cheers to you and 2022
By: Katie Savage
Director
Katie Savage penned a letter to the DDS team and family members, outlining the many accomplishments of our work during a year of critical projects.
DDS team members at the bi-annual offsite this November.
Dear DDS Team Members & Families:
Happy Holidays! I want to thank the DDS team for another incredible year of hard work. I also want to acknowledge DDS team members’ families for your support of the long hours, crazy travel, and numerous time zones prompting video calls at all hours of the day and night. Your patience and flexibility allow us to be the DOD’s “rapid response” element.
This year, the DDS team transitioned from one major Department of Defense mission to the next. We continued our efforts with the Department of State’s Afghan Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) team to streamline and expedite the SIV process for Afghan nationals who served the U.S. faithfully as DOD contractors. To date, our employment verification efforts have led to visas for thousands of Afghans, allowing them to receive asylum status in the U.S. We welcome home those individuals and will press forward with a sustainable program to address the backlog.
Next, DDS stepped in at the request of the U.S. European Command to help Ukraine coordinate aid with our partners and allies. In partnership with the UK Defense Digital Service, our team has collectively spent months at headquarters in Europe ensuring that NATO and non-NATO countries are able to effectively communicate leveraging modern technology. We are working towards a vision of seamless, global collaboration and data-sharing to ensure the protection of freedom and democracy in our world.
Our Hack the Pentagon program continues to deliver successful bug bounties and identify critical cybersecurity vulnerabilities across the DOD. Examples include Hack the U.S., in which we paid ethical researchers for any assets in scope and found 349 actionable reports. In partnership with the Army, we also launched Hack the Microgrid to detect vulnerabilities, including data manipulation, ahead of the Army’s planned microgrid rollout to 134 bases beginning in May 2023.
Other key efforts include supporting Deputy Secretary Hicks’ priority to identify DOD personnel who need assistance before potentially becoming an insider threat by building a software platform named Solution for Insider Threat Hinderdance (SITH). We supported counter-UAS at combatant commands, installing detection units to establish a pattern of life at those locations and informing long-term investment plans in counter-UAS systems. We also continue to lead innovative, timely investment and support of our people with a top-notch front office team.
All of our projects this year set a foundation to provide quality data to the DOD. This is part of our remit as we join the newly created Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office. We believe Deputy Hicks’ goal of creating “decision advantage” can be achieved with quality data, cybersecurity and top-tier talent.
Team, you showed up every day and have literally saved lives. I know it doesn't always feel that way when you’re wrestling the bureaucracy, but whether you are working on safe UAS, rolling out insider threat prevention, working in Ukraine or helping Afghan refugees - these are real people you are impacting. I hope you end the year feeling so proud of yourselves and your teammates. You are all incredible professionals I feel lucky to work with.
Have a wonderful holiday season, get some rest and we’ll see you in 2023!
Katie Savage, DDS Director & Deputy Chief Digital & Artificial Intelligence Officer
