Philip Smart | Adelaide
The ADF’s recently created Force Design Division will stage its first two-day Force Design conference in Canberra from October 10, inviting industry to gain insight in to the Division’s interaction with business and academia, and to demonstrate how defence companies can aid innovation and collaboration.
‘FD17’ will outline the way Defence conducts force design as part of the new Capability Life Cycle and highlight key linkages to industry and academia through the Defence Capability Assessment Program (DCAP). The Conference will also include updates on Defence Innovation priorities and the development of the Sovereign Industry Capability framework.
What we are developing is a force design body of knowledge
Day one of the conference, to be held in conjunction with University of New South Wales Capability Systems Centre, will include presentations by senior officers from ADF divisions contributing to force design, including VCDF Vice Admiral Ray Griggs, First Assistant Secretary Industry Policy Division Kate Louis, and Head Force Design Air Vice-Marshal Mel Hupfeld.
Day two is set aside as an opportunity for industry, academia and government to present to key Force Design Division staff on how they foster and support collaboration with or between Defence, government, industry and academia, with a focus on Force Design and joint force outcomes.
“We are not seeking a Product Brief about your organisation,” said a conference representative. “This is your opportunity to highlight Force Design collaborative efforts.”
Speaking at the 27th International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE) symposium in Adelaide on July 17, AVM Hupfeld said the Force Design Conference would detail the Division’s work since its inception in April 2016 as an outcome of the First Principles Review, and encourage industry to be involved in how the ADF defines and implements requirements for future forces.
“Where we are now in evolving force design has occurred in a very short space of time,” AVM Hupfeld told the Adelaide audience. “This process will need more time to mature and to become business as usual.
“What we are developing is a force design body of knowledge, just as there are systems engineering, business analysis and project management bodies of knowledge. The development and management of the force design body of knowledge is certainly an area where we will need to collaborate with industry and academia to understand how we might achieve it.”
AVM Hupfeld said Force Design Division’s holistic approach encompassed more than just an acquisition process.
“We never in the past have given changes, or those changes from previous reviews, sufficient time to take effect and we seldom focused on the key aspects of cultural behaviour in order to achieve sustained and irreversible change for the better,” he said. “In essence we never truly allowed implementation to transition forward to business as usual.
“This is where I see that the outcomes of this review are different. It will require continued focus, execution of those clear accountabilities, and time to consider cultural reform, more collegiate behaviour, and innovation as business as usual and not merely as taglines.”
More information on the 2017 Force Design Conference is available here.