Terry Halvorsen, who served as the Pentagon’s top tech official for two and a half years before leaving in February, is calling on Congress to imbue his old role with more authorities to pursue emerging technologies.

Speaking before a House Armed Services subcommittee, Halvorsen lamented that he could not pursue even small investments in promising technologies because of outdated acquisition policies during his tenure at the Defense Department’s tech chief, despite overseeing a nearly $40 billion budget. Halvorsen is now an executive at Samsung.

“There is only one nation that doesn’t have this authority in the Five Eyes and that would be us,” Halvorsen said, referencing the intelligence alliance between the U.S. and New Zealand, Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.nextgov.com/defense/2017/04/pentagons-top-techie-needs-purchasing-power-closest-allies-former-dod-cio-says/137384/