Defense Innovation Unit Experimental | The Contracting Education Academy

November 13, 2019 By cs

Failure is an option for DoD’s experimental agency, but how much?

Since 2015, millions of dollars have been invested in the Pentagon’s Defense Innovation Unit, the agency watched as some of its projects fell flat, and only about 23% the organization’s completed projects ended up in the hands of troops — but the thing is: DIU is completely fine with that.

DIU’s success statistics, delivered in a July report card to Congress, are the first long-term numbers to come out of the Defense Innovation Unit (formerly the Defense Innovation Unit-Experimental) since its inception.

The metrics, which also address time-to-contract and other areas, highlight a vexing dichotomy currently playing out in the Defense landscape: How can the world’s largest military field state-of-the-art technologies faster to counter China and Russia without compromising oversight and opening the door for waste?

While successful DIU experiments ended up, or will end up, as technologies that will protect service members from drones and detect cyber vulnerabilities on DoD networks, 77% of completed prototypes DIU invested in failed to make it to contract or have yet to make it to contract. That leaves millions of taxpayer dollars on the table, which can sometimes be a hard sell for lawmakers. Congress remains at least marginally skeptical of the program built to convert private cutting edge technology for military use.

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/defense-main/2019/10/special-report-failure-is-an-option-for-dods-experimental-agency-but-how-much/

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/

April 20, 2017 By AMK

The future of DoD’s DIUx in limbo under Trump

Founded in August 2015 by Secretary of Defense Ash Carter, the Defense Department’s Defense Innovation Unit Experimental, or DIUx, has been working to bring technology innovations from commercial developers to the armed services—quickly.

DIUx seems to be exactly the type of government entity that should appeal to the Trump administration; it is leanly staffed, is focused in locations (Boston and Silicon Valley) that are centers for the innovations the Department of Defense (DoD) is looking for, avoids the contractual burdens of traditional government procurement, and has streamlined procedures designed to appeal to commercial companies while avoiding red tape.

From the administration’s perspective, DIUx has something else going for it: it has been criticized by Congress.

Yet, it is hard to say whether DIUx will survive the change in administrations.

So, if your company has innovative technologies that might be interesting to the DoD, but you wish to avoid the headaches of traditional government procurement, now might be the time to weigh in with the DoD or Congress about the importance of DIUx. Here is a perspective on how DIUx works that might assist you.

To help the DoD access cutting-edge technology from nontraditional contractors, DIUx introduced a new acquisition mechanism, known as the Commercial Solutions Opening (CSO), through which DIUx solicits solutions to problems the military faces. If a company’s solution is accepted, the company is awarded a special agreement — an “Other Transaction” — for prototype projects (OT), which is not governed by the Federal Acquisition Regulation’s (FAR) burdensome contracting obligations.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.mondaq.com/article.asp?articleid=585664

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

Since 2015, millions of dollars have been invested in the Pentagon’s Defense Innovation Unit, the agency watched as some of its projects fell flat, and only about 23% the organization’s completed projects ended up in the hands of troops — but the thing is: DIU is completely fine with that.

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.

Founded in August 2015 by Secretary of Defense Ash Carter, the Defense Department’s Defense Innovation Unit Experimental, or DIUx, has been working to bring technology innovations from commercial developers to the armed services—quickly.

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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