Crossing the Great Software Development Divide within DoN

Abstract

The US Navy must undergo a software development cultural transformation in order to address outdated considerations associated with pushing its development efforts successfully into the future. The current processes to develop software and acquire key capabilities needed to develop software, and the culture that these processes produce is slowing down the Navy’s ability to provide crucial technologies to the warfighter quickly. NIWC Pacific has been on the forefront of utilizing cutting-edge software development techniques and enabling technologies, and thus has some key lessons learned to share with the acquisition community. This paper will look at three (3) key areas: 1) Acquisition processes via contracting 2) Software development security approaches, and 3) The Navy’s financial ownership of software development. This paper will explain why they are key, and provide recommendations to transform the way ahead for the US Navy in its software development efforts.