In the beginning of the year, the Department of Defense (DoD) issued its Software Acquisition Pathway to establish direction, responsibilities and procedures for software procurement under the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) 2020.
The defense department has also restricted acquisition processes and procedures of all programs containing IT to a separate, functional acquisition policy that adheres to the Adaptive Acquisition Framework.
GovConWire’s Defense Digital Acquisition and Modernization Forum will feature an expert panel, composed of federal and industry leaders across the government contracting sector. The panel will address the DoD’s Software Acquisition Strategy, Defense Acquisition Workforce Development and the future of data and IT modernization across federal agencies.
To register for the Defense Digital Acquisition and Modernization Forum, as well as view upcoming opportunities, visit GovConWire’s Event Page.
The panel will host William Cohen of the U.S. Army, Frank Konieczny of the U.S. Air Force and William Scherlis of the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA). Dana Oliver of Accenture Federal Services (AFS) will moderate the panel.
Moderator: Dana Oliver
Oliver is a managing director with AFS and serves as the Army account lead. She has spent her career focused on improving talent and performance and operational efficiency. Oliver has been supporting major transformation efforts for over 22 years.
Over her career, she has supported a broad set of clients including the Army, Air Force, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Energy Information Administration, Wal-Mart and Vanguard.
She offers a broad set of strategic problem-solving skills, including business transformation with a focus on human resources and procurement, program and project management, business process design, organizational design and development, learning design and delivery and change management.
Panelist: William Cohen
Cohen serves as the chief technology officer and senior technology advisor to the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology (ASA(ALT)).
He is responsible for devising and overseeing execution of strategies that enhance the quality, operational effectiveness, and capability of developing, current, emerging and future technologies.
Cohen develops technology solutions that strategically integrate within the ASA(ALT)’s mission to advance Army capabilities. He advises on all aspects of emerging technologies, from applied research and technology development programs to prototyping and operational deployment.
Panelist: Frank Konieczny
Konieczny is the Air Force chief technology officer. He has primary responsibility to advance the Information Technology landscape of the Air Force.
His current focus areas include developing the future technical target baseline, mobility enterprise solutions, data management, Identity, Credential and Access Management access/claims management, mesh networks, artificial intelligence/quantum capabilities, cyber and technology innovation pathfinders and advancing the Joint Information Environment.
Panelist: William Scherlis
Scherlis assumed the role of office director for DARPA’s Information Innovation Office (I2O) in Sept. 2019. In this role, he leads program managers in the development of programs, technologies, and capabilities to ensure information advantage for the United States and its allies, and coordinates this work across the Department of Defense and U.S. government.
Scherlis joined DARPA from Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), where he is a professor of computer science.
He served for 12 years as director of CMU’s Institute for Software Research (ISR), overseeing research and educational programs related to software development, cybersecurity, privacy engineering, Internet of Things, network analysis, mobility, systems assurance, and other topics.
