to Work in IT” for 8th straight year.

• Federal Computer Week presents President and CEO Alfred Grasso with its 2012 Eagle Award, which recognizes individuals who have made a significant impact on federal IT. The award is given to two individuals from among the winners of the Fed 100 Award.

• University of Virginia appoints MITRE Fellow Dr. Garry Jacyna as a distinguished visiting scholar.

• AFCEA International names Alfred Grasso chairman of the board.

• Boston Business Journal names Joel Jacobs a CIO of the Year.

• Geetha Elengical, Sheetal Brahmbhatt, Kimberley Branch, Christine Custis, and Anuja Mahashadbe honored for their technical and leadership accomplishments at the 17th annual Women of Color STEM Conference.

• Kelvin Woods, Arissa Hodges, and Felipe Moreno-Hines honored for technical and leadership achievements at the 2012 Black Engineer of the Year STEM Global Competitiveness Conference.

OKLAHOMAOklahoma City

SOUTH CAROLINAShaw AFB

TEXAS Fort BlissFort HoodSan Antonio

VERMONTBurlington

VIRGINIA ArlingtonChantillyCharlottesvilleDahlgrenFairfax Fort BelvoirHamptonHerndonNorfolkQuanticoRichmondWalney Warrenton

WASHINGTON Seattle

WEST VIRGINIAClarksburg

JAPAN Tokyo

NETHERLANDS The Hague

REPUBLIC OF KOREASeoul

IN THE NEWS

“MITRE has conducted

pioneering work with social

media to build teamwork

between its employees

and an external network

of academics, vendors,

industry, sponsors and

front-line beneficiaries of its

research. Some are high-level

discussions about technology

trends. Others deal with

problems that benefit from

online brainstorming sessions.”

“Get Your Team to Work Across Organizational Boundaries,” Harvard Business Review, 4.9.12


Mr. Peter SherlockSenior Vice President, Director of Bedford Operations,Command and Control Center, National Security Engineering Center, DoD FFRDC

Mr. Joel JacobsVice President and Chief Information Officer

Mr. James CookVice President and Director, Center for Enterprise Modernization, IRS/VA FFRDC

Ms. Lillian Zarrelli RyalsDirector, Senior Vice President, and General Manager, Center for Advanced Aviation System Development, FAA FFRDC

Ms. Barbara ToohillVice President and Director, Homeland Security Systems Engineering and Development Institute, DHS FFRDC

Ms. Sarah MacConduibhVice President of Air Force Programs, Command and Control Center, National Security Engineering Center, DoD FFRDC

Dr. Jason ProvidakesSenior Vice President and General Manager, Center for Connected Government, and Director, CMS Alliance to Modernize Healthcare, CMS FFRDC

Leadership

Mr. Alfred GrassoPresident and Chief Executive Officer Director, National Security Engineering Center, DoD FFRDC

Mr. Richard ByrneSenior Vice President and General Manager, Command and Control Center, and Deputy Director, National Security Engineering Center, DoD FFRDC

Mr. Gary GagnonSenior Vice President and Chief Security Officer

Mr. Sol GlasnerVice President, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary

Mr. Raymond HallerSenior Vice President and General Manager, Center for Integrated Intelligence Systems, and Deputy Director, National Security Engineering Center, DoD FFRDC

Dr. Stephen HuffmanVice President and Chief Technology Officer

Mr. Mark KontosSenior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, and Treasurer

Mr. David LehmanSenior Vice President and Chief Operations Officer

Dr. Louis MetzgerCorporate Chief Engineer and MITRE Fellow

Ms. Karen Quinn-QuintinVice President and Chief Human Resources Officer


Board of Trustees

Mr. Alfred Grasso President and Chief Executive Officer, The MITRE Corporation

Mr. Martin C. FagaFmr. President and Chief Executive Officer, The MITRE Corporation Fmr. Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Space Fmr. Director, National Reconnaissance Office(Retired from Board in 2012)

Senator Charles S. Robb VICE CHAIRMAN Distinguished Professor of Law and Public Policy, George Mason University, School of Law Fmr. U.S. SenatorFmr. Governor of Virginia

Ms. Elizabeth J. Keefer General Counsel, Case Western Reserve UniversityFmr. Senior Vice President, TMG Strategies Fmr. General Counsel, Columbia University

General Ronald R. Fogleman, U.S. Air Force (Ret.)Founding Principal, The Durango Group, LLCFmr. Chief of Staff, U.S. Air Force

Mr. John P. StenbitFmr. Assistant Secretary of Defense for Command, Control, Communications and Intelligence Fmr. Executive Vice President, TRW

Mr. Robert R. EverettHonorary MemberFmr. President, The MITRE Corporation

Dr. Donald M. KerrFmr. Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence Fmr. Director, National Reconnaissance Office Fmr. Deputy Director for Science and Technology, Central Intelligence AgencyFmr. Director, Los Alamos National Laboratory

Dr. George Campbell, Jr.Fmr. President, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and ArtFmr. President and CEO, National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering, Inc.Fmr. U.S. Delegate, International Telecommunications Union

Ms. Jane F. Garvey North America Chairman, Meridiam InfrastructureFmr. Executive Director, JP Morgan Securities, Infrastructure Advisory Group Fmr. Administrator, Federal Aviation Administration Fmr. Acting Administrator, Federal Highway AdministrationFmr. Director, Boston’s Logan Airport

Dr. Jack P. RuinaHonorary MemberProfessor Emeritus of Electrical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Ms. Cathy E. MinehanDean, Simmons College School of ManagementManaging Director, Arlington Advisory Partners, LLC Fmr. President and Chief Executive Officer, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston(Retired from Board in 2012)

Dr. John J. HamrePresident and Chief Executive Officer, Center for Strategic and International Studies Fmr. Deputy Secretary of Defense

Ms. Michèle FlournoySenior Adviser, Boston Consulting GroupFmr. Undersecretary of Defense for PolicyCo-Founder and Fmr. President, Center for a New American SecurityFmr. Senior Adviser, Center for Strategic and International StudiesFmr. Principal Deputy Asst. Secretary of Defense for Strategy and Threat Reduction

Dr. James Schlesinger CHAIRMAN Counselor, Center for Strategic and International Studies Fmr. Secretary of Defense Fmr. Secretary of Energy Fmr. Director of Central Intelligence

General Robert T. Marsh, U.S. Air Force (Ret.)Honorary MemberFmr. Executive Director, Air Force Aid Society Fmr. Commander, Air Force Systems Command

Mr. Nicholas M. DonofrioFmr. IBM Executive Vice President, Innovation and Technology

Mr. Cleve L. KillingsworthFmr. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Fmr. President and Chief Executive Officer, Health Alliance Plan

Admiral Edmund P. Giambastiani, U.S. Navy (Ret.)Fmr. Seventh Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Fmr. NATO Supreme Allied Commander Transformation Fmr. Commander, U.S. Joint Forces Command

General Montgomery C. Meigs, U.S. Army (Ret.)President and Chief Executive Officer, Business Executives for National SecurityVisiting Professor of Strategy and Military Operations, Georgetown University Fmr. Director, Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization, Office of the Secretary of Defense Fmr. Commanding General, U.S. Army Europe and 7th Army


www.mitre.org

© 2013 The MITRE Corporation. All rights reserved.

Approved for Public Release. Distribution unlimited. Case number 13-0897.

Photos and photo illustrations by MITRE Corporate Communications and Public Affairs. Additional photos courtesy of af.mil, defense.gov, navy.mil, nga.mil, Thinkstock.com, and MITRE staff.

Produced by MITRE Corporate Communications and Public Affairs.

The MITRE Corporation—FFRDCs

National Security Engineering Center Sponsored by the Department of DefenseFounded 1958

Center for Advanced Aviation System DevelopmentSponsored by the Federal Aviation AdministrationFounded 1990

Center for Enterprise ModernizationSponsored by the Internal Revenue Service and co-sponsored by the Department of Veterans AffairsFounded 1998

Homeland Security Systems Engineering and Development InstituteSponsored by the Department of Homeland SecurityFounded 2009

Judiciary Engineering and Modernization CenterSponsored by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts on behalf of the Federal JudiciaryFounded 2010

CMS Alliance to Modernize HealthcareSponsored by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesFounded 2012

Sustainability

The MITRE Corporation is committed to the development of a sustainable envi-ronment. The printing company is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council™.

The 2012 MITRE Annual Report was printed using paper with 10% post-consumer recycled fiber on Sterling® Premium, manufactured by NewPage Corporation, in the USA.

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