[Music] hello thank you for joining me today as defense one takes a look at the state of the navy my name is alex bg i'm a naval aviator a marine veteran and the servicenow enterprise account executive for navwar and the pacific fleet today i will be talking to you about building a data-driven navy through a six-step process to fuel warfighting capability the department of defense is in a constant race to gain and maintain technological superiority over our adversaries to guarantee the freedoms that our nation enjoys naval leaders who are responsible for the development of warfighting capabilities from stealth fighters to afloat networks to ground navigation are inundated with data input and insights from private industry subject matter experts sailor and marine operators and even the fairy war fighting systems themselves having this input is not enough in order to provide solutions that constantly improve warfighting capabilities that maintain the lead in the race for the tactical advantage these program offices need to leverage the information to gain understanding drive vision and strategy build products and services deliver capabilities and deploy customer service [Music] this six step process is largely focused on the systems commands warfare centers and defense industry because at large we believe in our nation we believe that riding within the personal and societal dna is our need to protect our nation and the liberties we enjoy and we are the ones responsible for ensuring that our sailors and marines are provided with the equipment necessary to deter those that challenge our freedoms and to triumphantly oppose those that do now is the time that we must work together from a common framework to ensure that we maximize our potential for success this development cycle requires a technology strategy a unified platform approach it should be supported by processes and data not hindered by it it requires a system that pulls together disparate legacy systems and the data they hold into a single workflow that enables informed decision making the challenge throughout history has been to create a more advanced warfighting capability than an adversaries now in the information age we have the power and ability to tap into vast amounts of data to provide us that advantage now is the time for bold thinking collaboration and an understanding that we are actually working towards the same common good so that we can ensure the right decisions are made at the right levels the first step is to gain understanding and it is a recurring objective throughout the process leaders must collate the myriad of sources into a single source of truth technology should process this data into digestible information that supports decision makers and their staffs it is critical that they understand what warfighting capability is currently in use how it is being used what is working and what is not with this understanding at the ready it becomes easy to see what direction the program offices need to take during my time as an aviator the reality of our aircraft health was significantly different from that which was perceived at the highest levels of leadership data that could have driven a change in logistic support a change in maintenance practices or even a change in tactics didn't have the pathway to reach key decision makers and while leading the warfighter support division under marine corps systems command actually saw firsthand how disaggregated our own support data was we collected it but we only collected the data on the support we provided meanwhile there was vast amounts of potential data that was never captured or shared because there wasn't a system in place to support that level of visibility gaining understanding means understanding the perspectives of all levels of the navy and marine corps and actually having the data to back it up with an understanding of the capability set leaders can move into driving vision and strategy creating a vision and how to achieve it is not done in a vacuum though it requires collaboration with an ecosystem of stakeholders like industry research labs and the operating forces all of whom have their own understanding of the situation the input of all of these parties needs to be managed in a way that keeps decision making moving forward with everyone involved having the same access to information via common workflow platform program officers are no longer beholden to a linear chain of review multiple stakeholders can review items simultaneously collaborating as they go without involving the decision maker as the middleman and with complete visibility into the process the leader can quickly finalize and communicate the roadmap to success for the entire enterprise my favorite part of this phase is the leadership opportunity that it can create the risk though is paralysis by analysis and group thought what happens is leaders and key stakeholders and often not so key stakeholders get wrapped in an endless debate that does not move the needle one of the greatest leadership initiatives within the navy and the marine corps is the concept of centralized command decentralized control a vision and strategy do not have to be detailed to the point of inaction they have to articulate the commander's intent and a desired end state using a common platform to quickly ensure completeness of thought in those two areas can save months if not years on a program of record with a comprehensive plan developed and communicated it's time to build like driving vision and strategy this also does not happen in a vacuum there are many moving parts involved in building a warfighter solution whether it is a weapon or it system traditionally the progress of a project has been measured in slide decks emails gantt charts and the notorious spreadsheets these static reports at the very moment of delivery are already full of old stale data in a modern digital approach these wants manpower intensive time sinks are replaced by dashboards that provide real-time status updates on projects all available in a single click now leaders have the information at hand to make real-time decisions that provide the right capability at the right time and cost and with the entire build process captured digitally future projects can replicate the same success this phase is all about balancing the program management triangle we live for this utopia where the right capability is built on time and at cost but we all know reality is never that blissful instead we need to focus on making timely decisions that minimize the changes to the triangle's asymmetric balance in order to build in this fashion leaders need to have access to actionable real-time data even if an agile 30 person team is operating on bi-weekly sprints if they're using data that is two weeks old they are now 4 800 hours off cycle from reality what is the cost to redo that work when the previous homeowner decided to make the enhancements that he did he didn't really think about the effects of shoddy craftsmanship and having to redo all of that work we have to be better than that in today's fast-paced world situations and needs change even as the solution is being built and delivered having real time visibility into the progress of a project enables a more agile pivot to better support current realities as the solution rolls out to the warfighter feedback can be tied into the digital platform to ensure solutions are constantly meeting expectations and needs and since the delivery of capabilities is also managed through a central platform updates to already released capabilities can happen in the existing workflows without requiring months of rework and preparation commanding officers and program managers alike can rest assured that our sailors and marines are using the latest technologies that support their mission needs at that moment when preparing to support the release of a new capability i used to ask what's the fielding plan or what is the timeline of the fielding plan it's often a year and usually several the moment the warfighting capability gets into the hands of a sailor marine though we have the opportunity to gather user feedback but do we take advantage of it using a centralized platform to not only manage the ideation creation and fielding of a system but to also garner feedback means that we can improve that very same capability inside of the next fielding cycle the life of a warfighting capability largely resides in this last phase of customer service the largest number of enabling technologies exist here too making it the area where the most data can be generated but currently much of it is lost leveraging a central platform will aid in and capture the data behind customer services to ensure there can be an understanding into how the solution is working and being used creating a constant loopback to gain understanding for continual improvement to support the mission with information dominance unlike our consumeristic society where we have the choice to buy one computer over another or one vehicle over another or even which airline we wish to fly whenever we do decide to fly our war fighters are left with whatever we give them they have no choice and for that very same reason our sailors and marines deserve the very best customer service our nation can provide they also deserve the comfort of knowing that there's important data being collected in that process and that the data being collected is leveraged to better the very same warfighting capability that they're using are you tracking any of that they deserve nothing less ladies and gentlemen thank you for joining me today we as a defense industrial base have been at this game for centuries and we've learned a great deal and we've delivered some fantastic warfighting capabilities we should be proud of what we have accomplished but we've also operated from the same old model and we no longer have to live by those rules i look forward to working with all of you to digitally unify our operating model to deliver the war fighting capabilities that this nation needs until then be safe and semper fidelis