An open call to the visionaries in government to change DoD culture
By Bonnie Evangelista
Monday, Dec 12
Whether you acknowledge it or not, all roads in the emerging technology race lead to contracts. Unfortunately, federal contracting is lengthy, overly burdensome and rigid. But it doesn’t have to be this way.
Disrupting traditional federal contracting is critical to advancing rapid acquisition, but it is only one step of many needed in order to forge a new path for the Department of Defense. Several leaders across the DoD have publicly displayed their frustrations over the federal acquisition malaise. Nicolas Chaillan is most notable for having “dropped the mic” as he left his position as the Air Force chief software officer, criticizing the military for refusing to advance IT modernization and agile acquisition.
The resignation of Defense Innovation Unit chief Michael Brown earlier this year is another reminder of how the DoD is slow to transform its technology acquisition processes. His chief complaint was the lack of support from the Pentagon when bridging the gap between the department and commercial technology.
Clearly, there’s an issue that even some top DoD leaders can’t ignore. I strongly suspect there’s a growing consensus among some of the rank and file across the DoD that something has to give. But the real question remains: As an organization, are we willing to let go of the culture and policies that stifle significant progress in advancing military capability, or will we continue to fall behind the rest of the world?
https://www.c4isrnet.com/opinion/commentary/2022/12/12/an-open-call-to-the-visionaries-in-government-to-change-dod-culture/
