Deborah Lee James, chair of the Defense Business Board and a previous Wash100 Award winner, said the board will look into various matters and conduct studies that will fall into three basic categories and those are transformations, business processes and talent, Defense News reported Tuesday.
James, former secretary of the U.S. Air Force, told the publication in an interview about her insights on the possibility of tighter defense budgets.
“In more scarce times, where lots of bills for procurement are coming due when you need to invest more in R&D for some of the new technologies like AI and robotics and hypersonics, and so on, when the cost of people continues to go up. All of these are bills that must be paid,” James said.
“And if [future] budgets are flat, as I think many are predicting, you’re going to have to do some efficiencies, if you’re going to continue to do the things that you want to do,” she added.
When asked about her strategy as chair of the board, James said she intends to leverage the talents and insights of each member and envisions the group to be a “working board.”
