Defense Acquisition in a Competitive Era

The current international order is being challenged and the US must prioritize where and how they focus on innovative acquisition, build a resilient Defense Industrial Base, increase weapon system mission capability while reducing operating costs, and promote acquisition and sustainment initiatives with key international partners.  

Please join the Defense Project and the Women of Defense, Diplomacy, and Development (W3D) in a cohosted discussion with the Honorable Ellen Lord, the Former Undersecretary of Acquisition and Sustainment at the U.S. Department of Defense.  In this position, Ms. Lord was responsible to the Secretary of Defense for all matters pertaining to acquisition; contract administration; logistics and materiel readiness; installations and environment; operational energy; chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons; the acquisition workforce; and the Defense Industrial Base.  She also chaired the Warfighter Senior Integration Group, where she was directly responsible for delivery of equipment, funding, sustainment, contracts, and legal support to combatant commands and their warfighters outside the normal DoD system.  

Ms. Lord will share some of the lessons learned for future implementation of the Warfighter Senior Integration Group, discuss the future of defense acquisition, defense technology investment prioritization and acquisition with the Defense Industrial Base to ensure the US stays competitive in the current challenging environment, her experiences transitioning from industry to DoD, managing large mission-oriented organizations, and relations with key international partners.

For limited in-person attendance, please sign up below. If selected, you will receive a confirmation email a few days before the event: 

https://forms.gle/WR3XQiUG1RUu7tpY7

To Join us on Zoom, click here:

https://harvard.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_LLXbcCIlQAa2uA-QG1nU-A