US SPACE FORCE
The US Space Force may be small in military terms , but its digital goals betray huge ambition for the future of warfighting
T here are not many government bodies that can claim to be born digital . The US Space Force is one of them . When the USSF was split out from the US Air Force in 2020 , it decided to put science and technology “ front and centre .” To inject a fresh perspective on how government agencies should work , USSF looked to the commercial sector , where agile practices are prized and digitally-born startups use their inherent flexibility to challenge businesses many times their size .
“ Our ability to work in space and be effective in space depends on software and data ,” observed then-USSF Chief Technology Innovation Officer Maj . Gen . Kim Crider during an interview earlier this year . “ Software development and software capabilities are a critical part of what we do .”
Adopting the cultural practices of small tech is just part of the story , though . There ’ s also a deliberate drive to have innovation driven by users . USSF has installed ‘ combat development teams ’: small , innovative teams that zero in on specific areas of a mission in a quest to understand what ’ s happening , how to add value , how to improve , and how to apply digital technologies .
Small is beautiful And size , Crider thinks , is no obstacle to success . “ As a small service we want to take advantage of the fact that we have an opportunity because we ’ ve split off from the Air Force . We are now our own independent
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