Bob Gourley

In a continuation of our journey to bring the best, most actionable technology content to enterprise decision-makers we are merging our research and reporting activities into the OODAloop.com site (both CTOvision.com and OODAloop.com are owned and operated by OODA LLC).

This will give our community access to the same technology summaries we currently produce as well as deeper content on cybersecurity and geopolitical risks and deeper insights into tech surprise that can inform your strategic decision-making.

We will be transitioning our directory of disruptive technologies to the OODAloop platform as well to enable a better experience for our readers, and expect the full transition to be complete by the end of September 2021.

Thank you for being a CTOvision reader! Please keep the feedback coming during this transition.

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In early May we began a discussion with our OODA Network members that started with an observation. About six months prior we had been through the Solar Winds attack, which from our perspective was clearly one of the most damaging attacks/espionage operations in history. Soon after that, the attack series named Hafnium by Microsoft was revealed. Hafnium had started as espionage but then turned into a Gold Rush of criminal activity, one of the worst attacks in history. Then the Codecov attack hit.

You know where we are going with this don’t you? We are in an age of continuous crisis.

For more on how to mitigate risks in this age of continue crisis see:

OODA on Mitigating Cyber Risks In The Age of Continuous Crisis

Mitigating Cyber Risk In An Age of Continuous Crisis

You have always known there is a threat of hardware attacks: Get ugly details here

A request to all who read this: Consider how you can personally help improve US Federal Government IT. One way everyone can help is to keep the dialog up on the need to improve and to shed light on some of the best examples of government IT success so those can be seen as exemplars for others. We can all also share the most relevant, actionable context from experts.

To help us all do things like that, CTOvision has been reviewing the work of three key industry alliances:

• The Alliance for Digital Information
• The Alliance for Commercial Technology in Government
• The Silicon Valley Defense Group

These three have slightly different objectives and slightly different make-up, but all have a common purpose of seeking to help the government make better decisions. This is an absolutely critical need.

One activity these three organizations have aligned themselves to support is in signing a letter (along with 44 other technology companies) pressing the White House to make it clear to agencies that they should follow long-held requirements to buy commercial software instead of trying to build their own. We most strongly support this letter.

To add a stronger point that they probably did not want to for diplomatic reasons, when the government decides to create software that does things that commercial software already does, they are choosing to use the incredible power of government to directly compete with industry. This is not only unfair, but wasteful and harmful to the free enterprise system the government is there to protect. On top of that, in almost every case I can think of, the result of government writing its own software (or paying integrators to do so) is sub optimal performance for government missions. So, when the government decides to build instead of buy, in almost all cases, they waste money, get very little functionality, and hurt the free enterprise system they should be seeking to help.

When put that way, the easy question is, why would the government ever want to hire integrators to build code? The answer to that might not be so simple, but it may be in some cases they just don’t know any better. In those cases, it take things like White House or Congressional action to get their attention. This is why I strongly support the work of the industry alliances and companies that created and backed this letter.

The letter is short so I’m pasting the full text below. For a PDF version see: Build vs Buy

May 25, 2021

The Honorable Joseph R. Biden Jr. President of the United States 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW Washington, DC 20500

Dear President Biden:

As the Administration continues to tackle enormous challenges, from COVID-19 to economic recovery, federal agencies are being asked to do more with less. One way the government can achieve substantial efficiencies and costs savings is by reimagining its approach to government contracting, especially for software and technology.

For too long, the government has prioritized building its own technology solutions over procuring commercial products. These solutions, whether developed directly by a federal agency or with a government contractor, have an incredibly high failure rate – more than 90 percent in some cases. They are almost always more expensive on the front end, difficult and costly to maintain, and quickly become obsolete. That redundancy is an immense cost to the taxpayer and fails to empower civil servants who want to improve and to best serve their agency’s mission.

Federal acquisition rules already require agencies to prioritize and procure commercial items, to the maximum extent practicable, over custom development. But those rules are not always followed. Many federal agencies continue to favor custom-built, more expensive solutions, even when there are proven, widely available commercial solutions that, in many cases, can be modified to meet unique requirements. As a result, many technology companies conclude that it is too difficult to work with the government. Rather than miss out on private sector innovations, the government should consistently enforce laws and policies that give preference to commercial software and technology solutions and support these domestic industries, including startups and small businesses.

Meeting the complex challenges of our time will require the best technology solutions – business as usual when it comes to government contracting is no longer acceptable. As a first step, the Administration should ensure that the preference for commercial items is followed. This includes conducting appropriate market research, as is required by the Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act (FASA), prior to making any acquisition decisions when considering comparable commercial and custom-built items.

We specifically request that the Office of Management and Budget provide clear guidance to federal agencies to make certain that the existing statutory requirements for commercial preference are followed. We also encourage the Administration require any software or technology acquisition include the opportunity for the private sector to participate in live technology demonstrations alongside any custom-built options. Ultimately, the best solution should always win.

As leading voices in commercial technology, we stand ready to help and look forward to working with your Administration to help America build back better.

Sincerely,

The Alliance for Digital Innovation
Washington, D.C.
www.alliance4digitalinnovation.org

Silicon Valley Defense Group
San Francisco, CA
www.siliconvalleydefense.org

Infor
New York, NY.
www.infor.com

Telos Corporation
Ashburn, VA.
www.telos.com

Anduril Industries
Orange County, CA.
www.anduril.com

NuAxis Innovations
Tysons, VA.
www.nuaxis.com

Saildrone
Alameda, CA.
www.saildrone.com

Maxar Technologies
Westminster, CO.
www.maxar.com

Clarifai
New York, NY.
www.clarifai.com

CrowdAI
San Francisco, CA
www.crowdai.com

Govini
Arlington, VA.
www.govini.com

Ripcord
Hayward, CA.
www.ripcord.com

The Alliance for Commercial Technology in Government
Washington, D.C.
www.the-alliance.io

Palantir Technologies
Denver, CO.
www.palantir.com

Salesforce.com, Inc.
San Francisco, CA.
www.salesforce.com

Splunk Inc.
San Francisco, CA.
www.splunk.com

Tenable
Columbia, MD.
www.tenable.com

DataRobot
Boston, MA.
www.datarobot.com

WalkMe
San Francisco, CA.
www.walkme.com

PayIt
Kansas City, MO.
www.payitgov.com

ID.me
Mclean, VA.
www.id.me

OwnBackup Englewood
Cliffs, NJ.
www.ownbackup.com

Dinocrates Group, LLC.
Rockville, MD.
www.dinocrates.com

Second Front Systems
San Francisco, CA.
www.secondfront.com

BaseConnect
Enid, OK.
www.baseconnect.com

ICON Technology
Austin, TX.
www.iconbuild.com

Zededa
Santa Clara, CA.
www.zededa.com

Long Capture
Colorado Springs, CO.
www.longcapture.com

Prewitt Ridge
Los Angeles, CA.
www.prewittridge.com

RevaComm
Honolulu, HI.
www.revacomm.com

SimpleSense
New York, NY.
www.simplesense.io

Pison
Boston, MA.
www.pisontechnology.com

Allosense
San Antonio, TX.
www.allosense.com

SparkCognition Government Systems
Austin, TX.
www.sparkgov.ai

Snorkel AI
Palo Alto, CA.
www.snorkel.ai

Improbable LLC
Arlington, VA.
www.improbable.io

QTS Reality Trust
Overland Park, KS.
www.qtsdatacenters.com

Armory
San Mateo, CA.
www.armory.io

Primer
San Francisco, CA.
www.primer.ai

Five Forks
Chicago, IL.
www.5forks.com

SICDRONE
Peabody, MA.
www.sicdrone.com

Small Business Consulting Corporation
Bossier City, LA.
www.ccih.tech

Raft
Reston, VA.
www.goraft.com

Lilt
San Francisco, CA.
www.lilt.com

Shield AI
San Diego, CA.
www.shield.ai

Corelight
San Francisco, CA.
www.corelight.com

Copado
Chicago, IL.
www.copado.com

For more see:

Shyam Sankar Provides Context on Make vs Buy in the Federal Ecosystem

General John Hyten, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Provides Context on Make vs Buy in the Federal Ecosystem

Elon Musk Provides Context on Make vs Buy in the Federal Ecosystem

More Proof That The Government Should Always Prefer Commercial Off The Shelf Software

Software Acquisition and Practices in Government: Build or Buy?

How Do Leaders In Government Decide Whether To Buy Or Build? Do They pick GOTS or COTS?

The Alliance for Digital Innovation: Accelerating change by driving government adoption of innovative commercial technology

The United States Innovation and Competition Act of 2021 (USICA), formerly known as the Endless Frontier Act, passed into law on 8 June 2021. It authorizes $110 Billion for basic and advanced technology research over a five year period. It includes investment in:

• Artificial intelligence and machine learning
• High performance computing, semiconductors, and advanced computer hardware
• Quantum computing and information systems
• Robotics, automation, and advanced manufacturing
• Natural or anthropogenic disaster prevention
• Advanced communications technology
• Biotechnology, genomics, and synthetic biology
• Advanced energy technology
• Cybersecurity, data storage, and data management technologies
• Materials science, engineering, and exploration relevant to the other focus areas

As part of the bill, the National Science Foundation is now named the National Science and Technology Foundation. It now has two deputy directors, one for science and one for technology.

The Deputy Director of Technology oversees a newly created Directorate for Technology whose  goals include:

• Creation of stronger leadership in critical technologies through research in key technology focus areas;
• Improving education in key technology focus areas and making it more attractive for students to become involved in those areas;
• Increasing federally-funded research and development to achieve national goals related to economic competitiveness, domestic manufacturing, national security, shared prosperity, energy and the environment, health, education and workforce development, and transportation

As an indicator of how smart this law is, on June 9 2021, China criticized the bill as “full of Cold War mentality and ideological prejudice.

The video at this link is from the 11 June 2021 House Armed Services Committee meeting. This includes testimony and questions and answers at the subcommittee on intelligence and special operations, this session is focused on FY22 Defense Intelligence Enterprise Posture.

Purpose: The Subcommittee will receive testimony on the Department’s intelligence strategies, policies, and programs. The hearing will provide an opportunity to further understand the strategic security environment and long-range emerging threats. Execution of the hearing will allow Members to assess the effectiveness of the current and future posture of the Defense Intelligence Enterprise to understand and support operations related to high-consequence threats.

Witnesses:

Mr. Ronald Moultrie
Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence & Security
U.S. Department of Defense

General Paul M. Nakasone
Director National Security Agency

Lieutenant General Scott D. Berrier
Director Defense Intelligence Agency

Some things to listen for:

Listen for mission needs that key defense intelligence agency leaders are articulating. No company leader should seek a meeting with any of these or other agency leaders without having heard what they say here. If you do you are wasting their time!

Understand the sad fact that government leaders still do not understand well enough the power of accelerating change and innovation by leveraging innovative commercial technologies. I took that point away from the several references here to MARS, which is being created by tasking integrators to come up with things that the commercial world could provide and more rapidly deliver incredible capability (Just an opinion of mine, I have some links below that hit on that more, but listening to these leaders and even the questions from Congress leads me to believe this sub optimal approach will continue).

For other reading on the build vs buy approach see:

Shyam Sankar Provides Context on Make vs Buy in the Federal Ecosystem

General John Hyten, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Provides Context on Make vs Buy in the Federal Ecosystem

Elon Musk Provides Context on Make vs Buy in the Federal Ecosystem

More Proof That The Government Should Always Prefer Commercial Off The Shelf Software

Software Acquisition and Practices in Government: Build or Buy?

How Do Leaders In Government Decide Whether To Buy Or Build? Do They pick GOTS or COTS?

The Alliance for Digital Innovation: Accelerating change by driving government adoption of innovative commercial technology

OODA members have access to a wide range of premium content and research designed to enable optimal decisions in competitive situations. For speed of access members can use the search function or can find relevant research based on the categorization below:

Cybersecurity Sensemaking: Strategic intelligence to inform your decisionmaking

The OODA leadership and analysts have decades of experience in understanding and mitigating cybersecurity threats and apply this real world practitioner knowledge in our research and reporting. This page on the site is a repository of the best of our actionable research as well as a news stream of our daily reporting on cybersecurity threats and mitigation measures. See: Cybersecurity Sensemaking

Corporate Sensemaking: Establishing an Intelligent Enterprise

OODA’s leadership and analysts have decades of direct experience helping organizations improve their ability to make sense of their current environment and assess the best courses of action for success going forward. This includes helping establish competitive intelligence and corporate intelligence capabilities. Our special series on the Intelligent Enterprise highlights research and reports that can accelerate any organization along their journey to optimized intelligence. See: Corporate Sensemaking

Artificial Intelligence Sensemaking: Take advantage of this mega trend for competitive advantage

This page serves as a dynamic resource for OODA Network members looking for Artificial Intelligence information to drive their decision-making process. This includes a special guide for executives seeking to make the most of AI in their enterprise. See: Artificial Intelligence Sensemaking

COVID-19 Sensemaking: What is next for business and governments

From the very beginning of the pandemic we have focused on research on what may come next and what to do about it today. This section of the site captures the best of our reporting plus daily daily intelligence as well as pointers to reputable information from other sites. See: OODA COVID-19 Sensemaking Page.

Space Sensemaking: What does your business need to know now

A dynamic resource for OODA Network members looking for insights into the current and future developments in Space, including a special executive’s guide to space. See: Space Sensemaking

Quantum Computing Sensemaking

OODA is one of the few independent research sources with experience in due diligence on quantum computing and quantum security companies and capabilities. Our practitioner’s lens on insights ensures our research is grounded in reality. See: Quantum Computing Sensemaking.

The OODAcast Video and Podcast Series

In 2020, we launched the OODAcast video and podcast series designed to provide you with insightful analysis and intelligence to inform your decision making process. We do this through a series of expert interviews and topical videos highlighting global technologies such as cybersecurity, AI, quantum computing along with discussions on global risk and opportunity issues. See: The OODAcast

Technology and Cybersecurity Due Diligence Sensemaking

Due Diligence prior to an investment, merger, acquisition or other business event is best done with experienced professionals who have past performance. This is especially true when assessing the technology or cybersecurity of a target firm. Due Diligence professionals should also maintain a current understanding of the state of enterprise technology and cybersecurity. This page brings together OODA special reports on these topics to help our members track the most critical elements in these domains. See: Due Diligence Sensemaking

Global Risk and Geopolitical Sensemaking

Every day our analysts review the dynamic international geopolitical situation and produce a daily recap published in the OODA Daily Pulse. We also produce a wide range of geopolitical analysis and insights which can improve your organizations ability to act with confidence in international affairs.  See: Global Risk and Geopolitical Sensemaking

Advanced Technology Sensemaking

A dynamic resource for OODA Network members looking for insights into the current and future technologies. We focus on the technology developments you need to track to inform your decision-making. This collection of resources includes content produced exclusively for OODA members as well as a continually updated list of insights from our daily pulse report.  See: Advanced Technology Sensemaking

Federal Market Sensemaking

This page serves as a resource for members looking for insights into the US Federal Government as a market. The information here includes federal related news and longer form research provided our members. See: Federal Market Sensemaking