FEBRUARY 1, 2023 – Yesterday, at a kick-off symposium at the Institute for Defense Analyses, Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks and Pentagon Director of Administration and Management Michael Donley announced the establishment of the Defense Management Institute, a non-profit, non-partisan research organization committed to enhancing the management, organization, performance improvement and enterprise business operations of the department.
“The Department of Defense is the world’s largest and most complex institution, with a budget of more than $800 billion and a workforce of 3 million operating 24 hours a day in every time zone around the globe,” said Deputy Secretary Hicks. “We owe it to the taxpayers to ensure that their resources are managed as efficiently and effectively as possible. The DMI will contribute to that effort by learning from the best of the public and private sectors and helping us to constantly update and improve our management practices.”
The DMI implements the Secretary’s and the Deputy Secretary’s commitment to improve management across the department.
Its efforts will support the continual updating going forward of the new Strategic Management Plan, keeping it aligned with the National Defense Strategy such that our management priorities for the department reflect those things that need to be done to help implement the NDS.
In particular, the DMI, which will be managed by IDA, will assist the department by:
- Developing a defense management network of expertise and a community of practice including experts and practitioners from federally-funded research and development centers, think tanks, academia, and the private sector;
- Conducting cutting-edge research on management issues to inform decisions by the department and Congress; and
- Building a digital repository of research and other resources on key defense management issues that the entire community can leverage.
“Defense reform has been a key enabler to my efforts to support Secretary Austin’s three priorities of ‘defending the nation,’ ‘taking care of our people,’ and ‘succeeding through teamwork,” said Deputy Secretary Hicks. “I’m counting on DMI and the broader defense community to help ensure progress will only accelerate in the years to come. It truly is a national security imperative.”
You can read Deputy Secretary Hicks remarks at IDA here and Mr. Donley’s remarks here.