Podcast: Strategic planning and digital transformation with John Whitley
I was pleased to have the John Whitley join me on the Acquisition Talk podcast to discuss digital transformation, the potential for “as a service” […]
programming
Here are the first picks on the PPBE Reform Commission
There seems to be broad agreement among most stakeholders the US needs “better, faster, affordable” development and acquisition of emerging technologies that will drive competitive […]
Three steps to help defense innovation break free from its shackles
Jerry McGinn and I provide three recommendations for the congressional commission on PPBE reform in a Defense News article: Be bold in vision. The DoD’s industrial-age […]
What are the prerequisites to defense budget reform?
Here’s a snippet from Christopher O’Donnell, acting ASD(Acquisition) at the 2021 GMU/DAU conference: What the MTA has shown is that the JCIDS process and the […]
Is software showing the cracks in DoD’s industrial age system?
Here are some excerpts from a good long-form article from from Lauren Williams at FCW, Why DOD is so bad at buying software: It can […]
Podcast: Science & Technology for national security with Lisa Porter
Lisa Porter joined Jordan Schneider and I for a discussion about Science & Technology (S&T) in the national security arena. She is co-president of LogiQ, […]
The Pentagon’s “innovation tourism” problem isn’t what you might think
Pentagon has increasingly articulated a desire to adopt the best of the commercial sector into the military. But a new report suggests the department hasn’t […]
GAO investigates why agency funds get cancelled
About 1.6 percent of the total available budget authority government-wide was cancelled from fiscal year 2009 to fiscal year 2019, averaging $23.9 billion per year… […]
JADC2 requires budget flexibility, LTG Dennis Crall says
We live with a set of acquisition rules as far as pace goes that probably fit the Cold War era very well. When you look […]
Jacques Gansler’s take on congressional micromanagement
Congress has not in recent years demonstrated a willingness to delegate fiscal authority to operating managers in the DOD. On the contrary, Congress has tended […]
How DoD policy-making became over-simplified
So the program budget may become, not an information system, but an approved five-year plan that serves as an instrument of control. This arrangement can […]
One of the last vestiges of central planning left on Earth
Here’s a humorous story shared by SecDef Donald Rumsfeld back in 2001: A man and a boy were walking down the street with a donkey […]
The average defense program takes 10+ years to enter operations
Technology and threats are both evolving very rapidly. Our own acquisition system too often undermines our ability to get the warfighter what he or she […]