PSMA – At the Tipping Point: Learning Science and Technology as Key Strategic Enablers for the Future of Defense and Security
(Room S320A)
29 Nov 17
3:00 PM
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3:30 PM
According to former U.S. Secretary of Defense, Ash Carter, today’s national security environment is “dramatically different—and more diverse and complex in the scope of its challenges—than the one we’ve been engaged with for the last 25 years, and it requires new ways of thinking and new ways of acting” (2016, emphasis is ours). These new ways cannot be achieved without significant changes to lifelong (or at least career-long) personnel development. This paper focuses on one aspect of that (r)evolution, i.e., specifically examining the challenges, goals, projects, and recommended actions related to the transformation of training and education in the defense and security sectors.
For more than a decade, training and education professionals have beaten this drum. Researchers and dedicated practitioners have pursued tactical-level programs in cognitive readiness, improved decision-making, adaptability, accelerated learning, instructional excellence, and so on. Small “inkblots” of excellence formed, and many papers were written. These inkblots are now converging, and grassroots efforts are being strengthened by serious top-level patronage and policy direction. Now, strategic-level organizational change seems possible.
All of the U.S. military services, as well as many other security agencies and coalition partners, have released detailed guidance on how to evolve their learning and development processes. This paper summarizes these complementary efforts and then recommends collective actions that may yield meaningful returns in the short- to mid-term. Specifically, these recommendations focus on instructional quality, competencies, credentials, data analytics, data interoperability, personalization, learning on demand, integrated human–machine systems, a technology-enabled continuum of learning providing multiple paths for achievement, and an enterprise approach to talent management.