Heffernan, Cassandra and Foster, Kate.

Prevailing in complex and contested environments requires a change to the current systems development approach in Defence, which often consists of many monolithic or stove-piped sub-systems with inefficient or difficult integration challenges into the larger system (Sims, 2012). In 2023, the Defence Strategic Review (DSR) recommended that Defence adopt an open systems approach to system design and maintenance to reduce integration complexity and costs, and break down barriers for Australian industry participation. The DSR is calling for a paradigm shift in how defence systems are designed, procured and maintained, with the concept of an open systems approach emerging as the potential solution.

An open systems approach maintains an open culture, flexible commercial arrangements and a modular design based on widely used interfacing standards that make it easier to buy, integrate, change or replace components of the system from a wide range of suppliers at high velocity. Adopting open systems principles means that systems can be more easily integrated and evolved, can result in greater innovation, more rapid capability delivery, reduced lifecycle costs and improved value for money, reduced vendor lock-in, and improved interoperability (Dunn et al., 2018; Ollet & Coleman, 2015; Zimmerman et al., 2019).

Successfully developing and maintaining open systems presents a sociotechnical challenge for Defence, particularly when pursuing coordination between multiple Defence projects and work areas (Chen & Unewisse, 2016). The design of software and systems is a social practice involving both human and technical factors – that it, software development is a sociotechnical system (Davis et al., 2014). Sociotechnical theory can be applied to understand the challenges involved in moving towards an open systems approach. According to Johnson (2009), this theory is ideally suited to examining complex systems where multiple components interact across different hierarchical levels in different ways. Research exploring how to support the entire sociotechnical system in complex system design has been conducted the areas of sustainable urban planning (Nguyen et al., 2013), health care (Maglio et al., 2010), and rail (Clegg et al., 2017).

This presentation will describe a six-month qualitative study capturing the sociotechnical opportunities and challenges for developing and sustaining open military systems in the Land domain. 22 semi-structured interviews were conducted with individuals from different stakeholder groups and with diverse roles. The presentation will summarise the research method and major findings, highlighting the complex challenges Defence will as the way in which military systems are designed, procured and sustained is transformed.

- Understand the complex challenges facing the design of military systems and how this needs to change

- Learn about sociotechnical theory, and some of the benefits of using such an approach to understand the current state of complex organisational systems (the ‘as is’) and how the organisation may need to be improved (the ‘to be’)

- Increased awareness of the role of organisational psychologists in government research settings