As government missions become digital and always on, it’s imperative that modernization efforts do not disrupt operations and other critical activities. As The Department of the Navy, drives its modernization efforts forward, the goal is not simply to deploy new technology; it’s to strengthen readiness, sustain mission performance, and deliver new capabilities without negatively impacting the systems already in place. According to Louis Koplin, Chief Information and Technology Officer for PAE Mission Systems at the Department of the Navy, operational readiness is really about the mission.
Koplin, along with Tara Duckworth, Senior IT Principal Solutions Architect at Maximus, shared their insights with GovExec’s Courtney O’Neal Allen on a recent podcast about modernizing defense without disrupting the mission. Bringing together the perspectives of the customer and the trusted technology partner created a rich dialogue about how to achieve this complicated goal, particularly at a time when defense missions face rising operational and cyber complexity.
“There are no small missions,” Koplin explained. “Everyone at the Department of War has a mission; it might be recruiting, it might be classified missions, managing logistics, or paying bills. But all missions are connected and mutually dependent. And all have to be ready at any time, and technology is the enabler.” Duckworth added that for her and the Maximus team, their job is to deliver continuous value to the mission, including outcomes that help Sailors, Marines, federal agencies, personnel, and citizens access services when they need them.
But getting to the point of delivering the right information to the right place at the right time is not without its challenges. As Koplin noted, “we need to be able to deploy data, integrate AI, understand, mitigate, and respond to cyber threats, deliver continuous improvement, and deliver new capabilities at velocity without undoing what is already deployed.” Added Duckworth, “first do no harm; new systems can’t disrupt mission-critical operations.”
In an agency as complex as the Department of War, the keys to success lie in understanding end users’ needs and reverse-engineering from the front lines at the point of consumption to the technology itself. “Good user experience isn’t the same on the frontlines as it is in the back office,” explained Duckworth. “Customization and tight coupling of technology to particular experiences need to be limited.” By taking this approach, the Navy can create a library of standard services and solutions that the end user can adapt across all the systems Koplin and his team support, from ERPs and business systems to radar and missile systems.
To this end, as the Department of the Navy advances data, automation and AI, progress must be measured by mission value. Koplin pointed to the Department of the Navy’s World-Class Alignment Metrics (WAMs) as a way to connect technology decisions to mission outcomes. The framework focuses on time lost, operational resilience, customer satisfaction, cost per user, and adaptability. Meanwhile, trusted technology partner, Maximus, provides an overlay of experience and a deep investment in helping its customers identify critical outcomes they want to achieve, aligned with the WAMs.
“For the Navy, the use case could be that mission-critical data needs to reach the ship in a certain time frame to support an operation,” Duckworth explained. “AI readiness starts with data readiness. Agencies do not need all data in one place to create value.” What matters most is whether teams can break down silos, secure data flows, and make information available when the mission needs it. So, in this example, Koplin and Duckworth explained how Zero Trust and API-led architecture help data live where it needs to live while still supporting secure access, communication, and mission value.
The same discipline applies to prioritization. Duckworth emphasized the need to identify critical workflows, critical processes, and technologies that no longer deliver value. Koplin added that if everything is important, nothing is important. Data can help leaders prioritize the work that matters most, fund the highest value needs first, and reduce the emotion from investment decisions.
From the conversation between Kopin and Duckworth it’s clear that the path forward for the United States Navy is not modernization for its own sake. It is modernization that reduces friction, strengthens resilience, and delivers measurable mission value. By starting with critical workflows, improving data readiness, standardizing what should scale, and earning progress through small wins, defense organizations can move faster without putting the mission at risk.