www.ndu.edu/inss DH No. 75 1
T
he Valued Sustainable Services (ValSServ) concept is an approach to
building the capacity of local populations. It emphasizes the inter-
dependency among telecommunications, reliable power, and infor-
mation-sharing support, and encourages projects to be developed in integrated
packages rather than in stovepiped lines of eort.
1
ValSServ focuses on bottom-
up projects in complex civil-military operations
2
that can be funded, planned,
and executed at local levels, while being consistent with top-down national and
theater strategies. It takes a system-of-systems approach,
3
recognizing that suc-
cessful projects can generate positive ripple eects in local environments and
throughout extended networks. is paper focuses on ValSServ within the wide
range of U.S. Department of Defense operating environments, such as capacity-
building to help shape peacetime conditions in partner nations, post-disaster
recovery, and helping to move from the “hold” to the “build” phases in counter-
insurgency operations.
4
e ValSServ approach is based on six planning and operating principles.
First, local development and governance eorts need to be aligned with overall
strategic objectives.
5
Second, the focus must be population-centric. Personnel
must respect and work through local conditions, cultures, relationships, and re-
quirements to develop personal links that can be used to initiate projects and
support them over the long term. ird, projects must concentrate on building
capacity that can be sustained by the local population. Fourth, projects must
draw on a wide range of inputs and analytical approaches to identify potential
risks and threats present in the project area and adapt to changing circumstances.
Valued Sustainable Services:
Building Partnership Capacity
Through Collaborating
Approaches
by Linton Wells II
Defense Horizons
National Defense University
CENTER FOR TECHNOLOGY AND NATIONAL SECURITY POLICY
About the Author
Linton Wells II is the Director of the
Center for Technology and National
Security Policy, Institute for National
Strategic Studies, at the National
Defense University. He is also a
Distinguished Research Professor and
serves as Transformation Chair.
Key Points
The Valued Sustainable Services
(ValSServ) concept can help build
socioeconomic capacity and
resilience in partner nations. It
emphasizes interdependencies
among three enabling capabili-
ties: telecommunications, reliable
power, and information-sharing
support.
ValSServ focuses on the develop-
ment of capacity from the “bot-
tom up,” while being consistent
with “top down” national- and
theater-level strategies.
ValSServ projects will be chosen
by local populations. But they
must be sustainable over the long
term so that external support is
unnecessary.
A realistic assessment must be
conducted before beginning a
ValSServ project.
Education, experiential learning,
and training should be part of all
ValSServ plans to change behav-
iors so that lessons really can be
learned and not just observed.
July 2013
