Army Secretary and 2019 Wash100 Award winner Mark Esper will continue working with industry to help the service modernize its network and keep pace with the rapidly changing technologies, C4ISRNET reported Tuesday.
The focus on industry to improve the Army’s network comes as the commercial sector can provide “the most capable and most advanced technologies,†he told the publication. Esper noted that working with the industry requires the service to continue searching for innovation as commercial technologies change every year to 18 months. “The network is something that will grow, mature and evolve over time as we pull technologies from the private sector into the Army,†the secretary said.
The Army is seeking software over hardware from tech vendors to build a reliable network and provides all the capabilities that the military needs. Esper is actively joining conversations with various companies to find the latest and emerging technologies that could help the Army. “I’ve engaged with them all. I do dinners every week with industry. We have a lot of conversations. So we find innovations coming from them,†he said.
Meanwhile, he’s noted that current service members are developing the versatility to understand and adapt with new technologies, which reduces the challenge to deploy new tools in the future.
The Wash100 award, now in its sixth year, recognizes the most influential executives in the GovCon industry as selected by the Executive Mosaic team in tandem with online nominations from the GovCon community. Representing the best of the private and public sector, the winners demonstrate superior leadership, innovation, reliability, achievement and vision.
Visit the Wash100 site to learn about the other 99 winners of the 2019 Wash100 Award. On the site, you can submit your 10 votes for the GovCon executives of consequence that you believe will have the most significant impact in 2019.
