Australia’s Defence Forces (ADF) will implement a new Digital Engineering Strategy to help the Commonwealth streamline its acquisition process and address operational gaps. Built upon digital transformation programmes undertaken by the US Department of Defense (DoD), the engineering strategy outlines Defence’s commitment to streamline processes through an approach that better connects people, tools, and data.
The outcome will result in increased collaboration with industry, better decision making, and faster introduction of capability across the ADF. By working more closely with industry in this space, existing partners and small-to-medium enterprises will have the opportunity to contribute to the design of shared collaborative platforms, delivering speed to capability in a secure and streamlined digital environment, outlined the Deputy Secretary for the Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group, Chris Deeble.
So far it has yet to be seen what this strategy will look like in its details. The ADF will work in close consultation with industry and universities to develop a greater understanding of digital engineering practices for collaboration. Australia’s forthcoming digital transformation will be modeled on US DoD processes.
A longstanding problem for Western governments has been their lack of agility to derive innovation from small-to-medium size enterprises (SME). Both have wrestled with how far either side must concede to successfully cultivate a more diverse industrial supplier ecosystem that leverages SME innovation when it emerges. This remains a potential operational gap that the ADF may need to overcome through its new Digital Strategy.
