WASHINGTON \u2014 The US Department of Defense needs to do a better job of engaging Silicon Valley in its acquisition process if the US is to maintain its military technology superiority, Pentagon acquisition head Frank Kendall said Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaking at an event at The Brookings Institution, Kendall touted the potential of the Pentagon’s new Better Buying Power 3.0 program, which officials unveiled last week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“3.0 is a focus on a culture of technical excellence,” he said, adding saying <\/span>that the reform effort would not be a <\/span>radically reshapeing of<\/span> the acquisition process. “This is more about continuity than it is about change. The idea here is a shift in emphasis, not a fundamental break with what we’ve done in the past.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n Technology poses a particular challenge, because the DoD’s structure does not make it attractive to many American technology companies, he said. For Silicon Valley giants with global reach, working with the DoD may not be worth the trouble.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “We don’t have enough business to make them excited,” Kendall said. Smaller start-ups, where lots of innovation happens, are often put off by the red tape that comes with working with the Pentagon, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “At the end of the day, we have to provide them with an incentive to do business with us,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n