Guide to Technology Transition
Issue Category 3: Knowledge Management
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- Issue 3-A: Making Contact
- Considerations
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Issue Category 3: Knowledge ManagementSharing of technical knowledge within and among organizations are two essential elements of the collaborative efforts required to ensure that technology enhancements are woven into the product life cycle. Other legitimate reasons to foster a culture where information sharing is the norm are to avoid repeating past mistakes, to save time, to stimulate knowledge exchange, to foster serendipity, to ease communications, and to interchange ideas. A knowledge management system, mechanism, or approach that facilitates these results is a technique that will enable you and your organization to capture, build upon, and disseminate necessary technical information. Knowledge management as a system could be Web-based or software supported, but it also could be a monthly gathering organized around a germane topic supported by short presentations or “storytelling” and a question-and-answer session. Issue 3-A: Making ContactOne element of knowledge management involves the oldest form of communication—from one person to another, by word of mouth. This remains an effective form of knowledge management and can be accomplished through meetings, informal conversations, seminars, conferences, and so on. Technology insertion often is a contact sport—a one-to-one exchange that brings together information about user needs, technological possibilities and barriers, and program planning options. As the developers of technologies, members of the S&T community are a critical conduit or contributor to technical information. The S&T community needs to keep current with technology, often through personal interactions at conferences, symposia, and academic meetings. Interpersonal exchanges of technical information must include the acquisition community as well, because of the consistent influx of information received in program offices. Sharing your program’s successes or knowledge can help to ensure the success of a similar program. To overcome the cultural resistance to knowledge sharing, you need to evince a strong commitment to knowledge sharing, develop and implement a plan for knowledge management, provide incentives to reward the desired behaviors, and build a system or mechanism to promote information flow, especially relating to the application of technology. A key reason why technology transition can be challenging is that it requires the collaboration of four diverse communities—requirements, S&T, acquisition, and sustainment. Each group has a vital and unique mission that leads to different cultural perspectives when transition is required. Effective transition requires these communities to work together as a team, which frequently is a challenging issue.60
All CommunitiesWhat communication venues exist to enhance technology insertion? Successful communication is the cornerstone of collaboration and teamwork. The best opportunities for the players to communicate are available through neutral forums such as Web sites and seminars. These venues allow the players to interact to share success stories and information on available technology. One such example is the Defense Science and Technology Seminars on Emerging Technologies, initiated in 1998 to promote dialogue among military leaders, members of the Defense science and technology community, and leading researchers from industry and academia, on topics of growing importance to the Department of Defense. The monthly seminars feature short presentations by distinguished researchers who can provide useful insights in a technology area offering significant military payoffs. The response from the community since the inception of these seminars has been overwhelmingly positive. For more information on the seminars, visit www.dtic.mil/dusdst/seminar.html. Another venue is technology insertion simulations, where all four communities participate in a simulation of an actual program and assess the impact of the technology. Requirements CommunityDo you invite S&T and acquisition staffs to attend meetings where warfighters are discussing future needs and lessons learned? Having the S&T and acquisition communities routinely interface with warfighters keeps them informed on shortcomings with current equipment and needs for future capabilities. The best technology personnel are those who understand both their technical area and the future warfighting environment. One way to do this is to ensure that S&T personnel have copies of current MNSs. The S&T community should be invited to brief the technologies that they are developing to address MNS elements and receive feedback to assist in the prioritization of their efforts. S&T CommunityDo you participate in informal communication gatherings? You can foster technology application through a variety of methods. Perhaps the easiest is participation in informal communication gatherings, where you can highlight the technologies with which your community currently is involved and their anticipated applications. How well are your technology developments showcased in project demonstrations for the requirements and acquisition communities? Another way to highlight developments is by showcasing them in product demonstrations for the requirements and acquisition communities. For example, the Navy hosts an annual Naval–Industry R&D Partnership Conference that offers:
This activity, and other similar ones in other services, provide a valuable forum for your technology to be socialized with representatives of the S&T and acquisition communities. Are you encouraging staff exchanges or liaisons with programs as a means to foster technology transition? You can foster technology transition through staff exchanges or liaisons with programs. For example, the ONR has an exchange program with the major Navy PEOs, specifically to provide the link between the S&T and acquisition communities. This exchange program helps to improve the possibilities for transitioning technology into weapons systems. Are you taking advantage of temporary personnel assignments with industry? Similarly, information exchange can be accomplished through programs that enable temporary personnel assignments with industry. Such programs are gaining popularity. Acquisition CommunityAre you encouraging staff exchanges with the S&T community as means to foster an understanding of program needs? Encouraging staff exchanges with the S&T community is one way to foster an understanding of program needs. Communicating “what needs fixing” helps technology providers focus their attention and resources in technology areas that add value. By identifying your program’s challenges as opposed to the solutions, you free the technology provider to offer options with a variety of tradeoffs between risk and performance. Giving the S&T community some flexibility permits different approaches to be simultaneously pursued. Are you participating in public forums, seminars, research conferences, and other venues to share your technology needs and identify potential solutions? Because these events are well attended by the technology providers, they offer an opportunity to galvanize resources to solve a program’s challenges. But you cannot do it by staying in your office. If you do, you are left to depend upon the incumbent team. Directory: dpap -> Docs Docs -> See guidebooks Docs -> Department of Defense Annual Report Docs -> Other transactions dpap -> Prohibited Items, Items That Often Require Pre-Purchase Approval, and Fiscal Law Issues Prohibited Items Cash advances dpap -> Attn: sfae-amo dpap -> [(E) Supplies and services Docs -> - Docs -> 5000 Streamlining Download 300.53 Kb. Share with your friends:
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