The highly anticipated Defence ICT Strategy and companion Cyber Security Strategy have been released, putting staff and industry on notice that previous, siloed approaches to capability, talent and procurement will be fused together to keep forces match-fit.
At least that’s the plan, with more proprietary legacy systems earmarked for the scrap yard as brass and bureaucracy attempt to unite battlespace, cyber, communication and enterprise systems into an electronic brain that can fight, procure and administer all at the same time.
Notably, the release of the dual strategies by assistant minister for defence Matt Thistlewaite comes ahead of an all-encompassing Defence Strategic Review announced in early August and which is increasingly expected to rein in projects that are not aligned with the new government’s priorities.
While both reports contain last-minute caveats to take account of the wider strategic review being undertaken by former defence minister Stephen Smith and chief of defence Angus Houston, the fact that they have been released ahead of the bigger review indicates a vote of confidence.
“Defence’s capabilities are becoming more networked and reliant on cutting-edge information and communication technologies,” Thistlewaite said.
“In the face of increasingly sophisticated cyber threats and regional military modernisation, we must ensure Defence’s information and communications technologies are focused on enhancing the Australian Defence Force’s ability to fight and win in the digital age”.
In terms of the content, which appears deliberately heavy on single-team affirmations and mission statements rather than specific system nuts and bolts, a recurring theme is that all of Defence is now essentially dependent on computing and communications capability to adequately perform.
One of the strongest messages, both internally and externally, is that the department and forces — for all the ‘one-team’ talk. Defence is still administratively a ‘diarchy’ — need to accept that growing computing muscle can’t just come from the Chief Information Officer Group (CIOG). Another is that Defence’s tech stack is both a weapon and a target.
Part of that cultural shift means losing a mentality that when things don’t work, it’s a problem for IT. The previous refrain of IT being an ‘enabler’ of outcomes (read: hired help) is also being conspicuously dumped in favour of embedded computing capability.
“Information and communications technology is no longer just an enabler. The Single Information Environment (SIE) is a critical capability serving as the landscape we fight in and through, as it forms part of the Cyber domain,” the Defence ICT Strategy says.
“The SIE is an ecosystem comprising a ‘system of systems’ that is a backbone of our military power. Mission capable information and communication technology integrates the operational domains of Cyber, Maritime, Air, Space, and Land, deriving military advantage from the ability to protect, value and exploit information to its full potential across an integrated Joint Force.”
Defence’s SIE (now SIE 2.0) replaced the unfortunately acronymised Defence Information Environment (DIE) that occasionally caused ministerial heart murmurs when it went on the blink, most famously when Kevin Rudd’s second defence minister, John Faulkner, was disconnected from his department’s network during a massive outage in July 2009.
The day-long collapse of the Defence Restricted Network (DRN) came as Faulkner attended a major industry conference in Adelaide and underscored a history of asset sweating and dangerous legacy dependencies where routers were allowed to run out of warranty thanks to program delays and budget constraints.
The incident prompted an urgent remedial upgrade of Defence’s sprawling tech estate and vindicated Defence’s then-chief information officer, Gregg Farr’s, internal warnings that underinvestment and isolated silos had created too much system fragility.
Farr had been sent into Defence from Tax to clean up the often challenged department after spearheading the ATO’s massive Change Program, which delivered a now-core tax system that delivered far more efficient and accurate revenue collection targeting and modelling.
Farr’s acolyte on that transformation mission was Matt Yannopolous PSM, who is now associate secretary at Defence, having previously held the role of Defence’s chief technology officer as well as chief information officer roles at Immigration and health before becoming Finance’s budget group deputy secretary in 2020.
“As outlined in the 2020 Defence strategic update, Australia’s strategic environment is now more complex, competitive and contested than it was when I was last in Defence in 2013,” Yannopoulos said in an address to industry in March 2022.
“As a result of that environment, $270 billion is being invested in capability over this decade to help the ADF shape our environment, deter actions against Australia’s interests and to respond with credible force when required.”
“The delivery of ICT is critical to delivering on the Defence mission in this environment,” Yannopoulos stressed.
“Twenty-first century defence capabilities are highly sophisticated, and they can only be manufactured or acquired by a defence ecosystem which sees industry and Defence work in genuine partnership.
“We are committed to holding up our end of that bargain.”
So too, now, are his ministers.
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