Pentagon’s Software Modernization Strategy Gets Approval

The Department of Defense’s Software Modernization Strategy has received approval.

The DOD Software Modernization Strategy sets the groundwork for technology and process transformation and allows for the delivery of resilient software capability “at the speed of relevance.” The tech guidance has three goals: accelerating the Pentagon’s enterprise cloud environment, establishing a department-wide software factory ecosystem and transforming processes to support technology resilience and speed, Defense .gov reported.

For the cloud environment, the Defense Department wants to mature a portfolio of cloud contracts, secure data in the cloud, accelerate cloud adoption through automation and prepare the cloud infrastructure for military installations outside the continental U.S.

For software development, the Pentagon wants to advance DevSecOps through enterprise providers, accelerate software deployment with continuous authorization, streamline control points for seamless end-to-end software delivery and speed up innovation for warfighters.

For tech resilience, the DOD aims to evolve policy and standards, promote agile acquisitions, improve technical competencies and incentivize the use of enterprise services.

Other points of focus that the department noted in the guidance is to promote enterprise-wide capabilities and ensure that all users are using modernized technologies.

Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks said a more lethal military force requires an ability to make technology more adaptable than U.S. adversaries. She added that having the ability to secure and deliver resilient software capabilities could lead to significantly faster solutions delivery and could define future conflicts. Hicks noted that in addition to changes to technology, there must be significant changes to processes, policies and workforce.