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July 16, 2024
Savanrith "Savan" Kong, Senior Advisor in the User Experience Portfolio Management Office at the DoD, delves into the department's extensive efforts to enhance customer experience (CX) through various strategic initiatives. A focal point of these efforts is the development and implementation of Fulcrum, a comprehensive new advancement strategy designed to create a consistent, measurable, and improvable CX across the department. Kong emphasizes the significance of the CXO being a data-driven office that utilizes both network performance data and user experience data to refine and elevate the overall user experience. He discusses the importance of listening to user needs, whether expressed through social media platforms like LinkedIn or formal reports such as those from the Defense Business Board. Kong underscores the need for a structured, organized approach to collect, analyze, and act on user data to improve performance and user sentiment continuously. The ultimate goal is to build a robust foundation for future improvements, ensuring that the department can respond effectively to user needs and technological advancements.
Key Takeaways:
- Fulcrum Initiative: The DoD is focusing on the Fulcrum strategy to advance customer experience, ensuring it is consistent, measurable, and improvable across the department.
- Data-Driven Approach: The office relies on network performance and user experience data to fine-tune CX, gathering comprehensive feedback and creating actionable plans to enhance user sentiment and performance.
- Collaborative Coordination: The office coordinates with various branches and agencies within the DoD to avoid duplication of efforts and share best practices, aiming for a unified, department-wide approach to customer experience enhancement.
Wendel "Dell" Foster, Executive Director of Joint Forces Headquarters DoD Information Network (JFHQ-DODIN), discusses the concept of organizing the cyber battlespace at TechNet Cyber 2024. He emphasizes the critical task of organizing and securing the dynamic and ever-changing cyber terrain, ensuring that operators are trained and ready to defend it. Foster highlights the complexities of maintaining situational awareness in this constantly shifting domain and the challenges of integrating new technologies while stressing the need for standardized training and coordination among various battle space owners. He explains that the department must continuously adapt to new threats and technologies, maintain effective command and control relationships, and ensure that all operators have the necessary skills and training to manage and protect the cyber terrain. Foster also notes the importance of understanding the mission relevance of different areas within the cyber domain and making sure the right resources are allocated to defend the most critical parts.
Key Takeaways:
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Dynamic Cyber Terrain: The cyber domain is constantly evolving, requiring ongoing efforts to organize, secure, and understand its importance.
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Training and Standardization: Ensuring operators are adequately trained and maintaining standardized training across the department is crucial for effective cyber defense.
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Situational Awareness: The DoD faces challenges in maintaining situational awareness of the cyber domain, necessitating improved tools, processes, and analytics to manage and protect it effectively.
Ben Bryant, Deputy Director of the Business Innovation Unit at the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), explained how ARPA-H leverages special contracting authority to drive innovation. ARPA-H's approach includes using an Innovative Solutions Opening (ISO) process, similar to a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA), but focused on reducing procurement complexity and enhancing research and development through cooperative agreements and other transactions. This process involves a low-barrier submission of ideas, thorough evaluation, transparent communication, and flexibility in R&D. Bryant emphasized the importance of commercialization and ensuring projects can transition successfully to benefit the American public. He highlighted challenges, such as simplifying the proposal process for small businesses and minority-serving institutions and emphasized affordability and accessibility as core goals. Bryant also noted the agency's flexibility in adapting best practices from similar organizations like DARPA and IARPA, aiming to foster innovation and sustain successful projects long-term.
Key Takeaways:
- Innovative Solutions Opening (ISO) Process: ARPA-H uses the ISO process to simplify the submission and evaluation of innovative ideas, aiming to reduce procurement complexity and enhance R&D flexibility.
- Commercialization and Accessibility: Ensuring projects can transition to the market and benefit the American public is a primary focus, with an emphasis on affordability and accessibility in selection and funding processes.
- Adapting Best Practices: ARPA-H collaborates with organizations like DARPA to adopt best practices, aiming to rapidly evolve and improve its processes to support innovation in the healthcare sector.
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