advanced technology development | The Contracting Education Academy

February 11, 2020 By cs

Getting critical technologies into DoD applications

In today’s changing geopolitical environment, concerns in Washington that the United States is falling behind in critical emerging technologies are commonplace.

China and Russia — both identified as great-power competitors of the United States by the current administration — are forging forward with critical investments in technologies ranging from quantum computing to artificial intelligence.

But the United States is still by far the most innovative nation on earth. America’s strengths run from its fundamental pull to brilliant minds the world over through its relatively open immigration system to the unparalleled resources of its universities. The free-market structure of the economy, vibrant venture capital ecosystems, world-class universities, and government support of R&D combine to form the most innovative ecosystem in the world.

However, when it comes to defense and positioning for future competition with Beijing and Moscow, the government has not figured out how to tap this flow of innovation emanating from the civilian sector.

Keep reading this article at: https://nationalinterest.org/feature/getting-critical-technologies-us-defense-applications-119541

August 17, 2018 By AMK

Pentagon’s startup outreach office no longer an experiment

Diving into long-term relationships can be scary, but the Defense Department said it’s ready to go to commit to its startup outreach program.

Defense Innovation Unit Experimental (DIUx), the office charged with bringing Silicon Valley tech to the Pentagon, will now be known as Defense Innovation Unit (DIU).

The name change reflects military leaders’ “commitment to the importance of its mission” and signifies the permanence of the group within the country’s defense apparatus, according to Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan.

“DIUx has generated meaningful outcomes for the department and is a proven, valuable asset,” Shanahan wrote in a memo to agency leaders. “Though DIU will continue to experiment with new ways of delivering capability to the warfighter, the organization itself is no longer an experiment.”

Keep reading this article at: https://www.nextgov.com/cio-briefing/2018/08/pentagons-startup-outreach-office-no-longer-experiment/150408/

December 20, 2017 By AMK

Homeland Security’s ‘innovation station’

A variety of systems cultivated under a Homeland Security rapid development program may be fielded late next year, bearing the first major fruits of the 2-year-old effort.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) kicked off its Silicon Valley Innovation Program in 2015 in an attempt to dramatically reduce the time to develop and deploy technology. The program focuses on all areas of the DHS mission, including information technology, finance, energy, health and first responders.

Program officials work largely with smaller companies, often startups that do not normally collaborate with the government. The businesses, in many cases, already have products and commercial customers, but their technologies need to be further developed and adapted to suit DHS needs.

“We actually have [entrepreneurs] whose venture capitalists have told them not to work with government because it’s too slow,” reports Melissa Ho, managing director of the DHS Silicon Valley Innovation Programs Office. But now, she says, startups want to work with the DHS “because we’re a customer that can validate their technology and because we have a way of contracting with them faster.”

Keep reading this article at: https://www.afcea.org/content/homeland-securitys-innovation-station

May 26, 2016 By AMK

The DIUx is dead — long live the DIUx

Defense Secretary Ash Carter launched his high-profile Silicon Valley outpost a year ago to great fanfare and high expectations. Less than a year later, he has completely overhauled its leadership, structure, reporting lines, and resources.

That a new government initiative built around experimentation would struggle in its first year is no surprise. That its founder would candidly address early challenges and publicly identify shortcomings and fixes as a matter of course is a big one. By taking early corrective action, Carter is upending the typical Washington playbook of prolonging failure — or, worse, postponing reform until demanded by scandal — and teaching his Department a critical lesson on how to learn by taking risk.

With its small size and steep learning curve, the DIUx 1.0 could not overcome the weight of expectations from a high-profile launch. As with many startups, the organization suffered from an overly broad purpose and unrealistic demands; unlike other startups, it missed the opportunity to operate in “stealth mode” to address these issues early.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2016/05/ash-carter-diux-pentagon-technology-innovation/128254/?oref=defenseone_today_nl

May 16, 2016 By AMK

Pentagon shakes up Silicon Valley outreach

Defense Secretary Ash Carter is elevating and expanding the Pentagon’s controversial technology sector outreach efforts — and replacing its leaders — just one year after launching a Silicon Valley initiative he calls crucial to keeping the U.S. military the best in the world.

Ashton B. Carter, U.S. Secretary of Defense, says “DIUx will be a testbed for new kinds of contracting with startup firms. They’ll work quickly to execute time-sensitive acquisition programs. And they’ll move at the speed of business.”

The Defense Innovation Unit Experimental, or DIUx, will also open a second office in Boston, where Carter has deep ties.

The secretary announced the changes on his fifth trip to Silicon Valley since taking office, reflecting on the past year and seeking better results.

“Some of what it’s taught us is not about DIUx’s shortcomings so much as about our shortcomings as a department as a whole,” Carter said Wednesday. “I think we need to admit when we have to change.”

Defense Department officials painted the leadership change not as a panicked shakeup nor as admission that the endeavor had stalled, but as a natural and organic transition into a more Silicon Valley-based model. Carter called the leadership swap and Boston expansion a “sign of confidence” in the endeavor.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.defenseone.com/technology/2016/05/pentagon-shakes-silicon-valley-outreach/128198

In today’s changing geopolitical environment, concerns in Washington that the United States is falling behind in critical emerging technologies are commonplace.

Diving into long-term relationships can be scary, but the Defense Department said it’s ready to go to commit to its startup outreach program.

A variety of systems cultivated under a Homeland Security rapid development program may be fielded late next year, bearing the first major fruits of the 2-year-old effort.

Defense Secretary Ash Carter launched his high-profile Silicon Valley outpost a year ago to great fanfare and high expectations. Less than a year later, he has completely overhauled its leadership, structure, reporting lines, and resources.

Defense Secretary Ash Carter is elevating and expanding the Pentagon’s controversial technology sector outreach efforts — and replacing its leaders — just one year after launching a Silicon Valley initiative he calls crucial to keeping the U.S. military the best in the world.

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