April 3, 2025 • 9 mins
In this episode, OMG Chairman & CEO Bill Hoffman chats with Steve MacLaird, OMG SVP, Government & Industry Strategy about DoD 5000.97. This new directive establishes policy, assigns responsibilities, and provides procedures for implementing and using digital engineering in the development and sustainment of defense systems. Steve walks through the elements of 5000.97 and what it means for the future of digital modeling, and new technologies such as digital twins and augmented reality. He explains the synergies with existing OMG standards such as Unified Architecture Framework (UAF) and Systems Modeling Language (SysML) 2.0.
For reference, a diagram of the DoD 5000.97 Digital Engineering Framework is shown below. (Source : DoDI 5000.97, "Digital Engineering".) Visit the OMG Standards Development Organization at https://omg.org
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:09):
Hello, I'm Karen Quatromoni,
Director of Public Relations forObject Management Group, OMG,
and welcome to our OMGPodcast series. At OMG,
we're known for driving industrystandards and building tech communities.
Today we're focusing on OMG'SStandards Development Organization,
SDO, which maintains and owns thestandards for the benefit of industry.
(00:34):
Thanks.
In a large part to the passion of ourindividual members and organizations that
sponsor them.
Today are OMG CEO and Chairman Bill
Hoffman will lead thepodcast session talking with
OMG SVP, Steve MacLaird.
Hey, thanks Karen.
I'd like to start by having Steve geta little bit of his background. Steve,
(00:58):
I know your background,
but maybe you could sharewith the audience your experience with governments and
your association with OMG.
Sure, I'll be glad to dothat. I'm Steve MacLaird.
I'm a retired Air Force officer after 27and a half years with the primary focus
and acquisitions and that focuswithin the acquisition core was
(01:19):
contracting financialand program management.
I worked three joint jobs toinclude leading one of the DOD's top
three transformational programsat the end of my career.
That was led by the US Armyand impact at all services,
many agencies and NASA inthe communications world.
(01:39):
During that career,
I worked airland sea and space-basedplatforms that integrated the entire
kill chain,
which gave me a unique insight ofhow the systems of systems work
within our ability toperform our job. Since then,
I've worked with a number ofgovernment agencies and industries.
I was also a military advisor in theUnited Arab Emirates and the agencies that
(02:04):
I worked with inside the US werethe Office of Management and Budget,
the Office of Financial BudgetBudget, and the Department of Energy.
Very good. Thanks, Steve. Steve,
we're here to talk today about theDepartment of Defense Initiative 5000.97.
Can you briefly describe it?
Sure. Simply said,
(02:25):
the new directive calls for the use ofdigital engineering methodologies and
technologies and practices acrossthe lifecycle of defense acquisition
programs.
It also canceled the DOD 2007 modeling and
simulation management directive.
It had five major points in it.
(02:46):
It mandates the incorporation ofdigital engineering for all new
programs. There are exceptions,
but that has to be grantedto you upon requests.
It directs the services usedigital engineering practices in
requirements costs,
business and sustainment arenas.
(03:07):
It also calls for thereplacement of documents with the use of digital models as
the primary means of communicatingsystems and information,
and it requires the appropriate datarights to be addressed and obtained
throughout that process.
The big point is that it singles outthe Defense Acquisition University as
(03:29):
providing the workforce training ondigital engineering for the future.
That's great. Thanks, Steve.
So what are some of the key benefitsof using architecture digital
twin frameworks,
models and standards for militaryand also non-military applications?
Great question.
(03:49):
It builds upon OMG's systems modeling
approach, and the goalis to create a faster,
smarter decision loop by using digital
visitation and collaborationthroughout the system's lifecycle.
It should allow for fastercorrections and modifications and
(04:11):
deliveries as you identify bugs.
It provides for cost savings by reducingwork and streamlining the development
process and then the integrationeffort into the larger system.
What's interesting is a lot ofpeople talk about the system,
they don't talk about the subsystems,
and we're seeing opportunities whereyou can manage the subsystems and
(04:34):
plug them into different platforms,whether it be Air Land C or Space,
space and Quicken the development cycle.
It also increases improved quality,
identifies risk mitigation measuresby identifying problems during the
development cycle,
and that utilization of DE canhelp in creating competitive
(04:59):
advantages for companies thatare proposing to the government.
Well, that's great for all this stuffgoing on in Washington right now,
this is very timely. Steve,
how do you see digital engineering andsystems engineering evolving in the
future to address things, technologytrends and organizational needs?
In the past,
(05:19):
we looked at things like lifecyclemanagement and computer aid
design capability, also known as cad.
I see government and industry will usethose systems much like they did that
those two capabilities in thepast digital models will replace
documents as the primary way ofcommunicating system and information
(05:42):
and have plans to use it in that way with
acquisitions. In fact,OMG has led the pack since
2022,
and with a product knownas model-based acquisition,
we have a team of about 150people that are actually building
(06:05):
the RFIs and the proposalprocess in a model
based systems utilizingdigital engineering.
I'll see a greater use of what we calldigital engineering ecosystems will
be utilized by creating commonthreads of capabilities and behavioral
characteristics to shareamongst the different platforms.
(06:28):
And then the big change will be,
I expect a career field to be implementedcalled the digital workforce and
digital engineering engineers.
I think that's very accurate, Steve.
There's obviously a skill shortage that'sgoing to have to be addressed based on
these new technologies. Speaking of which,
could you discuss how the OMG producesarchitecture's, frameworks, models,
(06:50):
standards, and how that impacts our world?
Yeah, and before I do that, I'dlike to talk about our portfolio,
a little bit of programs that addressesfuture needs as it's led to the
world that we've beendoing this since 1989.
We started out with standards,
but we saw a need toaddress other things that
(07:14):
fed on those standards.
Our portfolio includesaddressing augmented reality,
data distribution, digitaltwins, IT software quality,
and the internet ofthings. Within the SDO,
we've created a foundational platformin which models and metamodels can
(07:35):
work together. That is known as meta
model Object Facility Framework,
and it applies thearchitecture and frameworks
on that platform that have beenadopted by governments and industry
worldwide in the areas of communications,computer data engineering,
(07:59):
modeling space,
and many other cross-cuttingareas throughout
our life. We have also lookedat vertical needs in the world,
in the realm of defense,finance, health, manufacturing,
retail, robotics, andother such verticals.
We have 26 that we look atto make a lasting change and
(08:22):
life easier as we deal inthe digital environment.
That's great. Steve. Thanks so much.
Do you have any finalthoughts you'd like to share?
I think we're on point.
I think as you get deeper into
digital engineering,
you'll find out about ourUnified Architecture Framework
(08:46):
and our Systems Modeling Language (SysML)2.0 and would like to invite you to
come and be a part of that.
Very good. Thank you, Steve.
Thank you Steve, and thank you, Bill.
We hope you learned a lotabout the government's DOD
5000.97 initiative and
OMG SDO.
(09:08):
Please stay tuned because we will behaving part two of a series on this
initiative featuring the DigitalTwin Consortium. Thank you.
Hello, I'm Karen Quatromoni,
Director of Public Relations forObject Management Group, OMG,
and welcome to our OMGPodcast series. At OMG,
we're known for driving industrystandards and building tech communities.
Today we're focusing on OMG'SStandards Development Organization,
SDO, which maintains and owns thestandards for the benefit of industry.
(00:34):
Thanks.
In a large part to the passion of ourindividual members and organizations that
sponsor them.
Today are OMG CEO and Chairman Bill
Hoffman will lead thepodcast session talking with
OMG SVP, Steve MacLaird.
Hey, thanks Karen.
I'd like to start by having Steve geta little bit of his background. Steve,
(00:58):
I know your background,
but maybe you could sharewith the audience your experience with governments and
your association with OMG.
Sure, I'll be glad to dothat. I'm Steve MacLaird.
I'm a retired Air Force officer after 27and a half years with the primary focus
and acquisitions and that focuswithin the acquisition core was
(01:19):
contracting financialand program management.
I worked three joint jobs toinclude leading one of the DOD's top
three transformational programsat the end of my career.
That was led by the US Armyand impact at all services,
many agencies and NASA inthe communications world.
(01:39):
During that career,
I worked airland sea and space-basedplatforms that integrated the entire
kill chain,
which gave me a unique insight ofhow the systems of systems work
within our ability toperform our job. Since then,
I've worked with a number ofgovernment agencies and industries.
I was also a military advisor in theUnited Arab Emirates and the agencies that
(02:04):
I worked with inside the US werethe Office of Management and Budget,
the Office of Financial BudgetBudget, and the Department of Energy.
Very good. Thanks, Steve. Steve,
we're here to talk today about theDepartment of Defense Initiative 5000.97.
Can you briefly describe it?
Sure. Simply said,
(02:25):
the new directive calls for the use ofdigital engineering methodologies and
technologies and practices acrossthe lifecycle of defense acquisition
programs.
It also canceled the DOD 2007 modeling and
simulation management directive.
It had five major points in it.
(02:46):
It mandates the incorporation ofdigital engineering for all new
programs. There are exceptions,
but that has to be grantedto you upon requests.
It directs the services usedigital engineering practices in
requirements costs,
business and sustainment arenas.
(03:07):
It also calls for thereplacement of documents with the use of digital models as
the primary means of communicatingsystems and information,
and it requires the appropriate datarights to be addressed and obtained
throughout that process.
The big point is that it singles outthe Defense Acquisition University as
(03:29):
providing the workforce training ondigital engineering for the future.
That's great. Thanks, Steve.
So what are some of the key benefitsof using architecture digital
twin frameworks,
models and standards for militaryand also non-military applications?
Great question.
(03:49):
It builds upon OMG's systems modeling
approach, and the goalis to create a faster,
smarter decision loop by using digital
visitation and collaborationthroughout the system's lifecycle.
It should allow for fastercorrections and modifications and
(04:11):
deliveries as you identify bugs.
It provides for cost savings by reducingwork and streamlining the development
process and then the integrationeffort into the larger system.
What's interesting is a lot ofpeople talk about the system,
they don't talk about the subsystems,
and we're seeing opportunities whereyou can manage the subsystems and
(04:34):
plug them into different platforms,whether it be Air Land C or Space,
space and Quicken the development cycle.
It also increases improved quality,
identifies risk mitigation measuresby identifying problems during the
development cycle,
and that utilization of DE canhelp in creating competitive
(04:59):
advantages for companies thatare proposing to the government.
Well, that's great for all this stuffgoing on in Washington right now,
this is very timely. Steve,
how do you see digital engineering andsystems engineering evolving in the
future to address things, technologytrends and organizational needs?
In the past,
(05:19):
we looked at things like lifecyclemanagement and computer aid
design capability, also known as cad.
I see government and industry will usethose systems much like they did that
those two capabilities in thepast digital models will replace
documents as the primary way ofcommunicating system and information
(05:42):
and have plans to use it in that way with
acquisitions. In fact,OMG has led the pack since
2022,
and with a product knownas model-based acquisition,
we have a team of about 150people that are actually building
(06:05):
the RFIs and the proposalprocess in a model
based systems utilizingdigital engineering.
I'll see a greater use of what we calldigital engineering ecosystems will
be utilized by creating commonthreads of capabilities and behavioral
characteristics to shareamongst the different platforms.
(06:28):
And then the big change will be,
I expect a career field to be implementedcalled the digital workforce and
digital engineering engineers.
I think that's very accurate, Steve.
There's obviously a skill shortage that'sgoing to have to be addressed based on
these new technologies. Speaking of which,
could you discuss how the OMG producesarchitecture's, frameworks, models,
(06:50):
standards, and how that impacts our world?
Yeah, and before I do that, I'dlike to talk about our portfolio,
a little bit of programs that addressesfuture needs as it's led to the
world that we've beendoing this since 1989.
We started out with standards,
but we saw a need toaddress other things that
(07:14):
fed on those standards.
Our portfolio includesaddressing augmented reality,
data distribution, digitaltwins, IT software quality,
and the internet ofthings. Within the SDO,
we've created a foundational platformin which models and metamodels can
(07:35):
work together. That is known as meta
model Object Facility Framework,
and it applies thearchitecture and frameworks
on that platform that have beenadopted by governments and industry
worldwide in the areas of communications,computer data engineering,
(07:59):
modeling space,
and many other cross-cuttingareas throughout
our life. We have also lookedat vertical needs in the world,
in the realm of defense,finance, health, manufacturing,
retail, robotics, andother such verticals.
We have 26 that we look atto make a lasting change and
(08:22):
life easier as we deal inthe digital environment.
That's great. Steve. Thanks so much.
Do you have any finalthoughts you'd like to share?
I think we're on point.
I think as you get deeper into
digital engineering,
you'll find out about ourUnified Architecture Framework
(08:46):
and our Systems Modeling Language (SysML)2.0 and would like to invite you to
come and be a part of that.
Very good. Thank you, Steve.
Thank you Steve, and thank you, Bill.
We hope you learned a lotabout the government's DOD
5000.97 initiative and
OMG SDO.
(09:08):
Please stay tuned because we will behaving part two of a series on this
initiative featuring the DigitalTwin Consortium. Thank you.
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