Author Archive

Daniel Pitcairn

Daniel Pitcairn

Research Analyst, Government Business Council

Daniel Pitcairn is a research analyst with Government Business Council, where he writes and produces content on a variety of federal and defense topics. He holds a bachelor's degree in international relations from Yale University.
Daniel Pitcairn is a research analyst with Government Business Council, where he writes and produces content on a variety of federal and defense topics. He holds a bachelor's degree in international relations from Yale University.
Insights

Defending Industrial Control Systems in Depth

The proliferation of advanced cyber weapons among nation-states and cyber criminals has generated a steadily worsening threat environment for the United States and its critical infrastructure.

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The State of Internal Workplace Communication

Are federal employees comfortable being candid when emailing their supervisors and colleagues? How often do they use personal email for government business? GBC surveyed 412 feds to learn the answers to these questions and more.

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How the Pentagon Can Tackle the Cyber Attribution Problem

To effectively identify those responsible for cyber attacks, the Pentagon needs a holistic attribution process that integrates technical, operational, and strategic levels of analysis.

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How to Optimize Virtual Training for the Military

Virtual training holds significant promise for military readiness, but the Pentagon still lacks a comprehensive understanding of how to optimally balance live and virtual training. Developing a holistic taxonomy of training tasks is an important first step.

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What Can the Military Do About the Readiness Crisis?

The military faces a looming readiness crisis as sequestration threatens to return, troops return to garrison, and the nature of warfare evolves. To offset these pressures on its own accord, the military can reevaluate how it trains its personnel.

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Going Virtual to Prepare for a New Era of Defense

How virtual training can help the military ward off the coming readiness crisis and better prepare for the warfare of tomorrow.

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The Promise of Virtual Training

How can the military work to improve readiness in the face of continued budget pressures and the evolving nature of warfare? GBC finds the answer lies, at least in part, in virtual training.

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Empowering Defense Enterprise Mobility

Having a vibrant mobility enterprise is critical for the Department of Defense to keep up with today's threat landscape. But how can DoD overcome the fundamental challenges that currently hinder its enterprise mobility project?

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Creating a Federal Innovation Process

Faced with a difficult budget environment, how can federal agencies innovate to achieve their mission? A survey of 334 federal employees reveals that developing formal innovation processes may help bring the best out of the federal workforce.

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Realizing DoD Enterprise Mobility

The Department of Defense's mobility strategy faces a pivotal period as it scales to the enterprise. View this infographic containing data from a survey of DoD managers and interviews with mobility experts to learn about the benefits of and challenges to defense mobility.

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U.S. Foreign Policy Too Reliant on Military, Say National Security Officials

Despite a worsening international security environment, national security officials surveyed say U.S. foreign policy relies too heavily on the military.

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Multilateral or Unilateral Intervention? National Security Workers Have No Preference

Should the U.S. take a multilateral or unilateral approach to the use of force? National security professionals in government suggest it doesn't matter one way or the other.

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Bringing Federal IT Up to Speed

Federal IT networks are under more pressure than ever before. Do federal managers have the IT services they need to effectively do their jobs? If not, how can agencies bring their IT infrastructure up to speed?

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A Dangerous Cyber Convergence: Persistent Insiders, Evolving Adversaries

Despite making progress bolstering cyber defenses in recent years, the federal government has been unable to keep up with a worsening threat environment. To help turn the tide, agencies will need to shift their security focus internally, to the data within.

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Realizing DoD's Enterprise Mobility Vision

The Department of Defense faces a pivotal period for the Joint information Environment and its mobility strategy as it scales its mobility programs to the enterprise and works to define technical standards. So what do DoD managers think about the benefits of and challenges to mobility?

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DoD’s JIE Obstructed by Service Incompatibilities

The Department of Defense’s effort to transform its service-centric IT systems into an integrated enterprise network may struggle to take form until underlying challenges are addressed.

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The True Cost of Legacy Network Ownership

Federal IT spending has stagnated in recent years, but agencies are spending more and more on maintaining legacy systems. Maybe it's time to look beyond the traditional ownership model.

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Reaching the Edge of the Joint Information Environment

The Defense Department faces a pivotal period in its development of the Joint Information Environment and enterprise mobility. How do DoD leaders perceive these initiatives and what are the key challenges holding them back?

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Getting the State Department Ready for Prime Time

The end of an era of war in Iraq and Afghanistan suggests a larger role for the State Department in foreign policy formulation, but is it prepared to step up?

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Getting Out of Afghanistan Isn't Getting Any Easier

Just months before its December drawdown deadline, the military’s retrograde operations still face considerable hurdles