Carey Smith on Federal Information Technology

Oh, it's a very, very important subject. To achieve digital transformation, we have to look at people, processes, and technologies, and after all, be orchestrated together to deliver a more secure environment. The third Industrial Revolution has been underway since the middle of the 20th century, and it's often referred to as the digital revolution since it involves the development of computers and information technology. The fourth Industrial Revolution is an expansion of the third, but they keep it distinct because the technology explosion and technology disruptiveness in areas that we've talked about this afternoon, including AI, virtual and augmented reality, the Internet of Things, and autonomy. IT transformation is absolutely required to be able to operate in the fourth Industrial Revolution and the new digital world in which we live today, and it has to include everything: all the IT systems, the network architecture, the hardware, the software, the service management, the storage, and data access to be able to improve efficiency and delivery. By integrating and modernizing assets and business processes with digital technology, organizations can improve efficiency, customer delivery, customer experience, and reduce cost. Any organization that doesn't embrace the digital technology age is going to be left behind. There are three areas I'd like to talk about: people, processes, and technologies, all of which are required to deliver a more secure environment. An organization's strategy needs to be developed that defines what technologies are going to be used, how they're going to be applied, and what are the specific people and process implications of those technologies. So first, let me talk about people. As technology evolves, organizations have to evolve as well. First, the culture. An organization's culture has to shift, and there needs to be a new mindset where the whole entire organization is embracing the importance of the customer experience initiatives and digital transformation. New technologies also necessitate that employees evolve their skills, adopt new ones, and new competencies. Technologies like AI and robotics have the potential to displace or change the work that is performed by our current employees. They must become continuous learners in order to be able to operate in a type of very, very low unemployment rate. Now it's tough to get some of the skills: computer scientists, data analytics, and other critical technical resources. So we have to think about how we're going to do or innovate for recruitment and retention. Next, I'll talk about processes. Processes have to evolve to deliver with pace of innovation and provide that improved customer experience. Acquisition reform and natural procurement are needed to keep pace with technological change. Damon Berto mentioned earlier other transaction agreements, OTAs. Those are an improvement. However, agency-wide changes are needed to align to commercial IT procurement processes. First, I'd suggest using agile and sprint-based delivery models. Just think about how often Microsoft Word and Office 365 is updated, or how often your applications on your hand are updated. This is incremental capability, incremental delivery, and requires engagement of government stakeholders throughout the entire end-to-end process, not just at the requirements base as it is today. It also requires the acceptance of the actual delivery model that would allow the selectability. Another process: shared services. A common service delivery model where agencies pay for only what they use and they don't have to invest, manage, and maintain individual systems and applications. This will reduce both cost and improve efficiency. An example would be a security operation center which operates as a service and analyzes, organizes, and monitors the state of security of an agency's platform. The federal government should also be leveraging commercial business models such as licensing arrangements and subscriptions. Another process that's important: DevOps. Agile software and application development process allows developers and operations teams to work closely in the project lifecycle and use tools that promote code sharing, development, automated testing, and collaboration. The effect of agile development is to break down silos. It increases the speed of innovation and also demands and necessitates accountability across the organization. So that also requires a people change, since people must now be more accountable when working in a DevOps environment. To take advantage of technology innovations such as automation, business processes need to be streamlined as well as optimized. Finally, I'd like to address technology. First, automobiles have been around a hundred years ago, computers were invented in 1943, cell phones in 1973, the Internet in 1990. Each has had a very profound effect on the world in which we live, and the same is going to happen as we look forward to the fourth Industrial Revolution. Cloud computing has been discussed a lot this afternoon. That entails workload education, successful migration, and monitoring. And as we migrate to the cloud, as many have discussed, security measures become absolutely critical. Cloud computing is a significant accelerant in the development and innovation cycle since we're no longer shackled by the traditional IT constraints. Another technology of importance: we need to take a holistic enterprise-wide cybersecurity approach, and that holistic approach needs to be based on a risk management framework because we can't protect everything. So it's important to understand all the assets that have to be protected, including physical assets, IT assets, facilities, and people, to ensure resiliency and then make cost-based decisions based on the risk management framework: which of those four we are going to protect with more sensors, with much more data. And that data needs to be analyzed to produce actionable intelligence for areas like the Department of Defense and the Intel community. Analytics-driven business models make decisions five times faster. They provide new insights, they improve the customer experience as well as our products and services. And the additional data is why cloud computing and the scalability that cloud computing provides is required, because it's no longer practical for IT resources to be able to handle that volume of data. Artificial intelligence and machine learning are the next steps in advanced analytics. By processing higher volumes of insights from structured and unstructured data, organizations migrate to what's forward-looking and autonomous decision support. AI and machine learning are now easier to do because again, they're effective at cost with the scalability of the cloud. Autonomy and robotics have the potential to change life as we know it. One area that I like to look at that was discussed briefly today is autonomous vehicles. They're going to change the world in which we live, and I believe within the next decade, with this technology, we are no longer going to need gas stations. We are not going to need car dealerships. We are not going to need insurance companies. We are going to need a less police force. Of course, I don't even call them cars anymore; they're going to basically be mobility managers. Free content in your car: you can order all your services, your food, and do everything online as you transmit to and from your location. Virtual and augmented reality are already influencing the federal government in areas including construction, training, and health care. So to summarize, we are in the fourth Industrial Revolution. Digital transformation has to be embraced by companies not just to remain competitive, but if they plan on remaining in business. Forrester Research reported that businesses adopting AI, IoT, and big data will take $1.2 trillion from their less informed peers by 2020. With the gross domestic product at $16.7 trillion, $1.2 trillion is a significant number. Digital transformation offers significant benefits including improved productivity and efficiency, improved customer experience, and reduced cost. But in order to take full advantage of the digital transformation, all aspects of people, processes, and technologies must be considered in a secure environment. Thank you for your time today.