Preserving capacity, General Tom Lawson, Chief of the Defence Staff, Keys to Canadian SAR
Issue link: http://vanguardcanada.uberflip.com/i/304887
EDITOR Chris Thatcher editorvanguard@netgov.ca CONTRIBUTORS Chris Pogue Ken Hansen Ian Coutts Randy Frank Gary Goodyear Greg Fyfe David Perry Amy Allen EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD LGen (Ret'd) Bill Leach LGen (Ret'd) George Macdonald VAdm (Ret'd) Greg Maddison LGen (Ret'd) Michel Maisonneuve Ambassador Graham Green Professor Philippe Lagassé SALES VICE PRESIDENT PUBLIC SECTOR SALES Terri Pavelic (905) 727-4091 ext. 225 terrip@netgov.ca NATIONAL ACCOUNT MANAGER Marcello Sukhdeo (905) 727-4091 ext. 224 marcellos@netgov.ca MARKETING DIRECTOR Mary Malofy ART & PRODUCTION ART DIRECTOR Elena Pankova SUBSCRIPTIONS AND ADDRESS CHANGES CIRCULATION DIRECTOR Aaryn Zhou circulation@netgov.ca CORPORATE PUBLISHER John R. Jones publisher@netgov.ca Publisher's Mail Agreement: 40052410 Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to circulation dept. 24-4 Vata Court, Aurora, ON L4G 4B6 Vanguard magazine is published 6 times per year by Promotive Communications Inc. All opinions expressed herein are those of the contributors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher or any person or organization associated with the magazine. Letters, submissions, comments and suggested topics are welcome, and should be sent to assoceditor@netgov.ca REPRINT INFORMATION: Reproduction or photocopying is prohibited without the publisher's prior written consent. High quality reprints of articles and additional copies of the magazine are available through circulation@netgov.ca PRIVACY POLICY: We do not sell our mailing list or share any confidential information on our subscribers. VANGUARD OFFICE 24-4 Vata Court, Aurora, ON L4G 4B6 Phone: (905) 727-4091 Fax: (905) 727-4428 IN THE MARCH/APRIL ISSUE Of Foreign AFFAirs, social media writer, con- sultant and teacher Clay Shirky takes a stab at explaining the travails of the U.S. federal government's efforts to procure and manage large IT projects. His case study is the rollout of Obamacare and, as you might expect, it isn't pretty. But it does make for fascinating reading. While it's unfair to compare Canadian apples to American oranges, many of the challenges he outlines are probably all too familiar to Canadian project managers, starting with his concluding point: "The toughest nut to crack is project manage- ment." He notes the U.S. government's "perennial difficulties attracting and retaining tech- nically skilled workers…" for large projects, but argues that, more than a people prob- lem, such "massive, complicated undertakings are always fraught with uncertainty…" That makes the "the hardest challenge in creating new technology...not eliminating uncertainty in advance but adapting to it as the work uncovers it." That certainly rings true for large defence acquisition programs. In this issue, we explore some of the challenges around procurement and one of the steps now underway to improve the skills of those managing projects. Chris Pogue of General Dynamics Canada describes the company's experience with system of systems integration, and how it approaches risk management. Ken Han- sen tours the German-built Bonn, the template for Canada's Joint Support Ship, and speculates on the possible impact of Canadian customization. Craig Killough of the Project Management Institute shares some thoughts on the difference that good project management can make. And Colonel Stephen Hall speaks about his primary challenge of education and training to ensure current C4ISR capability is institutional- ized in the Canadian Army, and why it needs to be incorporated into the early stages of future procurement. We lead off, though, with an article about the Project Management Competency Development initiative at National Defence, a framework to better align project man- ager skill sets with the complexity and risk of capital procurement programs. We also feature an interview with Randy Frank of 3M Canada on the process for fostering innovation in large organizations and, in our Last Word, analyst David Perry raises concerns about DND's ability to spend what it has been allocated in current budgets. All of these articles are set against a backdrop of the government's new Defence Procurement Strategy. Though not always mentioned in each piece, it is a thread that runs from the opening news items to our final column. Industry and defence officials may not yet fully understand how the strategy will affect them, but all are paying very close attention. Chris Thatcher, Editor E EDITOR'S NOTE 4 APRIL/MAY 2014 www.vanguardcanada.com New approaches to longstanding problems ONBOARD WITH THE ROYAL CANADIAN NAVY FOR OVER FOUR DECADES. FOR OVER FOUR DECADES. From Shipboard Internal Communications (SHINCOM) to Infrared Search and Track (IRST), power conversion to power distribution and control, computing to environmental systems, DRS Technologies has supported the Royal Canadian Navy by delivering excellence — on time and on budget — for over four decades. We look forward to the next 40 years. COMMITMENT BUILT IN. DRS.com For more information please contact navalprograms@drs.ca Visit us at CANSEC Booth #1511 003969_01_DRS_Vang_8125x10875.indd 1 4/11/14 3:45 PM