On September 19, the Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security hosted a conference call on the Department of Defense’s Better Buying Power 3.0 initiative, which was announced earlier that morning.

In his speech, Under Secretary Frank Kendall indicated that this third evolution of the DoD’s keystone initiative for improving the defense acquisition management system would “focus more on innovation, and… get[ting] better capability in the hands of the warfighter.” Expectations held that the announcement would articulate new guidance for achieving affordable programs, building dominant capabilities, and providing better pathways for applying commercial technologies to solve military challenges.

Two former Defense Department officials joined moderator James Hasik, a nonresident senior fellow in the Scowcroft Center, to offer their perspectives on the significance of this guidance for the defense program and industrial relations. Steven Grundman is the M.A. and George Lund fellow for emerging defense challenges with Brent Scowcroft Center, and a former deputy under secretary for industrial affairs and installations. Brett Lambert is executive-in-residence at the consultancy Renaissance Strategic Advisors; until 2013, he was the deputy assistant secretary of defense for manufacturing and industrial base policy.