Acquisition headlines
Accelerating DoD systems fielding while avoiding a new ‘valley of death’. A slice: “The new valley of death is created when a middle tier acquisition […]
Month: September 2019
Innovation hubs do not always lower barriers to entry
Like so many startups with great new capabilities and not much experience selling to government, the AI company was increasingly frustrated at its inability to […]
Is the DOD actually risk-averse?
The conventional wisdom is that the defense acquisition system is very risk averse. I don’t think that’s right and I don’t think we’re risk averse. […]
Defense programs start with the build process, not exploratory developments
The DoD does not have an effective process for doing a thorough exploration of alternative technologies and concepts. Exploration is usually done only as a […]
Mission-funded charity shows the Pentagon a way forward
Funders of [Jeff] Bezos’s stature typically cast an open call for proposals, spending months poring over applications from nonprofits and sometimes insisting on site visits, […]
Rickover’s concept of accountability differs from GAO
The Defense Department does not recognize the need for continuity in important jobs. It rotates officer every few years both at headquarters and in the […]
Agile is NOT compatible with current DOD mgmt systems (EVMS)
The Agile EVMS Desk Guide sounds like an oxymoron. EVMS [earned value management system] by its nature follows the waterfall methodology. Agile is inherently iterative. […]
Acquisition headlines
As SecDef “Esper launches a comprehensive review that promises to cut costs and target legacy programs that drain money from next-generation capabilities, he ought to […]
The defense acquisition system isn’t an engineering problem
A couple days ago I discussed how difficult in practice it is to collect data merely on where dollar outlays go. That seemingly simple case of […]
What’s the rush with the JEDI defense cloud contract?
While the Pentagon’s long-awaited colossal cloud-computing deal has sparked fierce competition between tech giants Amazon and Microsoft, the Defense Department is keeping a keen eye on China’s […]
Analytics cannot save the DOD, the data problem is deep
The July 24 Defense News article, “David Norquist has one word for you: Analytics,” refers to Mr. Norquist’s emphasis on analytics at the Office of […]
Why weapon systems are inadequately tested
Why are these operational tests inadequate? Well, there are many reasons. In some cases, the tests are performed by the contractor and contractor personnel. That’s […]
The R&D slowdown and how to return to a society of explorers
The discussion about whether or not progress in science and technology is slowing down could greatly benefit from a thorough reading of Michael Polanyi’s 1966 […]
Update on GPS III — lots of moving parts
The GPS III requirements concept got started in 2000 and didn’t go through Milestone B (start of full scale development) until 2008. According to the […]
Acquisition headlines
In-depth coverage of potential JEDI scandals and whether tech moguls are capturing defense officials. Who doesn’t like a winner-take-all contract when you have a good […]