Naomi Cooper
The Forward Defense program in the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security has established a new commission tasked with developing recommendations on improving the U.S. military’s production and integration of advanced software technologies.
Mark Esper, former secretary of defense; Christine Fox, former acting deputy secretary of defense; and Mung Chiang, president of Purdue University, have been named co-chairs of the Commission on Software-Defined Warfare, the Atlantic Council said Friday.
The newly established commission will advise the Department of Defense and its allies on integrating modern software practices into current platforms to optimize defense strategies in software-defined warfare.
Commissioners comprise former government officials and current industry leaders, including Steve Escaravage, executive vice president of Booz Allen Hamilton; James Geurts, former assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development and acquisition; Stu Shea, chairman, president and CEO of Peraton; Jim Taiclet, chairman, president and CEO of Lockheed Martin; and Ellen Lord, former undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment.
“Commercial software, when integrated with existing military hardware, can help bridge the joint force we have today with the one we need tomorrow,” said Esper, a three-time Wash100 awardee.
