The Pentagon's critical mission and focus on the warfighter remain key draws for technology professionals, a senior Pentagon official said yesterday.
Heidi Xu, Undersecretary for Defence Research and Technology, said her interactions with university students and young professionals have shown that a career in the civil service continues to offer attractive opportunities for those seeking employment.
Shuyu shared the insights during a fireside chat with Arati Prabhakar, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, at the Defense Industrial Association's Emerging Technologies for Defense conference in Washington.
It's clear why young people are attracted to public service, said Xu, who highlighted the impact Defense Department employees have on the mission every day during a recent visit to the Pentagon with a group of Harvard students.
“I said, 'I can work in the private sector and make more money, or I can come to the Pentagon and my job could mean the difference between life and death for military personnel, and my job could save their lives,'” Shue said.
She emphasized the dedication between service members and the noble mission carried out by DoD personnel.
The message was well received, she said.
Attracting top talent, especially in the rapidly advancing fields of science and technology, is a key element of government leaders’ strategy to maintain U.S. advantage into the future.
Attracting technology talent to government is especially important “at a time when many of the technologies we need for national security and all public purposes also have great commercial potential.”
She said the rapid emergence of artificial intelligence is a prime example of such technology, leading to efforts across government to bring AI talent into public service.
Shuyu highlighted a Department of Defense program that sparks early interest among college students in solving difficult technology problems that impact U.S. national security through the Virtual Laboratory for Cyber and Electromagnetic Spectrum Research Employment program.
VICEROY partners with universities across the United States to provide experiential learning opportunities that augment college curricula.
Program participants also have the opportunity to complete an eight-week internship.
Shu said he met with several VICEROY participants at the Pentagon recently.
“They heard about the program from their professor,” Shu said, “and when they joined they had never even thought about working for the Department of Defense, but now they're very excited about it.”
Prabhakar said a career in civil service is a natural fit for technology professionals who want to make a big impact.
“There are some really great people out there who want to do great things,” she said. “They want to serve their country. And the most attractive thing we can do is make their work so brilliant and impactful that people actually want to take these public service jobs.”
