Look beyond the reforms to keep the technological edge – FCW

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Defence

DIU Director: Looking Beyond Reforms to Maintain Technology Edge By Lauren C. WilliamsNov 06, 2021

According to a senior defense technology official, more than just takeover reform is needed if the US is to regain its technological edge.

“We are losing that advantage and losing it at a rapid pace. And I think if we look at what is needed to maintain that advantage, it will be a new commitment to science and technology in this country,” Mike Brown, director of the Defense Innovation Unit, said November 4 during the Aspen Security Forum.

“We continue to have an erosion of federally funded research and development as a percentage of GDP that has dropped from 2%, now in national security-oriented investments, to 0.35%. It doesn’t look like a leader who wants to maintain a technological edge. “.

Brown, who had previously called for the withdrawal of his appointment as Chief of Defense Department purchasing in July following an investigation into a complaint of favoritism in hiring practices, noted that the increase in STEM talent was part of the solution, but that take a critical look at the requirements and budgeting processes were also required.

“We have to reimagine these blocks in our way, these obstacles. You won’t be able to do that if you stick to the requirements. Think of the narcissism of [what] requirements means: we are omniscient; we know exactly what the market should build. Well, this doesn’t work in the world, “Brown said.” It’s about modularity, open interoperability, open standards … which requires rethinking. ”

Brown’s comments come as congressional and defense officials openly pondered possible reforms to the budgeting process so that the DOD can purchase and develop technology, especially software, at a faster pace.

Brown noted that acquisition reform has been at the center for decades, while the requirements process has gotten a lift, relatively speaking.

“We need to get back to that spirit of risk-taking where fewer people can make a decision,” Brown said, “maybe we don’t assume we know everything with the requirements, let’s let some of our defense primes tell us what’s possible. And we use more flexible acquisition methods …. we go as fast as the slowest gear in that system. ”

“We’ve been focusing so much on the acquisition over the past 20 or 30 years. And there are solutions there, like other transaction authorities. We haven’t worked on requirements or budget. So we have to have the same zeal to pursue those,” he said. Brown.

Chris Lynch, the former director of the Defense Digital Service who helped shape the cloud acquisition of DOD’s $ 10 billion Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure, said he wanted to see the software inspire the same excitement as weapons systems.

“When we think of the military, we think of an aircraft carrier or a tank or a jet or a satellite floating in space. Now those things won’t go away. It’s very clear. But we’re entering what I think is the software age. And this will be driven by the flawless execution of the software to carry out the defense and national security mission, ”said Lynch, who is now co-founder and CEO of Rebellion Defense, who also spoke to the committee.

“It’s great to build big, heavy stuff. I get it. It’s great. We should think they’re great. But if you’re not as enthusiastic about implementing unlimited compute and unlimited storage, and continuous integration and continuous implementation and the ability to use the Bees to people, I can tell you that nothing changes right now. It won’t change. And you know what, it doesn’t sound that exciting, but you have to be excited about it. You should be like, hell yeah. I love bees. “

Brown said another challenge for the US that has a technological advantage is the ability to develop solutions together with allies on a large scale.

“We need to find a way to work more easily and quickly with allies,” Brown said, noting that the Biden administration has announced a new working group to share advanced technologies, including submarines, with Australia and the UK. . about what [we can] working together as a project to bring that technology to our military requires some of the things we talked about. We need to change the process because we don’t have a process or system that is easy or agile to incorporate our allies. I firmly believe that it must change for the competition with China. “

About the author

Lauren C. Williams is senior editor for FCW and Defense Systems, covering defense and cybersecurity.

Prior to joining FCW, Williams was a technology journalist for ThinkProgress, where she covered everything from internet culture to national security matters. In previous positions, Williams has covered health, politics and crime for various publications, including the Seattle Times.

Williams graduated with a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Maryland, College Park and a bachelor’s degree in dietetics from the University of Delaware. She can be contacted at [email protected], or follow her on Twitter @lalaurenista.

Click here for Wiliams’ previous articles.

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