The Pentagon's research and engineering office is shaking up its organizational chart by redesignating three positions as deputy chief technology officers and shifting the purview of those roles in an attempt to streamline the technology-to-capability pipeline.
The changes, announced by the Defense Department today, target the current trio of defense R&E directors within the office of the under secretary of defense for research and engineering.
"Taken holistically, these changes will posture our organization to work at speed and increase collaboration both inside and outside the Department," Heidi Shyu, the Pentagon’s chief technology officer, said in the press release.
The announcement redesignates the following three positions:
- The director of defense research and engineering for research and technology as the deputy chief technology officer for science and technology. The new title includes a shift toward “foundational research and development,” according to the release, that spans from technology protection to small business programs.
- The director of defense research and engineering for modernization as the deputy chief technology officer for critical technologies. Under the new org chart, the position oversees applied technology such as hypersonics and directed energy, as well as enabling technology including microelectronics and human-machine interfaces, as well as the 5G Transition Office.
- The director of defense research and engineering for advanced capabilities as the deputy chief technology officer for mission capabilities. That outfit will center its work around joint prototyping, experimentation and rapid technology transition, among other things, per the release.
