It\u2019s no secret that the United States relies heavily on software to execute missions imperative to defending the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the federal government also faces barriers when it comes to recruiting and retaining talented workers to develop secure, high-quality technology faster than U.S. adversaries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To remove those barriers, the Department of Defense must create strategies to attract, recruit, develop and promote a \u201cdigital talent\u201d workforce that will help the government compete and dominate the global software arena, according to a draft report released by the Defense Innovation Board, an independent committee that guides the Pentagon on ways to infuse innovation into the defense industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The DIB, which includes high-profile members such as astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson and former Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt, met March 21 for its quarterly meeting at the National Defense University in Washington, D.C., to discuss the report, titled \u201cSoftware is Never Done: Refactoring the Acquisition Code for Competitive Advantage.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The report\u2019s goal is to guide the DoD on specific action plans that will expedite processes for acquiring and developing software, as the department has long lagged behind private industry in adopting technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Implementing change within the DoD is a high priority given the growing importance of software\u2019s use in modern warfare and China\u2019s plan to build a $1 trillion artificial intelligence industry by 2030.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The DoD already has a \u201ctremendous amount of internal talent,\u201d from the enlisted ranks to the officers and civilians, said Richard Murray, a DIB member and a professor at the California Institute of Technology, at the meeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But it must do a better job of leveraging that talent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Currently, talented software personnel are placed in jobs that don\u2019t allow them to fully utilize their skills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe see that internal talent, and we need to find ways to leverage that internal talent and let talented people do the things that they can do,\u201d Murray said. \u201cSometimes the system gets in the way of that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The report also recommends creating highly visible career paths for both civilians and uniformed officers, learning opportunities and mentorship from senior staff, and recruiting techniques such as aptitude tests for potential trainees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Murray noted that the DoD will also have to adjust its hiring and development processes to the modern nature of work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe department is going to have to get used something that I think the commercial industry has gotten used to, which is that people don\u2019t stick around forever,\u201d said Murray, adding that the days of 30-year career veterans in a workplace are long gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPeople move between companies all the time, and the processes have to recognize that that\u2019s going to happen. You need to both be bringing new people in, but also allowing people to go out and do the next thing that\u2019s the right thing for them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The report also suggests legislative changes to improve the government\u2019s digital workforce, including piloting a team to expedite hiring individuals for cyber positions and creating software development groups within each service that track individuals for leadership roles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tyson questioned whether the government\u2019s culture was ready to embrace a military force that includes \u201cgeeks in a backroom coding.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere was a day when it was, how many missiles are in your silo? How many troops are on the ground? Now we are talking about people who might not be able to do 50 push-ups,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have to recognize the changing landscape of warfare, and I wonder how much resistance that will bring.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Murray said there are examples in the government showing that a culture change is possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe see the talent that\u2019s there,\u201d Murray said. \u201cWe see the existence proof, but we also know it\u2019s going to take work.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Department of Defense must create strategies to attract, recruit, develop and promote a \u201cdigital talent\u201d workforce that will government compete and dominate the global software arena, according to a draft report released by the Defense Innovation Board.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":27422,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":{"9":{"categories":["cyber"],"primary_category":"cyber"}}},"categories":[55,106,11,31,110,14,33],"tags":[],"coauthors":[5307],"class_list":["post-9750","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-career","category-daily-brief","category-fedlife","category-home","category-it-cloud-report","category-it-networks","category-newsletters"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"ENJEYE4A7BCMZASEPFGDU6JX3A","arc_canonical_url":"\/it-networks\/2019\/03\/26\/why-the-dod-must-rethink-digital-talent\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n