Vanguard Magazine

www.vanguardcanada.com FEBRUARY/MARCH 2023 23 C4ISR AND BEYOND these new technologies/processes. More specifically, how do we pivot from a "sen- sor to shooter" paradigm to a "data to shooter" paradigm? As important as secu- rity is, it must also be recognized that the more secure you make the data the slower it moves…which speaks to the impor- tance of not "overclassifying" data, which appears to be the default setting for most militaries. The concept of "professional humility" was also identified as an enabler in terms of seeking out expertise that an organization/individual may not have to better understand what "right looks like" in applying new technologies/concepts to improve ways of doing business. Finally, TRUST was highlighted as being instru- mental to all of our collective success and the importance of enabling it through a fleet of "ships": relationships, partner- ships and mentorship, was underscored. The final keynote was presented by Mary Legere and John Burnham, who have extensive experience as senior leaders in the US military/industry/government. They virtually attended the daylong con- ference and based on what they heard during the presentations, they were able to share insights that were relevant from their US experience. Equally as important as what they heard, was what they did not hear. As such, they also provided a rich narrative around cloud, the importance of cloud and their lessons learned pertaining to cloud. At the end of the conference, I was for- tunate to provide a "wrap-up". I thanked Terri and the Vanguard team for their su- perb leadership bringing together the lead- ers in the room and virtually, to have the rich and informed conversation that we were able to have. I also noted the truly exceptional calibre of those who partici- pated in the conference and their signifi- cant contribution to elevating this impor- tant dialogue. I reinforced the key themes highlighted in this article and indicated that I believe that industry and govern- ment are having two separate conversa- tions on security, as well as procurement. As it pertains to procurement, no one would disagree that the nation requires a fair, open, and transparent procurement policy framework. I would submit, based on my experience, that the challenge is when government refers to procurement it is typically referring to procuring "wid- gets", for which the existing procurement system works well. However, when indus- try speaks about procurement it is typically referring to digital capabilities/services for which the procurement system does not work well at all. Closing this gap will be essential if Canada is to deliver on its digi- tal aspirations/ambitions, particularly as it applies to the CAF. Similarly, when the government/CAF talks about security they are talking about confidential, secret, and top secret infor- mation, whereas industry is talking about "secure" information. In this context, I am not referring to secret and top secret information, which I would argue is a small subset of the entirety of CAF data holdings, which absolutely needs to be protected ap- propriately. However, for the vast majority of CAF data, if industry standard security is sufficient to protect an individual's life savings and/or preclude access to an indi- vidual's digital device, then I am more than confident that it is sufficient to protect the majority of CAF data holdings. Elevating the dialogue on procurement and security would be time remarkably well spent by all stakeholders. Until that happens, it will be difficult for the CAF to transition from "getting it" to "getting it right". VAdm Ron Lloyd (Ret'd) was Master of Ceremonies at C4ISR and Beyond 2023

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