When does a culture of decentralization make sense?
Erik: Let’s get into the lessons you learned from Uber that you find most interesting. Flo: I think the first one is decentralization that […]
Month: September 2020
Real time cross-domain kill webs — ACK and STITCHES
Two DARPA-developed technologies – a novel decision aid for mission commanders and a rapid software integration tool – played a critical role in the recent […]
Ratio of sustainment to acquisition costs — is modernization being crowded out?
The graph shows the four phases of a program’s cost over its lifetime: research and development (R&D), procurement, O&S, and disposal, with O&S considered the […]
Acquisition headlines (9/20 – 9/26/20)
Picking 1st ABMS capabilities to top issue. ““I’ve been waiting for the department’s equivalent of a Sputnik or Alpha-Go moment where AI did something that […]
Transcripts: Defense Budget Reform with Katharina McFarland, Bill Greenwalt, and Bob Daigle
Jerry McGinn: Welcome everyone I see everyone starting to join we’re really excited today to have assembled a very senior panel on a very niche […]
The Functionalist Takeover and the problem of organizational design in the DoD
[Secretary of Defense Neil McElroy] told the Senate Committee on Armed Services that the present assistant secretary could not “give orders.” McElroy proposed a civilian […]
Why are analysts complicit in cost and schedule growth?
I showed that for 10 projects for which a cost risk analysis had been conducted, the actual cost was greater than the 90th percentile for […]
100,000 tons of inertia — the case to shift away from carriers
Here’s an excerpt from the 1st Prize paper in US Naval Institute’s 2019 contest, “100,000 Tons of Inertia.” It does a good job pulling apart […]
Chinese govt transforming across tech domains — Can the US keep pace?
China has been a leader in the emerging technology space. If you trace their activities around artificial intelligence, blockchain, and associated autonomous technologies, China has […]
Requirements, budgeting, and acquisition in the 16th Air Force
Here’s an interesting discussion on an Aerospace Nation episode with David Deptula and Commander of the 16th Air Force Lt Gen Timothy Haugh. The 16th […]
Acquisition headlines (9/13 – 9/19/20)
Esper’s Convenient Lie. Argues the DoD isn’t at a good force structure for Russia/China not because of sequestration and focus on counterterrorism, but because DoD […]
It can be done! The Air Force’s new fighter jet built in one year
The U.S. Air Force revealed this week that it has secretly designed, built, and tested a new prototype fighter jet. The fighter, about which we know […]
Roper’s vision for digital acquisition: The tech stack, the edge, and digital engineering
Getting a lot of play is Air Force acquisition executive Will Roper’s article, “Take the Red Pill: The New Digital Acquisition Reality.” Some of that […]
How does SpaceX do what it does? Extreme Ownership.
Here is Paul Cipparone discussing the company culture at SpaceX which revolves around an idea of extreme ownership: … if you own something (like a […]
AFWERX and innovation in the Air Force
Here’s a short bit from my feature on Government Matters: In 2019, they [AFWERX] brought in about $1 billion of matching funds. That’s something going […]