“Digital transformation is critical to our national security,” Julie Sullivan, executive vice president of regional development at the Dayton Development Coalition, said at a joint chamber-university event exploring business issues affecting the Dayton area.
While definitions abound, panel members seemed to agree that “digital transformation” is a way for business and the Pentagon to use technology in beneficial ways, saving time and money along the way.
For J. Kyle Hurst, chief of the Air Force’s Digital Transformation Office, it means speed.
Hurst, speaking at UD’s Daniel J. Curran Center, reminded his audience that the federal government designed and made the P-51 Mustang in a scorchingly fast 102 days during World War II.
Stagnant acquisition mechanisms relying on prime contractors that are too big have slowed that process. There’s a reason Congress has asked the Department of Defense to focus on smaller, nimble businesses, Hurst said.
“Somehow, we found a way to make it (acquiring new planes and weapons systems) take 20-plus years,” Hurst said. “And we’re trending higher.”
While it may have taken the U.S. government an average of about five years to design and deploy new planes at the end of the Second World War, today for some planes beyond a certain price point, the time required is closer to 17 years and more, he added.
Hurst compared that to what he said was China’s time to deploy, which he put at about seven years.
He reminded listeners that U.S. military leaders consider China America’s “pacing challenge.”
“The real imperative for us is the speed at which we deploy weapons systems,” Hurst said.
Stacie Hoelscher, director of the University of Dayton Research Institute’s new Digital Transformation Center, a place to unite students, educators, business and government in search of digital solutions and tools.
“UD cannot own the solution,” Hoelscher said. “We need to partner with Wright State (University), Sinclair (Community College).”
Darryl Ahner, dean of Wright State’s College of Engineering and Computer Science, said there’s a demand for digital engineers and basic digital literacy among the workforce at large. With Aaron Miller, drector of business strategy and operations for Galois Inc, they talked of efforts to instill that knowledge into students from K-12 and beyond.
One analogy panel members floated: Digital transformation is to current processes what early 20th century factories were to 19th century blacksmiths — a way to massively boost productivity.
“Is Ohio producing enough talent right now? Miller asked. “Absolutely not. The great news is, no one else is either.”
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