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Developing Technologies Today For The IT Contracts Of Tomorrow
Millennials and “Game Changing” technologies will shape the products and services delivered through the next generation of IT contracts.
Talk to those whose business is human capital in the Federal government and you’ll hear a dual message.
The first is the impending “brain drain” as Boomers retire taking their institutional knowledge with them. The second is how is government going to attract the Millennials who will be the core of the future Federal workforce?
The fact is right now Millennials are a force in today’s government since they make up a good portion of the armed services. And they are using the power of Web 2.0 whether or not it is on an IT contract. So, the issue is not whether it can be controlled, but how to focus its power.
In a recent interview with 1105 Custom Media, DISA CIO John Garing talked about what a future DISA CIO will face when the first Millennial becomes a General.
The Army is working to expand our knowledge and understanding of Network Science; one of the 7 disruptive technologies that will deliver future capabilities to our soldiers.
“I think we all-- the services and DISA and everybody – worries aloud about that because these young people come in with more IT in their formative years than we will ever see in the government,” said Garing. And how do you attract them since it is the culture of the Millennials is absolutely pervasive, 24/7 sharing and collaboration.
Game Changing Technologies
But Web 2.0 technologies are just a precursor to some of the “game changing” technologies currently being developed by Army Research.
Heading up that effort is Dr. John Parmentola, Army Director of Research and Laboratory Management. What he and his staff do is “create the future capabilities for our soldiers.” In short, what Dr. Parmentola is developing today will be on the IT contracts of tomorrow.
These disruptive technologies are the subject of the 26th Army Science Conference, December 1-4 in Orlando, FL. The theme is: “Science and Technology: Disruptive Technologies for the Soldier.”
At the conference the Army plans on showcasing areas deemed vitally important in creating future capabilities for soldiers. 1105 Custom Media had the privilege to interview Dr. Parmentola where he outlined 7 disruptive technologies just over the horizon.
- Neuroscience: really understanding who we are as human beings; for our soldiers it fundamentally has to do with training and understanding how the brain works.
- Autonomous Systems or Robotics: focusing on the synergy between neuroscience and robotics.
- Nanotechnology: creating new materials through miniaturization and trying to develop molecular electronics.
- Quantum Information Science: focusing on quantum computing and overcoming the limitations of Moore's Law.
- Immersive Technology: creating virtual environments where soldiers can essentially experience what they would in reality.
- Biotechnology: leveraging 4 billion years of evolution where nature has made many product improvements and come up with ways of solving problems; focusing on how nature does this, what principles are used and trying to exploit them in a wide range of applications.
- Network Science: traditionally networks have only of as being human engineered networks. The Army believes networks are a future transformational technology.
But according to Dr. Parmentola along with human engineered networks, with its communications, radios and waveforms, “there are other dimensions to networks which involve biologically evolved systems; the networking inside cells that forms organisms like humans.”
And going all the way back to Web 2.0, humans also network. “There are social networks which are vital in many aspects of our world to economics, politics, all dimensions,” said Dr. Parmentola.
The Army is working to expand our knowledge and understanding of networks. And as understanding grows and these 7 disruptive technologies become mainstream, future DOD IT pros will be looking to innovative IT
contract vehicles to procure what they need.
After all, a contract is just a contract is just a vehicle, an enabler that allows a person or an organization to get the products and/or services they need to accomplish the immediate task at hand and the overall mission. That’s
true today. And will be true tomorrow.
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