DBSAE Acting Director Keith Seaman Presents "The Way Ahead" at Air Force IT Day
Defense Business Systems Acquisition Executive
Business Transformation Agency
January 6, 2009
Seaman speaks on acquisition change.
Arlington, Va. – "We are catalysts for change, and challenging the traditional way of doing acquisition business," said Business Transformation Agency's (BTA's) Defense Business Systems Acquisition Executive (DBSAE) Acting Director Keith Seaman. Seaman was a guest speaker and panelist at the 7th Annual Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association Northern Virginia Chapter's Air Force Information Technology (IT) Day, in Tysons Corner, Va., recently.
With a theme, "IT…The Enabler for Mission Assurance," the conference covered a wide range of topics of interest to IT professionals.
Keynote speaker Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz addressed the vision, problems and challenges facing the Air Force. Other senior leaders described the Air Force's operational requirements, acquisition strategies and potential opportunities for industry. They shared the challenges to maintaining and improving the Air Force's ability to fly, fight and win in air, space and cyperspace.
"We have to treat the acquisition of IT systems differently from weapon systems," said Seaman. "My goal is to reduce the acquisition process time by 80 percent and deliver capability to the warfighter rapidly. Enterprise Resource Planning is an effective way to do this. We not only have to change technology; service leadership has to change operating processes to leverage it and leave old systems behind. It takes strong leadership to enforce this discipline all the way down the chain."
Speakers discussed how IT impacts their ability to achieve mission assurance in strategic deterrence, nuclear assurity, modernization of the airborne fleet, strengthening command and control capabilities, dominating space and cyberspace, and information assurance, among other topics.
Private industry partners spoke with Air Force leaders and peers on capabilities and technologies and a panel of senior-level leaders provided insight into requirements and opportunities for industry, particularly small business.