As a guiding principle the Cooperative Strategy for the 21st
Century Revision revisits the concept of a “global network of navies”. In 2006 Admiral Mullen was a tireless
proponent of the Thousand Ship Navy operating concept comprised of an “international
fleet of like-minded nations”, foreign navies, commercial shipping companies,
and merchant vessels. This concept was controversial with US policymakers
because cynics saw a concept that outsourced maritime security due to an
inadequate acquisition program, a shrinking shipbuilding capability, and a lack
of political will for a strong Navy. Allies were also critical because they
regarded the concept a ploy by the US to gain control over their indigenous maritime
assets and could possibly result in being orthogonal to a country’s national
interest. Making the concept even more problematic was the long standing
distrust between some US partners, particularly in Asia. The concept was not entirely
thrown over the transom, as the notion of global maritime partnerships has
gained traction due to the nexus of technologies like AIS and a general willingness
among nations to share maritime information.
Successful examples usually include counter-piracy off Somalia, the
Italian led Virtual Regional Maritime Traffic Center and the maritime center in
Singapore established to ensure maritime security in the straits of Malacca. The Thousand Ship Navy initiative is indeed a
cautionary tale. The lesson learned is to build upon existing successes and
move forward a strategy to further increase maritime security partnerships
fleshed out in a study completed several years ago by The Naval Studies Board.
Wednesday, March 18, 2015
Tuesday, February 17, 2015
More about Google for the Brain
It has been almost four years since contemplating (see Google for the Brain) a neural prosthetic that would permit you to see Google results on your retina. So, it was with no surprise to learn that DARPA had recently announced the cortical modem concept. They envision a heads-up display or augmented reality projection appearing in your natural vision with no helmet or smart glasses produced from a device about the size of two coins and cost about $10. The full story can be found at http://www.cnet.com/news/scientists-propose-cortical-modem-implant-to-give-you-terminator-vision/
Wednesday, January 7, 2015
Leges sine moribus vanae
Prof. Simon Kuznets |
Whilst watching an interesting TED presentation, the speaker referenced the influential economist Simon Kuznets (who at one time during his long and distinguished career was a Penn faculty member.) His research focused on using statistics to analyze empirical data which is foundational to econometrics, a branch of the dismal science made infamous at Wharton.
What makes
his research particularly relevant to today's economic challenges is that his general
theories of economic growth explained the phenomenon of income inequality. Kuznets discovered
the Inverted U-shaped relation between income inequality and economic growth. In
poor countries, economic growth due to a shift from an agricultural to an industrial economy increases the income disparity between rich and
poor. In the long run, mass education decreases income inequality by providing greater
opportunities and fostering more political empowerment.
While most
nations in Africa (notwithstanding their endemic corruption) offer strikingly obvious examples of income inequality due to the tectonic shift from
agriculture to industrial economies. Less clearly
identifiable is the impact that innovation has had on increasing income
inequality in more developed economies. Simply
put companies like Microsoft, Apple, Intel and Hewlett Packard have transformed
the US economy and turned the page on a new chapter of economic growth which is largely the
result of a well-developed educational delivery system and an environment that
generally facilitates entrepreneurship. Consequently, astute
observers have concluded that the conversation about income inequality should
be more appropriately focused on educational inequality which is attributed to
disparities that often fall along racial lines. For example, family background has
been identified as the most influential factor in student achievement. Unfortunately,
15% of white children are raised in single-parent homes, as compared to 54% of
African American children. On the campaign trail, Barack
Obama talked about how there are more college age blacks in jail (or
on probation) than in college. Professor Ivory Toldson at Howard University who
has studied the issue concludes that the real problem is that because just getting into any college is considered a success there are not enough
black students in competitive universities while over represented in
community colleges. Of course, this is just another
systemic example of where as a country we are settling for mediocrity in the name of democracy.
However, as
long as there is income inequality the simplistic and pernicious argument is that
inequality is rooted in pervasive discrimination - no matter the wealth of
evidence that students who are better prepared and are the product of stable
family backgrounds perform better in school, thus assuring more chances of
economic and other success in adulthood. Simple solutions like income
redistribution do not solve a problem as complex as income inequality, or more correctly educational inequality.
Thursday, April 11, 2013
Africa – Crucible for maritime domain awareness: What are the investment priorities?
Maritime domain awareness is critically positioned at the nexus of the technological and cultural implications of networking; the renewed impetus for data sharing across government and non-governmental organizations; and the general goodwill for building maritime partnerships.
Click here for the complete article.
Friday, April 5, 2013
Comment and Discussion
As globalization forces the world’s economies to become more closely
integrated and dependent, the Naval Studies Board concluded a few years ago that
it is critical that nations coordinate and collectively integrate their maritime
security activities by developing maritime partnerships. Notwithstanding the
challenge of AFRICOM to first more effectively plan, prioritize, align, and
implement U.S. government activities in a collaborative interagency environment,
a more concerted effort is essential to coordinate activities with African
countries and our European partners who have long-established equities and
operational relationships. Having this sort of regional “scheduling conference”
would reduce duplication of effort, create synergy, and conserve scarce
resources. The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has been critical
that while some capacity-building activities appear to support AFRICOM’s
mission, others do not because “AFRICOM is generally not measuring long-term
effects of activities.”
The Maritime Domain Awareness Capability Maturity Model (MDA CMM) is a tool for assessing a country’s ability to monitor, patrol, and maintain its maritime environment; it was created at NAVAF for the exact purpose of providing key decision makers the metrics that measure return on investment and gauge a country’s relative improvements in maritime safety and security. According to the MDA CMM, the first of five levels is characterized by countries whose MDA systems are inadequately sustained, whereas at the optimum level countries take a leadership role in regional information sharing. The CMM is responsive to the GAO’s concerns and should be adopted by AFRICOM to help shape an effective investment strategy See Proceedings Magazine - April 2013 Vol. 139/4/1,322
The Maritime Domain Awareness Capability Maturity Model (MDA CMM) is a tool for assessing a country’s ability to monitor, patrol, and maintain its maritime environment; it was created at NAVAF for the exact purpose of providing key decision makers the metrics that measure return on investment and gauge a country’s relative improvements in maritime safety and security. According to the MDA CMM, the first of five levels is characterized by countries whose MDA systems are inadequately sustained, whereas at the optimum level countries take a leadership role in regional information sharing. The CMM is responsive to the GAO’s concerns and should be adopted by AFRICOM to help shape an effective investment strategy See Proceedings Magazine - April 2013 Vol. 139/4/1,322
Monday, February 25, 2013
Perspective on Time Horizons
A little more than ten years ago I was fortunate to spend a morning
listening to Dr. Elliot
Jaques discuss in an open forum many of the concepts that he had conceived
during his illustrious career. His
notion of time horizons seems to ring truer today than at any other time. For Jacques time horizons were the most
useful and objective measure of the level and complexity of work. While the janitor sweeping the shop floor
might be thinking about what was for dinner, the assembly line worker might be
more concerned with this week’s pay, a director of marketing more
worried about marketing campaigns for next year, the chief executive SHOULD
be looking to the future - even beyond his own time at the helm. Jaques observed that organizations implicitly recognize this fact in everything from titles to salary: line workers are paid hourly, managers annually, and senior executives compensated with longer-term incentives such as stock options.
Jaques identified seven different time
horizons and argued that requisite organizations to be successful should assure the suitability of the employee’s time horizon
to the task. Indeed his research
within the context of organizational development indicated that it was this disconnect that made for unhappy employees and
failed businesses. Jaques noted that in effective organizations workers with differing time horizons worked at a level where they felt comfortable. If a worker's job was beyond their innate time horizon, they would fail. Less and they would be insufficiently challenged. Level 1 encompasses jobs such as sales associates or line workers handling routine tasks with a time horizon of up to three months. Levels 2 to 4 encompass various managerial positions with time horizons between one to five years. Level 5 crosses over to five to 10 years and is the domain of chief executives. Beyond Level 5, one enters the realm of statesmen and legendary business leaders comfortable with 20 or 50 year time horizons.
In a
world where there is no shortage of short sightedness from egregious examples
of greed and short term profits that led to the financial meltdown in 2008 to
political leaders who make and change policy based on the latest polls, Dr.
Jaques perspective that great leaders are those that tend to be visionaries is
worth revisiting. Arguably problems like governement deficits are intractable because we have an electorate that is at Level 2 and elects maybe Level 3 politicians when we really need Level 5 solutions.
Monday, February 18, 2013
More on responsibility in the context of gun control
To follow up on the
notion that the electorate is uninformed, it is incredible that the gun control
zealots are unable to understand the problem, and when you can't define the
problem your solution will not make any difference. As reported in the "Crime
and Enforcement Activity in New York City" for the first six months of
2010: 95.1 percent of all murder victims and 95.9 percent of all shooting
victims in New York City are black or Hispanic and 90.2 percent of those
arrested for murder and 96.7 percent of those arrested for shooting someone are
black and Hispanic. According to Ann Coulter, the murder rate among white
Americans is as low as the murder rate in Belgium. "So perhaps it's not a
gun problem," she has concluded. "Perhaps it's a demographic problem."
The gun control
argument is that gun laws intended to put guns into the hands of "good
guys" are the laws that also multiply guns in the hands of "bad
guys". Note that these guns are hand guns and are not the topic of the
current assault weapon rhetoric. Gun buy backs in inner cities have had mixed
results and may be a short term solution, but in the long term the problem of
the black ghetto underclass has to shift from the politically correct argument
that white racism is the cause and black inequality is the result. As an
example, Bill Cosby is one voice that has tried to transform black
helplessness, frustration and righteous indignation into a sense of shared
responsibility and action. As the dropout rate approaches 70% and the teenage
single parenthood is about 80% in the lower economic neighborhoods, Coz has
emphasized to the students the importance of their education: “Study. That’s
all. It’s not tough. You’re not picking cotton. You’re not picking up the
trash. You’re not washing windows. You sit down. You read. You develop your
brain.” His message is that black poverty will only end when and if black
people themselves take responsibility for changing their lives.
Ironically when the country has moved to where
the president can and should be an inspiration for those in the black ghetto
underclass, he and the gun control zealots are unable to place responsibility
where it belongs
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