The Defense Innovation Board issued a draft copy of its Software Acquisition and Practices study and the congressionally mandated SWAP study has three fundamental themes.
The first theme deals with the role of speed and cycle time as metrics for software management. Under this subject, the Department of Defense should buy, deploy and update software “at the speed of mission need, executing more quickly than our adversaries.†The second theme centers on the importance of digital talent and supporting the workforce to use modern practices, while the third concept focuses on the difference between hardware and software. DIB recommends four primary lines of effort for DoD to leverage the power of software.
The first line of effort calls for Congress and the Pentagon to refactor regulations, processes and statutes for software to accelerate software deployment. The office of the secretary of defense and services should develop and maintain cross-service digital infrastructure to facilitate software fielding, testing and optimization.
Military branches should come up with new paths for digital talent by “establishing software development as a high-visibility, high-priority career track and increasing the level of understanding of modern software within the acquisition workforce.â€
The final line of effort urges DoD and industry to update software development and procurement processes through the adoption of modern approaches and integration of cybersecurity into the software lifecycle.