Since the 1980s, the language used around market-based government has muddied its meaning and polarized its proponents and critics, making the topic politicized and controversial. Competition, Choice, and Incentives in Government Programs hopes to reframe competing views of market-based government so it is seen not as an ideology but rather as a fact-based set of approaches for managing government services and programs more efficiently and effectively. Published in cooperation with IBM.

One of the missions of the Center for Technology and National Security Policy at National Defense University is to study the transformation of America's military and to explore the consequences of the information revolution. During the last two decades of the 20th century, through a series of internal and external studies and policy pronouncements, the Department of Defense dramatically shifted its view of the nature of future military operations and the associated equipment, doctrine, tactics, and organization that were required. The names varied ("Reconnaissance/Strike Warfare," "Revolution in Military Affairs," "Network Centric Warfare," "Transformation"), but the basic premise was the same: The explosive changes in information technology would transform the future of military operations. The benefits of this change have been well documented, but its potential vulnerabilities have been less commonly described-or addressed for corrective actions. These actions must begin with a recognition of the new relationship between traditional defense systems and modern information technologies. Traditional warfare systems are developed, ruggedized, hardened, secured, and tested to ensure the highest level of performance and availability. As military systems become more software intensive (in both computers and communications), greater time and cost increases occur because of increased system complexity and the lack of vigorous software processes, especially when compared with more mature, hardware intensive engineering and development processes. For the most part, military systems are proprietary and communicate securely with little effect on performance. Current military weapons and combat platform system acquisitions have very high costs and extremely long lead times. This high expense and long preparation is attributed, in part, to the complexity of new system designs and to the rigidity of design processes that are needed to meet mission-critical battlefield requirements of high reliability, ease of maintenance, and built-in safety systems. The acquisition process itself introduces costs and delays because it must meet legal and regulatory demands designed to ensure openness and fiscal responsibility. These methods have produced formidable systems; American superiority in high-tech weapons development is acknowledged worldwide. In contrast to military systems, commercial information systems can be developed, marketed, and upgraded within a 2-year life cycle. The introduction and adoption by industry of new technologies such as wireless, voice over Internet protocol (VOIP), and radio frequency identification devices (RFID) are rapid, with little design concern for security and privacy. Introduction of this technology in the commercial market is based on user acceptability, legal consequences, and bottom-line cost analysis, not on considerations of safety, potential loss of life, or national security policy. In spite of these potential problems with commercial systems, their advantages-rapid deployment of state-of-the-art technology (consequently, higher performance) and far lower cost (because of much higher volume)-make them extremely attractive. Thus, over the past decade, Defense Acquisition Reform has been focused on developing processes to achieve both the high-performance and low-cost benefits that come from using commercial technology while still assuming the necessary mission objectives of high reliability, rugged environmental capability, and (particularly) security. This volume examines threats and vulnerabilities in the following four areas: physical attacks on critical information nodes; electromagnetic attacks against ground, airborne, or space-based; information assets; cyber attacks against information systems; attacks and system failures made possible by the increased level of complexity inherent in the multiplicity of advanced systems.

The Department of Defense (DoD) is the largest organization in the world, with operations that span a broad range of agencies, activities, and commands. With an annual budget over $500 billion, DoD employs millions of people that operate worldwide and maintains an inventory system that is an order of magnitude larger than any other in the world. However, the business systems used to manage these resources are outdated and inefficient. DoD relies on several thousand, non-integrated, and non-interoperable legacy systems, that are error prone, redundant, and do not provide the enterprise visibility necessary to make sound management decisions. In order to meet current and future challenges, DoD needs business systems that enable it to be flexible, adaptive, and accountable. Transformation of business systems and process will not only reduce costs and improve performance, it is critical for improving warfighter support. Recognizing this, former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld began a business transformation initiative in July 2001. This report is divided into two parts. Part I evaluates DoD's business systems transformation effort, identifies lessons learned, and make recommendations to improve the prospects for success of the current business transformation effort. Part II includes several cases studies of business systems transformation in the federal public sector, at the Business Transformation Agency (BTA), and in the Military Services. Each case describes a specific transformation initiative and identifies lessons learned from the experience.

World-class, commercial supply chain management standards are now exceptionally high. The best organizations measure order-to-receipt time in two days or less, with near perfect probability. This speed is backed up by nimble systems capable of rapidly responding to unexpected contingencies and surge requirements. Unfortunately, while the commercial sector has been rapidly adopting modern, information-based supply chain systems in order to remain competitive in the worldwide marketplace the shift to such systems in the public sector has met with significant resistance and has moved far more slowly. Transforming Government Supply Chain Management provides the insights and expertise to overcome this inertia. In Part I, the editors provide a primer on supply chain management, an overview of innovative practices and tools, and a blueprint for government-wide transformation. Part II consists of ten case studies of public and private sector 'success stories.' The intent of this book is to help speed-up the needed transformation in the public sector."

World-class, commercial supply chain management standards are now exceptionally high. The best organizations measure order-to-receipt time in two days or less, with near perfect probability. This speed is backed up by nimble systems capable of rapidly responding to unexpected contingencies and surge requirements. Unfortunately, while the commercial sector has been rapidly adopting modern, information-based supply chain systems in order to remain competitive in the worldwide marketplace the shift to such systems in the public sector has met with significant resistance and has moved far more slowly. Transforming Government Supply Chain Management provides the insights and expertise to overcome this inertia. In Part I, the editors provide a primer on supply chain management, an overview of innovative practices and tools, and a blueprint for government-wide transformation. Part II consists of ten case studies of public and private sector "success stories." The intent of this book is to help speed-up the needed transformation in the public sector.

An expert explains why the security needs of the twenty-first century require a transformation of the defense industry of the twentieth century. New geopolitical realities-including terrorism, pandemics, rogue nuclear states, resource conflicts, insurgencies, mass migration, economic collapse, and cyber attacks-have created a dramatically different national-security environment for America. Twentieth-century defense strategies, technologies, and industrial practices will not meet the security requirements of a post-9/11 world. In Democracy's Arsenal, Jacques Gansler describes the transformations needed in government and industry to achieve a new, more effective system of national defense. Drawing on his decades of experience in industry, government, and academia, Gansler argues that the old model of ever-increasing defense expenditures on largely outmoded weapons systems must be replaced by a strategy that combines a healthy economy, effective international relations, and a strong (but affordable) national security posture. The defense industry must remake itself to become responsive and relevant to the needs of twenty-first-century security.