DEPUTY
SECRETARY
OF
DEFENSE
1010
DEFENSE
PENTAGON
WASHINGTON,
DC
20301-1010
FEB
- 1
2022
MEMORANDUM FOR SENIOR PENTAGON LEADERSHIP
COMMANDANT OF THE COAST GUARD
COMMANDERSOFTHECOMBATANTCOMMANDS
DEFENSE AGENCY AND DOD FIELD ACTIVITY DIRECTORS
SUBJECT: Department
of
Defense Software Modernization
Delivering a more lethal force requires the ability to evolve faster and be more adaptable
than our adversaries. The Department's adaptability increasingly relies on software and the
ability to securely and rapidly deliver resilient software capability is a competitive advantage that
will define future conflicts. Transforming software delivery times from years to minutes will
require significant change to our processes, policies, workforce, and technology.
To that end, I have approved the DoD Software Modernization Strategy (attached) and
am directing the DoD Chief Information Officer (CIO), the Under Secretary
of
Defense for
Acquisition and Sustainment, and the Under Secretary
of
Defense for Research and Engineering
to lead implementation
of
the strategy through the Software Modernization Senior Steering
Group (SW Mod SSG). To ensure progress, the SW Mod SSG will deliver an implementation
plan within 180 days and will oversee enterprise-wide progress reported through Business Health
Metrics. These efforts include, but are not limited to:
• DoD Component execution
of
DoD CIO Capability Programming Guidance in support
ofDoD
CIO budget certification for Cloud and development, security, and operations
(DevSecOps) investments.
• Enterprise-wide implementation
of
innovative acquisition authorities and policies, to
include DoD Instruction 5000.87, Operation
of
the Software Acquisition Pathway.
• Increased DoD Component utilization
of
software factories and secure DevSecOps
pipelines.
The DoD Software Modernization Strategy provides the approach for achieving faster
delivery
of
software capabilities in support
of
Department priorities such as Joint All Domain
Command and Control and artificial intelligence. Given this requires the combined focus
of
DoD senior leadership, I expect all offices and personnel to provide the support necessary to
make software modernization a reality.
Attachment:
As stated
CLEARED
For Open Publication
Department of Defense
OFFICE OF PREPUBLICATION AND SECURITY REVIEW
