May 12, 2016
The DIUx Is Dead. Long Live The DIUx.
Defense Secretary Ash Carter launched his high-profile Silicon Valley outpost a year ago to great fanfare and high expectations. Less than a year later, he has completely overhauled its leadership, structure, reporting lines, and resources.
That a new government initiative built around experimentation would struggle in its first year is no surprise. That its founder would candidly address early challenges and publicly identify shortcomings and fixes as a matter of course is a big one. By taking early corrective action, Carter is upending the typical Washington playbook of prolonging failure — or, worse, postponing reform until demanded by scandal — and teaching his Department a critical lesson on how to learn by taking risk.
To read the full op-ed, visit the Defense One website.
More from CNAS
-
Au Revoir QDR
Whatever version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) emerges from the House-Senate conference process later this year, it seems likely that the 20-year old Quadre...
By Loren DeJonge Schulman & Shawn Brimley
-
Observations on Global Military Posture
The secretary of defense has outsized influence over America’s global network of bases, the number of military personnel stationed overseas, and the frequency of internation...
By Loren DeJonge Schulman & Shawn Brimley
-
Introducing Agenda SecDef
One year from now, somewhere in a small suite of offices at the Pentagon, a team of civil servants, military officers, and a smattering of outside civilians will be hard at wo...
By Loren DeJonge Schulman & Shawn Brimley
-
The Pentagon's Third Offset Strategy: What US Allies and Partners Need to Know
When the Department of Defense (DoD) undergoes strategic change, allies and partners would benefit greatly from not only paying attention, but reading between the lines and pl...
By Van Jackson