SimVentions had the honor of being published by the American Society of Naval Engineers (ASNE) for research on the Digital and Cultural Transformation from Document-Centric Tracking to Data-Centric Planning. Matt Wilson and Alison Perry from our Technology Solutions Group used our tool, Informedb, to talk about today’s technology of data-centric planning. The publication allowed them to present their paper at ASNE’s 2019 Combat Systems Symposium. Below is their Abstract and Summary for their published paper.
By Matt Wilson and Alison Perry
Abstract
The acquisition, development, and fielding of Naval capability requires the alignment of hundreds of factors across organizations and domains. Any significant capability that the Navy will deploy is dependent on several components, and systems that are managed independently yet have considerable interdependencies. Coordinating these efforts via spreadsheets, PowerPoint charts, and Project schedules scattered over dozens of stakeholder systems is error-prone and human-memory dependent. Recent commitments to model-based processes to align these acquisition, engineering, and delivery requirements is beginning to bear fruit.
Summary
For most of us, our entire careers have been during the age of computers. Since the explosion and proliferation of the personal computer in the early 1990s, the way we do work has been evolving. In the mid-90s we quickly came to adopt digital practices that mimicked the way we had operated in the preceding decades – primarily creating documents and artifacts that captured what we were doing, planning, and thinking. We could now easily create, share, modify, copy, and update with relative ease. This was a significant step forward and enabled considerable improvements in work collaboration and efficiency. Even today, we see this document-centric approach evolving with collaboration enhancements and sharing features to make this operating model better. Although significantly improving over time, this document-centric model has significant limitations when applied at scale.
In recognition of these limitations, the DoD has issued various policy directives and guidance emphasizing model-based approaches to performing our work. While there is significant variation in what experts think this means, there lies a key underlying theme of data driven and model-based approaches. Knowledge is stored in models of inter-connected data sets which provide a more vivid and robust representation of the factors impacting a topic. Whether the objective is a system design, a program plan, a conceptual idea, or a financial system, the in-motion, data-centric model provides a richer environment to address the knowledge need.
Technologies, processes, tools, and workplace behaviors are all evolving in concert to enable a transformation from document-centric work to data-centric operation. These changes take commitment, time, patience, and vision, but yield significant improvements. Our experiences helping to implement these changes in small, medium, and large organizations gives us confidence that we can all get to this next generation of efficiency in order to develop and deliver, better, faster, and cheaper for the Navy.
This paper explores our experiences in implementing data-centric solutions for the Navy and other customers and provides some suggestions for selecting the right approach to meet your needs. Visit the ‘Contact Us’ tab if you would like to read the rest of this publication.
About SimVentions
SimVentions’ corporate office is located at 100 Riverside Pkwy, Suite 123, in Fredericksburg, Virginia, 22406 and offers engineering and technology solutions to the Department of Defense, including the Navy, Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps. For additional information about SimVentions, please visit https://www.simventions.com/.
SimVentions is always looking for qualified candidates across all disciplines to work in the Fredericksburg, VA; Dahlgren, VA; Washington, D.C.; Charleston, SC; and Virginia Beach, VA areas. Apply online at https://www.simventions.com/careers.