Revamping the Science and Technology Management Career Field

Abstract

Delivering superior technology to the warfighter effectively and efficiently is crucial to maintaining U.S. military forces operational advantage. All too often, however, technology has been developed but hasnt transitioned across what is referred to as the valley of death, which is the gap between developing technology and having it used in acquisition programs of record. The gap between acquisition program managers and technologists results partially from the separate prioritization and management processes involved with both parties. Bridging that gap requires technology managers to obtain a better understanding of the formal DoD acquisition management system and management principles instrumental to transitioning technology. Such an understanding must come from a combination of education, experience, and training. In the past, understanding acquisition management and management principles was difficult to achieve because the science and technology community throughout DoD was not initially recognized as a separate career field in the acquisition workforce. As a result, scientists and engineers frequently did not receive the technology project management training they needed.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 01, 2009
Accession Number
AD1016402

Entities

People

  • Martin J Falk
  • Randy Zittel

Organizations

  • Defense Acquisition University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Acquisition
  • Air Force
  • Education
  • Engineering
  • Engineers
  • Geospatial Intelligence
  • Intellectual Property
  • Learning
  • Management Training
  • Military Acquisition
  • Military Research
  • Program Management
  • Project Management
  • Students
  • Systems Engineering
  • Training
  • Transitions

Readers

  • Defense Acquisition Program Management
  • Defense Technology Research and Development.
  • Military Leadership and Professional Education.