UNDERSTANDING ARMY ACQUISITION
All of these entities (under the umbrella of the U.S. Army) share the goal of find- ing world-leading technology to improve command, control and situational aware- ness on the battlefield. Any one of them would benefit from a consolidated data- base that allowed them to build on the previous work of colleagues. A database that tied in the efforts from sister services (the Air Force Research Laboratory and the Office of Naval Research, and DOD), would be even more effective, as all of these offices play a role in the interna- tional arena.
A secondary benefit of using an aggregated database to track ongoing work is the abil- ity to keep up with who owns the state of the art in either research or technology. Research journals highlight universities that conduct world-class research and countries that are focused on building fundamental and applied research infra- structure. Databases can quickly leverage analytics to chew through, say, published and peer-reviewed academic papers worldwide. Te U.S. Navy’s bibliometric analysis tool does this, and ITCs have used it to identify the most promising interna- tional universities with which to engage. Analytic tools can refine potential partners for collaborative engagement, though they are most effective when their outputs are vetted by seasoned experts—almost like using Google’s language translation algo- rithms. Users can get a basic translation from them, but to achieve an accurate translation, it is better if users already understand the language’s nuances.
A truly useful management tool would capture past and present government projects, a rundown of leading industry for developed technologies and the most highly rated international universities for basic and early applied research. Tis would allow a new ITC director, program manager, or research center scientist to
quickly determine where to apply their efforts for maximum effect. Te biggest challenge would be establishing access criteria and classification levels.
WE MEAN BUSINESS Te importance of ITCs cannot be over- stated. At times, the director of an ITC represents the breadth of the Army’s science and technology across the table from a foreign partner. To bring that science and technology enterprise to bear, ITCs need to be empowered to reach out to key leaders throughout the research and development and acquisition
communities. Tose key leaders must also be aware that their decisions to engage internationally may produce technologi- cal progress, but also political messaging. Tis is a secondary mission that ITCs bear: communication with the U.S. State Department, DOD, and their foreign equivalents to ensure that collaborative research and development sends (or some- times, doesn’t send) a message to partners and the rest of the world. ITCs don’t have the resources to shape political messages, but they must be wary of how their work might be construed and advise senior lead- ers accordingly.
Innovation internationally speaking: How ITCs demonstrate ingenuity
Innovation means solving a problem in a unique or creative way. ITCs, by definition, are thinking outside of borders, and here are two examples:
1. At the request of Gen. Mark A. Milley, then-chief of staff of the Army, ITCs worked with DASA(DE&C) and NATO partners to gather testing and evaluation data on fielded infantry fighting vehicle systems through existing information exchange agree- ments. This effort provided an “honest broker” evaluation of existing foreign systems, saving procurement, testing and evalua- tion dollars in the search for the Army’s Next Generation Combat Vehicle (cited in the nomination of the CCDC’s Global Technol- ogy Office for the 2019 David Packard Award for Acquisition Excellence), while demonstrating solidarity with our NATO allies.
2. An ITC working with South Korea facilitated a co-developmental agreement that directly helped U.S. forces address a real-world challenge: To keep errant training rounds from leaving the range’s impact area, tracking radar (part of an international collaborative research project) was put in place at Rodriguez Live Fire Complex to track rounds for safety while characterizing radar performance in combined fires environments. This project was a win for U.S. Forces Korea, the engineers of the system and the South Korean people living near the range, located close to the border with North Korea.
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