The Department of Defense (DoD) last week established a new advisory group to guide and improve how it delivers capability-enhancing technologies into the hands of warfighters.
The Transition Tracking Action Group (TTAG) – established on March 13 and inaugurated on April 10 – will leverage advanced data analytics to establish a department-wide method of tracking technology transition and determining the reasons technologies do or do not successfully transition into the field.
The advisory group has three primary objectives: identifying opportunities and barriers in tracking technology transitions; employing data to monitor these transitions; and developing requisite processes and policies.
“These efforts are geared toward enhancing the oversight of technology transitions throughout their lifecycle, from research and development to deployment,” DoD said.
A key challenge within DoD’s data systems and business processes – which hampers the optimal tracking of technology transition outcomes and investments – is a lack of visibility.
TTAGS hopes to change this by leveraging advanced analytics data platforms, according to Cyrus Jabbari, Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering’s (R&E) chief data officer and chair for the new advisory group. The group will be staffed with senior representatives from the various military services and offices.
By leveraging advanced analytics data platforms, “TTAG aims to align the department’s efforts to create a common operating picture, which will help deliver the right capability to the Joint Force,” Jabbari said.
“This initiative will not only facilitate the delivery of the right capabilities to the Joint Force but also ensure efficient stewardship of taxpayer funds,” he added.
In addition, TTAG’s responsibilities encompass determining policy updates and data source revisions for tracking technology transitions, conducting research and analysis to map data relationships across the R&E lifecycle, and addressing priority tracking issues as mandated by its members or higher authority.
Creation of the advisory group is part of a broader series of initiatives, which Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks introduced last year, to systemically map and tackle the highest barriers in defense innovation.
“It is a whole-of-department effort for digital transformation and effective adoption of advanced analytics to empower the technology, acquisition, and end-user communities, capitalizing on progress made in recent years,” the department stated.
