Vanguard Magazine

20DECEMBER 2024/JANUARY 2025 www.vanguardcanada.com I N T E R V I E W about curriculum. I think there's some- thing about certification. I think there's something about professionalizing a disci- pline.... It comes down to partnerships and I don't really see that we are super great. I welcome anybody to please explain how we are doing this well at partnering be- tween government and academic organi- zations. COL STROHMEYER: My experience has been that, in general, the government's role should not be build- ing. There might be certain times where it is that role, but in general, I think in the West, one of our strategic advantages is our commercial industrial base that we have to leverage. The government's role should be to own the mission and then to own inside that mission, the risk and the requirements. And then it should be the commercial kind of world's job to be able to build off those broad requirements. So how that translates into talent man- agement is that I think the government and those that are responsible for owning those requirements need to be conversant enough in especially the digital technology transformation space so that they can best understand, how do I define those require- ments? How do I understand whether or not industry vendors are meeting those re- quirements? And then how do I effectively own that mission inside that? PAT THAUBERGER: In terms of manpower and shortages and things like that, industry can help, right? Whether it's through technical expertise, whether it's through staffing support, whether it's through training and develop- ment, we can do that as well. The war for talent is very real. So, continuing to attract people either from CAF or from Canadian society into the defense sphere, whether that's in uniform, whether that's as a ci- vilian, or whether that's as an industry partner, is very real. I can't overstate the importance of long-term sustainment con- tracts like our land C4ISR, which I think is very relevant to what we're talking about here, to provide a vehicle for CAF to con- tinuously innovate, make sure we're able to turn those new capabilities as they mature and get ready to be fielded into the field. But as well, there is a very real workforce and capability sustainment from the indus- try side of things. We've got some of the smartest engineering minds in the country working for us at [General Dynamics Mis- sion Systems]. Having that stable and se- cure employment path, quite frankly, really does wonders for keeping up our ability, industry at large, to support the CAF. DAVE ANDERSON: Q: What closing thoughts do you have on breaking in and establishing the digital beachhead – in two sentences? WENDY HADWEN: I think the essence of it is defining who your partners will be and letting them into the tent. It may be industry or other levels of government or academics, and it might even be well-meaning bureaucrats like me. PAT THAUBERGER: I think establishing that relationship ear- ly on. Pick your dance partner early and dance with the one that brought you. I think fostering that relationship, sustain- ing that, and then that builds on that trust and that ability to really continue to in- novate and drive the innovation into CAF when they need it. COL STROHMEYER: So, I would say that it is first a compel- ling war fighting narrative that is tied to a coherent plan of digital action to integrate it. And then second that in the process of doing that, it seeks out prudent risk and it has direct sponsorship from a senior leader. BGen HORNER: You have to create trust to build trust. And you have to accept risk at whatever level you have. I think the essence of it is defining who your partners will be and letting them into the tent. It may be industry or other levels of government or academics, and it might even be well-meaning bureaucrats like me.

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