As Co-Founder and Chief Strategist, Advanced Technology, Joe Link works to keep CSCI at the forefront of critical U.S. Department of Defense advanced technology initiatives. He takes the initial project lead on new significant efforts, guiding team focus on critical, complex technical, and management issues and keeping the company strategy centered on performance and delivery.
Core to that strategy is creating new initiatives derived from past successes and unique CSCI-developed software and technical infrastructure. Mr. Link’s business strategy enables the company’s architectural, analytical, programming and engineering experts to focus on providing well-researched, honest, and direct advice and assistance, free from business pressures. By taking input, observing how people work and utilizing learned best practices, Mr. Link has guided CSCI’s growth through investing continuously in internal corporate research and development. Thanks to his efforts, CSCI is its own research and development laboratory—building tools and products needed to improve the performance and abilities of CSCI first. Once proven in-house, these tools and advanced technologies are then offered to clients.
The result of this strategy has been 30 years of continuous, rapidly increasing, and challenging work for CSCI. As CSCI’s president for over 30 years, Mr. Link has further expanded CSCI’s capabilities, taking advantage of the goodwill CSCI has engendered with the DoD. For example, he saw a need to provide on-going specialized analysis, engineering, and management assistance to many joint operational commands and task forces; thus, CSCI grew to meet that demand. Assessment tasks during those assignments led to the development of numerous analytical tools, most of which CSCI now offers as part of its overall solution for clients. Advanced systems concepts and development brought to light the need for secure data management, which then led to a 10-year research and development effort of CSCI’s flagship product, the Trusted Information Infrastructure™, or TII™. TII™ was selected by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to form the basis of the Special Access Program Information Management System which is currently being used by the U.S. Under Secretary of Defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Since 2012, Mr. Link worked on multiple aspects of the operational problems associated with the lack of Content Management (CM) across the communications transport layer. He analyzed to validate gaps from five Capability Development Documents (CDDs). The result of the analysis showed that the lack of CM causes almost 85 percent of the differences. Worked with aviation expeditionary enablers (APX) and Director of C4 (DIR C4) staff to substantiate the holes. Participated in multiple MAWTS WTI exercises to observe and document the negative operational impact the lack of content management causes (e.g., FMV from VMU jammed the tactical communications). Currently, Mr. Link is working with the Deputy Commandant for information to raise the awareness of the problem and potential storage mitigated.
Before CSCI, Mr. Link served for 20 years with the U.S. Navy in various aviation assignments, culminating with identifying needs, initiating planning and leading the first major all-source carrier air wing study for the Chief of Naval Operations.