Acquisition Talk

Latest Episodes:

NatSec News Roundup: Aug. 23, 2021 Aug 25, 2021

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Eric Lofgren and Matt MacGregor chat about the week's newsworthy headlines the world of military acquisition. This podcast was produced by Eric Lofgren. You can follow us on Twitter @AcqTalk and find more information at AcquisitionTalk.com.

Science & Technology for national security with Lisa Porter Aug 22, 2021

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Lisa Porter joined Jordan Schneider and I for a discussion about Science & Technology (S&T) in the national security arena. She is co-president of LOGIQ, a consulting company, and before that was deputy director of USD(R&E), founding director of IARPA, executive vice president of In-Q-Tel, and senior vice president of Teledyne Scientific & Imaging, among various other positions. We touch on: - How the error correction of free markets is absent in DoD - A round of overrated/underrated on critical S&T areas - The split of AT&L into USD(R&E) and USD(A&S) - How successful government organizations empower their staff - Why the US lost it's dominance in space launch During the episode, Porter discusses how many people in national security misunderstand the phrase "space as a warfighting domain." The popular imagination brings up ideas of spacecraft moving dynamically such as in Star War or Battlestar Galactica, but that ignores physical realities. It takes a lot of time and propellant for satellites to move from one orbit to another, or to avoid kinetic threats, as demanded by the Law of the Conservation of Energy. The near-term focus for warfighting in space is about smart investments in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), such as space situational awareness, missile tracking, resilient communications, and proliferation of spacecraft. Porter cites the Space Development Agency as one example where good headway is being made in these areas, particularly proliferation where they are trying to prove whether spacecraft production can be increased from once every few years to tens or ultimately hundreds per year. One major issue that Porter doesn't see enough emphasis from is continuous upgrading and replenishment of spacecraft. There is not yet enough cost-effective capacity to perform the task. While the commercial industry is investing heavily in launch, DoD has not yet provided a clear requirement or funding for the replenishment mission over the next five-to-ten years to signal its importance to industry. This podcast was produced by Eric Lofgren. You can follow us on Twitter @AcqTalk and find more information at AcquisitionTalk.com.

NatSec News Roundup: Aug. 16, 2021 Aug 17, 2021

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NatSec News Roundup: Aug. 9, 2021 Aug 10, 2021

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The political-economy of defense with Russell Rumbaugh Aug 09, 2021

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I was pleased to have Russell Rumbaugh join me on the Acquisition Talk podcast to discuss some of the most fundamental issues facing defense management. He is the systems director at the Aerospace Corporation's center for space policy and strategy. Though we went off script for nearly the entire episode, it was the conversation I wanted to have with Russ. We hit questions including: - Is weapons choice a political or technocratic process? - Was defense really more innovative in the 1940s and 50s? - Is there a boomerang effect in defense S&T? - How can shared data be used to improve analysis of the force structure? - Is the DoD organization at odds with portfolio management? This podcast was produced by Eric Lofgren. Soundtrack by urmymuse: "reflections of u". You can follow us on Twitter @AcqTalk and find more information at AcquisitionTalk.com.

NatSec News Roundup with The Merge: July 26, 2021 Jul 27, 2021

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Eric Lofgren and Mike Benitez chat about the week's newsworthy headlines the world of military acquisition. This podcast was produced by Eric Lofgren. You can follow me on Twitter @AcqTalk and find more information at https://AcquisitionTalk.com. Sign up for Mike's newsletter at https://themerge.co

NatSec News Roundup: July 19, 2021 Jul 20, 2021

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NatSec News Roundup: July 12, 2021 Jul 13, 2021

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Event: What's the price of an AI/ML product? Jul 02, 2021

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As firms are finding out, the unit economics of AI/ML is not exactly like software. It requires more manual manipulation of data than one might expect – including ingesting data, cleaning data, tuning models – and deployment doesn’t scale like pure software does. Every customer has their own unique datasets. The Department of Defense has had enough trouble adapting its hardware-oriented acquisition system to buying software. Will AI/ML present an even greater challenge or does it lend itself to the traditional labor services model? The Center for Government Contracting of the George Mason University School of Business and the Wharton Aerospace Community co-hosted an important discussion on the scalability, unit economics and cost estimating methodologies of AI/ML projects with a tremendous panel including: Sheldon Fernandez, CEO of Darwin AI; Ryan Connell, DCMA Commercial Pricing; and Diego Oppenheimer, CEO with Algorithmia with his colleague Craig Perrin. The panel is moderated by Ellen Chang. This podcast was produced by Eric Lofgren. Soundtrack by urmymuse: "reflections of u". You can follow us on Twitter @AcqTalk and find more information at AcquisitionTalk.com.

NatSec News Roundup: June 28, 2021 Jun 29, 2021

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