On this episode, Leslie Beavers, the acting Chief Information Officer for the Department of Defense, discusses the role and responsibilities of the Department of Defense (DoD) in defending the nation. The DoD is responsible for coordinating all IT efforts within the department, as well as warfighting command control and communications. With a budget of $60 billion annually and over 4 million people across the globe, Ms. Beavers emphasizes the importance of interoperability and integration within the department, as well as the need for a streamlined acquisition process and organizational change strategy.
Tune in to learn:
- The Department of Defense’s responsibilities in for defending the nation and coordinating all IT efforts within the department.
- Why interoperability and integration are key challenges in aligning the various branches and agencies within the DoD.
- How the DoD aims to utilize commercial off-the-shelf solutions as much as possible, but modifications are often necessary to meet unique requirements.
- Why organizational change and education are crucial in driving technology strategy and ensuring alignment and cooperation across the department.
About the Guest:
“Ms. Leslie A. Beavers is a career member of the Senior Executive Service and serving as the Acting Department of Defense Chief Information Officer (DoD CIO). In this capacity, Ms. Beavers serves as the primary advisor to the Secretary of Defense for Information Management / Information Technology (IT) and Information Assurance, as well as non-intelligence space systems; critical satellite communications, navigation, and timing programs; spectrum; and telecommunications.
Prior to assuming the role of the Acting DoD CIO, she served as the Principal Deputy, DoD CIO from April 2023 to July 2024.
Before joining the CIO, Ms. Beavers served as the Director of Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance Enterprise Capabilities (ISREC). In this capacity she led OUSD(I&S)’s Defense Intelligence Digital Transformation Campaign Plan, known as Project Herald.
Project Herald’s overall goal is to evolve how the DoD delivers intelligence to warfighters while providing the unifying focus to realize next-generation capabilities. To this end, Ms. Beavers oversaw the planning, programming, budgeting and execution of the Defense Intelligence mission area within the Battlespace Awareness portfolio.
Ms. Beavers began her DoD career as an Intelligence Officer in the United States Air Force serving in various roles before retiring as a Reserve Brigadier General serving with the Joint Staff J2. Her assignments included: 16th Air Force, San Antonio, TX; Pacific Air Forces, Hickam, HI; Distributed Common Ground System 2, Beale AFB, CA; and 4th Air Force, March ARB, CA.
Additionally, Ms. Beavers has over 15 years’ experience in the private sector working in the Film/TV, Healthcare, and Oil and Gas industries. She served as Vice President at NBC/Universal Pictures responsible for recovering 80 years of film and television content destroyed in a fire. She worked with GE’s Healthcare Diagnostic Imaging division improving to manufacturing capacity, profit margin, and revenue. At Husky Oil, she consulted with C-suite executives on operational integrity establishing processes to manage risk introduction in drilling operations.
She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science from the U.S. Air Force Academy and a MBA in Finance with Honors from South University. Ms. Beavers is a certified Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt, a Distinguished Graduate of the Air Force’s Signals Intelligence program, and the recipient of numerous DoD and professional awards including the Defense Superior Service and Legion of Merit. ”
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