Reflections on Public Service – A Special Edition of The Business of Government Hour with Mike Brown, former Director, Defense Innovation Unit
October 24, 2022
What was it like to lead the Defense Innovation Unit? How had DIU transformed the way the U.S. Department of Defense fields commercial technology? What does the future hold for innovation at DoD? Join Michael Keegan as he explores these questions and more on former government executive Mike Brown on a Special Edition of The Business of Government Hour.
How does the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) execute on its critical mission? What is it doing to attract innovative businesses and startups to help solve high-impact national security issues? What emerging technologies offer the most promise to securing the nation? Join host Michael Keegan as he explores these questions and more with Michael Brown, Director, Defense Innovation Units (DIU), U.S. Department of Defense.
Lt. General Ronald Place, M.D., Director, Defense Health Agency
December 14, 2020
What are the Defense Health Agency’s strategies priorities? What is the Defense Health Agency doing to change the way DoD delivers healthcare? How is DHA responding to the COV-19 pandemic? Join host Michael Keegan as he explores these questions with Lt. General Ronald Place, Director, Defense Health Agency.
What it is like to run the largest enterprise in the world, the U.S. Department of Defense? What are some of the challenges facing a Secretary of Defense? What leadership lessons can be learned from Ash Carter? Join host Michael Keegan as he explores these questions with Ash Carter, former Secretary of Defense and author of Inside the five-sided box: lessons from a lifetime of leadership in the Pentagon.
Conversations with Peter K. Levine, Senior Research Fellow, Institute for Defense Analyses on Auditing, Department of Defense
February 4, 2019
Why does U.S. Department of Defense lack of an auditable financial statement? What has DoD done to get to auditability? What challenges are faced in getting audited financial statement and how can DoD do better? Join host Michael Keegan as he explores these questions and more with Peter K. Levine of the Institute for Defense Analyses.
In the case of Robert Gates, the report focuses on his efforts to transform weapons procurement at DOD. Upon returning to government in 2006 as secretary of defense, Gates concluded that he had an opportunity to rein in the cost of defense weapons procurements and halt the production of unneeded weapons.
In the case of Francis Collins, the report focuses on his efforts to transform NIH by creating a new institute, the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, which Collins believed would serve as a catalyst to change the culture of NIH. Collins sought to enhance NIH’s capability to translate its knowledge in addressing what the public needs from drugs and treatment.
Professor Lambright found many similarities in the challenges faced by Gates and Collins, as well as their effective responses to these challenges. Lambright concludes that experience and leadership skills really do matter, and that both leaders set clear goals and offered clarity as to means. The report also describes how both overcame opposition to their transformation initiatives.
As noted above, this report builds upon prior research by the IBM Center for The Business of Government on the crucial topics of leadership and transformation. In 2011, the IBM Center published A Leader’s Guide to Transformation: Developing a Playbook for Successful Change Initiatives by Robert A. F. Reisner.
Forging Governmental Change is the sixth report prepared by Professor Lambright for the IBM Center. In 2002, Professor Lambright chronicled the experience of Francis Collins, then director of the National Human Genome Research Institute, in his report Managing “Big Science:” A Case Study of the Human Genome Project. Lambright’s research for the IBM Center also includes leadership case studies of three recent administrators of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration: Dan Goldin (2001), Sean O’Keefe (2005), and Michael Griffin (2009).
A Conversation with Colonel Donald Dellinger
November 26, 2011
A Conversation with Dave Wennergren
July 2, 2011
Mr. David M. Wennergren serves as the Assistant Deputy Chief Management Officer at the U.S. Department of Defense. Prior to his current role, Mr. Wennergren was Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Information Management, Integration and Technology / Deputy Chief Information Officer, providing top-level advocacy in creating a unified information management and technology vision for the Department and ensuring the delivery of the capabilities required to achieve the Department’s transformation to net centric operations. In addition to his duties as Deputy CIO, Mr. Wennergren was the Vice Chair of the U.S. Government’s Federal CIO Council. He also served as the Chair of the Department of Defense Identity Protection and Management Senior Coordinating Group.
Learn more about Mr. Wennergren and listen to his entire interview.
The Business of Government Magazine on the Radio Hour
February 18, 2010
Rear Adm. Christine Hunter, Deputy Director, Tricare Management Activity, Department of Defense
December 8, 2009
Rear Adm. Hunter discusses the Tricare program for the military health system.
Rear Adm. Christine Hunter, Deputy Director, Tricare Management Activity, Department of Defense
December 8, 2009
Rear Adm. Hunter tells us about the different benefit packages available under Tricare
Rear Adm. Christine Hunter, Deputy Director, Tricare Management Activity, Department of Defense
December 8, 2009
Rear Adm. Hunter discusses the shift toward preventive care and the patient center medical home model.
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