Tom Afferton on Northrop's Data Mgmt, Systems Engineering Approaches to Support Defense & Intell Customers

Tom Afferton, vice president of Northrop Grumman's (NYSE: NOC) defense and intelligence unit, told ExecutiveBiz in an interview that the company works with customers to help them derive insights from data, manage access to information with a zero-trust architecture and understand cyber and insider threat risks.

In the Q&A session, Afferton also noted that Northrop integrates agile methodology into its process of developing software and modernizing infrastructure as part of the firm's systems engineering culture.

"Whether it’s introducing cybersecurity controls, creating new infrastructure capabilities or developing a new user application, we use this agile mindset to work closely with our customer to deliver incremental value and get feedback," he said.

Afferton observed public and private sector organizations accelerating technology modernization efforts during the pandemic and predicted that artificial intelligence and machine learning would continue to play a role in government missions.

Sponsor