Hire an accountable leader to manage this effort

Hire a single, accountable individual in the DoD to take charge of the enclave product and delivery team. This person should have experience delivering technical products at scale and successfully building digital teams. A strong emphasis should be placed on non-DoD development and delivery experience. With this in mind, and to implement quickly, it is likely this person will be hired as a Highly Qualified Expert (HQE) under Schedule A or a similar direct hiring authority.

The enclave leader should be hired into the CDAOs office and be given the authority to raise any disputes to the Deputy Secretary for resolution. The Deputy Secretary’s Office gave CDAO the proper authority within the DoD to remove barriers and get work done with a May 5, 2021 Memo from the Deputy Secretary of Defense. With this in mind, the enclave team leader must have direct access to PPBE-related data across the DoD enterprise no matter where it is stored and must be empowered to make decisions that move the project forward.

This will likely be a difficult project, politically and bureaucratically. Ideally, the leader would be someone not currently employed in the DoD, and not planning to build a long-term career in the Department. Choosing a person who meets these qualifications means they will have less interest in protecting legacy decisions or their careers and be more willing to speak hard truths and make technically correct, if politically difficult, decisions.