Bottom Line Up Front: Defense Innovation Unit boss Michael Brown is replacing Ellen Lord as Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition & Sustainment, which means the Digital Transformation will continue full steam ahead.
Would Ellen Lord’s departure derail the Digital Transformation?
That was the question when she left. Ellen Lord, as you remember, was the powerhouse behind the DoD’s Digital Transformation. Her retirement earlier this year raised worries that the next boss of DoD acquisitions would be uninterested in the reforms and bring it all to an end.
Nope
Turns out the new boss of acquisitions is cut from the same cloth. As head of the Defense Innovation Unit, he’s been leading the charge to build bridges between the world of commercial technology and the world of defense acquisitions. Now that he’s going to be the head of all Defense acquisitions, you can bet your bottom dollar that he’s going to continue all the reforms we’ve seen over the past few years.
What does it mean for me?
It means all the changes and reforms from the Pentagon will continue just as before.
Keep on transforming because the DoD will keep doing so!