Vanguard Magazine

24 FEBRUARY/MARCH 2026 www.vanguardcanada.com B Y S A N D Y S C H W A B noted the need to become more DevOps in nature. This must happen from the top— leadership, regulatory, policy, and process— and from the bottom, driven by technology and those closer to the problem and the decision-makers. LGen Darcy Molstad, Commander Joint Forces Command (JFC) provided the opening keynote address focused on his mandate to enable decision superior- ity through capabilities and technology but also integrated C5ISR-T effects. He acknowledged that although recently es- tablished, the creation of the Command is timely given recent shocks to the global geopolitical order. He noted that key allies have made similar organizational changes. Under-investment in joint capability was a consequence of our former CAF structure. He recognized that DND/CAF has rightly been criticized for making pro- curement complicated and stressed that we must be decisive and pick winners, ac- cepting the resultant churn created by Opening Keynote: LGen Darcy Molstad, Commander, Canadian Joint Forces Command LGen Michael Rouleau (Ret'd), Senior Advisor, Accenture Terri Pavelic, Editor in chief with Cmdre Sam Sader Photos: Michael Kasaboski those not selected. Additionally, we need to collaborate with allies/partners and le- verage existing capability development for a more rapid adaptation of allied/industry solutions. Canadian Joint Operations Com- mand (CJOC) remains the Joint Employer while the JFC will develop joint capabilities through Joint Cap Integration (JCI), the Joint Intelligence Fusion Centre (JIFC), the Joint Warfare Centre (JWC), Health Services, Military Police and Joint Logistics. The JFC will not own every joint ca- pability in CAF, rather it will lead inte- gration and deliver joint capabilities that strengthen readiness, pushes power to the edge, and focuses on outcomes over pro- cess. Digital Services Group (DSG) will be a critical partner responsible for delivering many enterprise solutions - IDAM/ICAM, secure sovereign cloud, interoperability with CBC2 and CJADC2. Comd CJOC requires a CAF Operational Mission Net- work, leveraging MC2IS to move informa- tion from sensor to decision maker, tactical C4ISR & Beyond 2026 A very experienced and ca- pable Master of Ceremonies RAdm (ret'd) Casper Dono- van opened the 12th annual C4ISR and Beyond at the National Arts Centre on 27 January 2026. This year's theme focused on re-imagining a strategic defence innovation and engage- ment model between the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) and industry – how can stra- tegic partners leverage investments in de- fence? The conference was at capacity for in- person attendance with another 100 join- ing online. Victor Khoo, representing Platinum sponsor General Dynamics Mis- sion Systems–Canada suggested that sover- eignty meant more than where something was built and that exportability was key to maintaining capability at home. In themes that the audience would hear throughout the day, industry is positioned to collabo- rate, share risk, integrate, scale and sustain at the speed of relevance – in a word – to mobilize, at pace and purpose. Procurement paralysis to DevOps at pace LGen (ret'd) Mike Rouleau, Advisory Committee co-chair, promised we would walk away smarter for a day's investment. He reflected on the very recent and abrupt changes in the geopolitical landscape where historical frameworks for problem solving were dissolving, replaced by arbitrary and unknown conventions – legal or otherwise. He also questioned how we can trade non- value processes for speed, migrate from a federal procurement morass to a leadership model in a supply-side marketplace where innovation is rewarded. Additionally, he

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