Office Hours: I'm Senior Defense & Foreign Policy Advisor to a Member of Congress and former Director of Science & Technology for the Defense Innovation Board in the Office of the Secretary of Defense.
Featured
Office Hours: I'm Senior Defense & Foreign Policy Advisor to a Member of Congress and former Director of Science & Technology for the Defense Innovation Board in the Office of the Secretary of Defense.Featured
Hi everyone! I’m Schuyler Moore, Senior Defense & Foreign Policy Advisor to a Member of Congress. I am also on the board of Young Professionals In Foreign Policy. Prior to this, I served as the Director of Science & Technology for the Defense Innovation Board in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. I also previously conducted research & analysis for think tanks like the Center for Emerging Technology and Security, and I worked in aerospace & defense consulting for the largest defense companies in the world. I have also taught at the School of Leadership in Afghanistan. I received my bachelor’s degree from Harvard and my master’s degree in Technology & Security from Georgetown School of Foreign Service. Ask me anything about policy, security, public sector work, teaching, or anything else!
ElphaStaff·Jan 17, 2021ElphaStaff·Jan 17, 2021Thanks so much for joining us @SchuylerMoore!Elphas – please ask @SchuylerMoore your questions before Friday, January 22nd. @SchuylerMoore may not have time to answer every questions, so emoji upvote your favorites 🔥👍🏾➕
It was wonderful to learn about your successes. I was co-owner of a simulation software company and we had several DOD contracts on defense policy analysis. It was quite a gratifying/rewarding experience. Currently, I have a startup specializing in policy analysis and am looking for seed funding to hire a data scientist. Any advise will be helpful.
Hi Schuyler, What's your advice for influencing others? I imagine that with the roles you've had that you're often in a position where you're presenting facts/evidence/data, and yet it's not enough (i.e. not enough to enact change or action). Keen to hear how you approach this. Much thanks!
@TemreGreen great question! I've found that you always need to map stakeholders in advance of a major briefing to make sure that you've spoken to relevant folks and moved them to your corner where necessary. So frequently, people will need to feel included in your work even if they are not directly related to implementation. In those cases, you must address concerns of those opposed in advance of a critical meeting and address those concerns accordingly.
Oh wow, it is awesome to have an opportunity to communicate with you. I am a data privacy attorney and founder of a PrivSec tech startup. Questions:Do you think the United States will have a federal data privacy law this year that will pre-empt state laws? With the roll out of CMMC, how will the government assess compliance esp. for smaller businesses?I realize the following may not be fair questions to ask, but here goes, as we continue to understand and explore the breadth of the SolarWinds breach, will the government be focused on improving its own security practices as a high priority in 2021 and beyond in such a way to have an effect on government contractors and subs? I know Biden has announced that security is a top concern for his administration, but how are they going to address it? Will the government focus on communicating with its citizens what it knows about the hack so that private corporations can take counter measures? Individuals? How transparently will new information be handled?
Welcome to Elpha. I got excited just reading about your interesting and challenging background. Congratulations for living such a full and rewarding life. As an ‘older’ (only in age) woman I hope I get the opportunity to talk with you and possibly meet. I am in the process of testing an App (using AI) for helping less tech savvy stay connected to each other in an easier way. I live in the in the Washington area (Virginia) when not in Israel. Feel free to reach out to me at [email protected].I can only imagine how busy you will be during these challenging times. Stay well😊🌻Once again Welcome to Elpha.Paula Adelman@SchuylerMoore
Hi @SchuylerMoore! Super exciting to read about your journey and what you are working on. Thanks for answering some questions.I'm running startup technology accelerators in the UK (Currently one sponsored by Boeing, GKN Aerospace and Rolls-Royce). We work with startups globally. A lot of what we do sits in civil aerospace at the moment but I think so many of the companies we work with would have great potential in defence. From your perspective: What kind of innovation is especially attractive for big corporates in the defence space and how do startups fit in there? We are also always on the lookout for new speakers/mentors for sessions or fireside chats. Would you be interested to get involved? I think our founders could really benefit from your insight. Would love to connect!Best wishes,Gabi
@gabimatic I love this question, and I think your types of startups are exactly the ones that have the most potential for growth - those that have dual use capability for commercial and defense application. Startups play such an important role in the defense innovation space because they bring fresh perspective to intractable problems. Traditional defense primes and seasoned national security professionals are sometimes at an innovation disadvantage simply because they have spent too much time in the space and have preconceived notions of "how things are usually done." Startups can inject fresh creativity into the problem-solving space.I would love to connect with you further and hear about the technologies you are working on.
Hi @SchuylerMoore! 👋🏼 Thanks for giving us this opportunity to pick your brain. I am the VP of Operations at Vidaloop, a civic tech startup building a secure mobile voting system. My questions are around elections in the United States:1) In your mind, what are the greatest challenges to modernizing voting technology in the US?2) How is the DIB or DoD thinking about election technology and election security in general?3) Do you have any recommendations for programs or partnerships we should be seeking out that focus on innovation in voting technology?Thank you!
@sjhorton thank you for the question! The biggest challenge to voting technology is cybersecurity trust - not just cybersecurity, but cybersecurity trust. If the general population does not have faith that our elections are secure and free from tampering, the foundations of our democracy would be in question. DoD is very concerned about election security as it relates to future national security, but domestic agencies and organizations control the majority of U.S. election security. DoD can only flag security breaches and concerns for DoD to pass along to its domestic counterparts.
Hi @SchuylerMoore! Nice to meet you! I love your journey and background - how very interesting and many congratulations on achieving a role where you can have a real and practical impact on society!! About me - I am President of Innovation for Good Inc. We seek out emerging technology and partner with existing tech, to discover, develop and deploy ways to prevent harm and to protect vulnerable populations, specifically women and children with a focus on fighting the crime of human trafficking which as you know, is linked to terrorism. We advised the UK Government and the Senior Technology Officer for the Prime Minister both policy and implementation of On and Offline harms, contributing to their Online Harms paper and new policy directives. Many of the technologies that we work with have military applications, as well as crime fighting ones. (I promise I am getting to the questions - but the background will help! smile) ...We look at international protocols, policies and how to best create collaborative partnerships that can rapidly make a difference on these fronts. We work with cutting edge tech in all the fun spaces from AI, AML crime, blockchain, emerging emergency services, identity, cybersecurity, privacy... etc. We also have an educational piece that has been developed and used by the OSCE forces to train their police and security forces to fight and prosecute around the human trafficking and the terrorist connection... and more. Which is launching this year with a secure network portal. 1. I would love to chat when you have the time. Please connect on LinkedIN. 2. My questions to you are - - Policy Specific - How best can we become involved and create impact on the policies here in the USA? There is lots of work being done in this space and we are somewhat new - however we have had some discussions but it seems ... slow in coming together. (I have some ideas, and would love feedback). - Innovation Specific - - What is the best way to work together with the government to collaborate on the technology innovations we have? The aim is to create access to some of the leading tech we have, and possibly implement and discuss ways to deploy some of the innovations we have developed. It would also be to create a possible working group to develop possibilities (We have access to some of the top security developers in the world - specifically whitechapel related. We also have a partnership with organizations like SOSA so can legitimately have this discussion. )Basically we want to know how best we can help! Thanks for your time to answer any of this and please do connect when possible! Stay Safe and Stay Well. Kindest regardsJax Harrison
@Jax thank you for your questions. There is a lot to unpack in there, so I'll give a few quick thoughts and suggest you connect with me on LinkedIn and set up a longer conversation if you would like. Policy: there are a number of ways to push forward your ideas in the US. Partnering with think tanks like CSIS, CNAS, CSBA, etc is one way of getting key stakeholders together and/or publishing materials on your ideas, building relationships with Congressional staff (like myself!) to explain your ideas and try to push them into legislation is another. In general, you will need to have a strong understanding of the stakeholder map and build connections that reflect it.Innovation: the answer to your question depends on the country. As with my answer above, I would say that it requires a deep understanding of which specific offices and individuals own a specific problem set you'd like to address, and then you can build a relationship with those offices/individuals to show them how your technology/innovative ideas can help. There's a sweet spot between presenting ideas that are too high level to have any sort of implementation path, and too tactical to make widespread change.
Thanks for joining us! I was wondering if you had any recommendations or advice for transitioning from private sector work to public/government work?
@MackenzieTudor thank you for the question! I personally made this transition, so I'm happy to speak to the topic. I'll describe how I did it, and then talk about some alternative paths I've seen.I was working at an aerospace & defense consulting firm (working with defense companies), and wanted to transition into more direct government work. My method of doing that was grad school, for a couple of reasons: 1) Many govt positions call for a masters degree2) Grad school allowed me to academically focus on topics relevant to my career3) Grad school provided a great networking opportunity to meet people in different agencies/org that could connect me/help me find jobs.4) Grad school gave me the chance to "sample" different types of government work via internships.For those of you who already have a grad degree, are not in a position to go to grad school, or are uninterested in grad school, I would suggest starting your search with contracting/consulting firms working directly for government (e.g., Booz Allen Hamilton, Deloitte, my own contracting firm Artlin). This allows you to meet the government customer and build contacts so that when govt positions do open up, you have a personal connection that may be able to vouch for you. For your USAJobs search, I would strongly recommend googling tips & tricks for getting your resume past the first round - it mostly involves copy + pasting lots of the phrases out of the job description into your resume. Stupid and inefficient way of hiring, but it's what we have.At the end of the day, network network network - the people you know will alert you when positions open, will pass your resume to the right folks, and will vouch for you when the time is right.
Hi @SchuylerMoore, thanks for being here!I'm the Defense Lead for Capital Factory's Corporate Strategy team, and I'm helping to build our Center for Defense Innovation - focusing on building up the defense ecosystem in Texas.First, would love to connect offline - I'm trying to build my network of other women working in national security and defense. Trying to build a badass lady phalanx of women to plug into speaking engagements, thought leadership, etc. Will shoot you a message with my email if you're open to chatting!Additionally, would love to get your thoughts about the future of government contracting for non-traditional entities (startups!), and the decentralization of talent around the country. What does the future look like for government agencies tapping into talent outside the DC corridor? Can you shine a spotlight on any agencies who are being particularly innovative in their approaches towards working with startups? What do you think is going to be the next big thing in terms of defense technology? I'm helping some of my portfolio companies think about JADC2-type pursuit opportunities, but I want to help advise our strategy for other emerging tech uses across government customers.
@helenakrusec Thanks for the question! Always happy to connect with other women in national security & defense.Talent recruitment and retention is a critical challenge for government, and DoD in particular. DoD has traditionally struggled with the challenge of remote work because of classified work issues, but COVID has unexpectedly given the Department an opportunity to revise its thinking on this topic. Like many organizations/companies, DoD has had to learn to telework over the last year by expanding its network infrastructure, rethinking its security architecture, and changing its cultural norms to promote collaboration outside of the office. As a result, we now have a greater opportunity to hire outside of the DC corridor! Last fall, the Defense Innovation Board published a series of recommendations on exactly this topic - strongly suggest giving it a read here: https://innovation.defense.gov/Portals/63/documents/Meeting%20Documents/September%2015%202020/DIB_Digital%20Talent_CLEARED.pdf?ver=2020-09-15-111827-080While there are many "next big things" for defense tech (more mature ones like AI, 5G, next gen cybersecurity, and less mature ones like quantum), I do feel that biotechnology is a fascinating space with incredible potential that hasn't yet been tapped. It has implications for force readiness, acquisition & sustainment, and (more obviously) healthcare, and I'm excited to see the next development for that topic.
Hi Schuyler - thx for being on here at the perfect political moment. My ? is with the Solar Winds hack (did that happen b/c Trump appointed 'friends' instead of deeply qualified applicants or why/how did it happen?) how is DC going about attracting Silicon Valley type talent to help not only make sure SWinds never happens again, but that we are more ahead of the game with actors like Russia and China (who seem to be state-funding massive amounts of capital to hackers to take aim at the US)?
@joclark thank you for your question!Talent recruitment and retention is a critical challenge for government, and DoD in particular. DoD has traditionally struggled with the challenge of remote work because of classified work issues, but COVID has unexpectedly given the Department an opportunity to revise its thinking on this topic. Like many organizations/companies, DoD has had to learn to telework over the last year by expanding its network infrastructure, rethinking its security architecture, and changing its cultural norms to promote collaboration outside of the office. As a result, we now have a greater opportunity to hire outside of the DC corridor! Last fall, the Defense Innovation Board published a series of recommendations on exactly this topic - strongly suggest giving it a read here: https://innovation.defense.gov/Portals/63/documents/Meeting%20Documents/September%2015%202020/DIB_Digital%20Talent_CLEARED.pdf?ver=2020-09-15-111827-080While there are many "next big things" for defense tech (more mature ones like AI, 5G, next gen cybersecurity, and less mature ones like quantum), I do feel that biotechnology is a fascinating space with incredible potential that hasn't yet been tapped. It has implications for force readiness, acquisition & sustainment, and (more obviously) healthcare, and I'm excited to see the next development for that topic.
share this article
read these next
On creating more positive and productive cultures for the future of work with Sheree Atcheson, head of diversity and inclusion at Monzo
Between my mom and Oprah, I have everything I need to thrive in life. I'm Jessica Grayson, Elpha Community Manager
Office Hours: I'm an investing partner at Magma Partners, was an early Twitter employee, and have written 9 books translated into 10 languages. I'm Claire Diaz-Ortiz.
A Guide for First-Time Managers on Harnessing Conscious Leadership and Intuition
PhD vs industry?
Office Hours: I'm Product Lead at Superhuman and previously built products at Box and Gusto