Digital Transformation for Acquisition Series

Digital Transformation for Acquisition (DxA) – The Answer to SPEED

ETI is excited to present a four-part webinar series on Digital Transformation for Acquisition (DxA). The Pentagon has embarked on several efforts with the goal of digital transformation across its acquisition enterprise. Central to this effort are new approaches such as digital engineering, digital twins, model-based systems engineering, and enterprise data strategies. These initiatives aim to accelerate innovation, improve interoperability, and deliver capabilities more efficiently to the warfighter. Yet, much of the focus has been on engineering practices, while there has been less focus on the practicalities of integrating these important initiatives across the acquisition lifecycle from prototyping to sustainment. As recent legislative and executive branch efforts focus on speed in acquisition, it is time to expand the conversation.

The series kicked off with a conversation between digital acquisition thought leaders on what digital acquisition is and why it is the answer to speed in acquisition. A second webinar featured current and former program managers who have successfully implemented digital acquisition across their entire programs with practical steps on how to get started. The third webinar featured the art of the possible with individual spotlights on the digital acquisition solutions offered by industry partners. The series wrapped up with a conversation on how digital acquisition should be incorporated into current Pentagon efforts for achieving speed from the policy shops to the individual programs.

What is Digital Transformation for Acquisition (DxA) and Why is it the Answer to Speed?

January 28, 2026

The first panel discussed the definitions of digital acquisition, digital infrastructures, digital twining, digital threads as well as the importance of integrating these efforts across the entire acquisition lifecycle starting with initial prototyping and continuing through sustainment. Panelists included Lt Gen Mike "Gunny" Schmidt (former F-35 PEO), Kevin Robinson (CEO of MTSI) and Tony Frazier (CEO of LeoLabs). Moderated by Stephanie Halcrow (Visiting Scholar at ETI).

Conversation highlights include:

DxA improves our ability to solve tomorrow’s problems by identifying threats (and therefore solutions!) more quickly
Digital transformation must be a partnership between government and industry
We need more Digital Practitioners
DxA requires end-to-end environments that connect to each other at all security levels
Data rights conversations must happen early in the process
DxA conversations tend to focus on new starts, but sustainment is where the hard work needs to happen

Implementing Digital Transformation for Acquisition – How to Start?

February 11, 2026

The second panel in the series featured current and former program managers who have successfully implemented digital acquisition across their entire programs. Panel members included RB Metzger (former NGAD PM) and Colonel David Liu, Senior Materiel Leader, AFMC’s Mission Systems Architecture and Systems Engineering Group, and COL Jeffrey Poquette, Program Manager, Future Long Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA). Reed Skaggs (Chair of NDIA' Science and Engineering Technology Division) will moderate.

The panel shared great insights into the implementation side of digital acquisition including:
- The three pillars of DxA = 1) Software, 2) Data, & 3) Connectivity
- How digital threads, MBSE, digital twins, and modeling & simulation are all key components of DxA
- What DxA looks like in practice for the Air Force and Army (yes, it includes VR/AR headsets)
- Some of the biggest impacts of DxA are seen in sustainment savings, predictive maintenance, and faster troubleshooting
- DxA implementation challenges include higher up-front costs, a steep learning curve (for government and industry), and time to build the networks
- And areas where industry and academia can help the government with DxA

Digital Transformation for Acquisition (DxA) - The Art of the Possible

February 25, 2026

The third event in the four-part series, featured four lightning talk presentations on the tools, techniques, and processes available for implementing digital acquisition across the Department. The panelist included Price DeSanctis, Model Based Systems Engineer and Digital Engineering practitioner, MTSI, ML Mackey, CEO, Beacon Interactive Systems, Robert "Diesel" Salvia, Vice President of Federal Operations, Fortress, and Timothy "Stamper" Gramp, Chief Technology Officer, Expansia. Anna Kim, Associate Research Fellow at ETI, moderated the webinar.

We covered a lot of ground in the lightning talks, a few key takeaways include:
- Digital Acquisition isn’t a collection of tools or a dashboard or a model repository or a cloud migration. It’s an engineered ecosystem, or integrated digital environment, to compress the time it takes to learn, integrate, and decide.
- For DxA to be successful, customers need tool-agnostic analytical analysis, integrated cyber data, and more modularity
- The U.S. Navy is using digital transformation to increase the time between refueling events which is critical for operating in the Indo-Pacific
- The U.S. Air Force is using digital transformation to reduce time planes spend in maintenance
- DxA can help identify supply chain vulnerabilities like obsolesce and sole source areas…before they become a problem

Digital Transformation for Acquisition (DxA) – Moving Faster than Bullet Time

March 18, 2026

The final event of the series was a fireside chat with Will Roper (CEO of Istari and former SAF/AQ) who has a passion for Digital Acquisition and experience with implementing DxA in government, industry, and academia. Bess Dopkeen (former Special Advisor to USD R&E, former HASC PSM) moderated. Hon. William “Mac” Thornberry, former Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee and Chair of the NDIA ETI Advisory Board, will deliver introductory remarks.

Some highlights from the conversation include:
- Formula 1 is a great North Star that shows the art of the possible for digital transformation and building hardware like software. While the same tools are available in F1 as in defense, integration is far easier in F1 than it is in defense.
- Thus, one of the biggest opportunities for the Department of War and defense industry is figuring out how to integrate distributed sources of truth across intellectual property boundaries and multiple classification levels without centralizing data.
- Legacy systems can be modernized not by forcing tool interoperability but by using translation layers that extract data into repository-based sources of truth.
- AI becomes operationally usable when its actions are traceable, bound by guardrails, and compatible with decision accountability – in a word, auditable.