In an active step toward what many in the public sector have called for – the growing need to partner with industry – Secretary of Defense Ash Carter broadened his department’s engagement with the opening of a second Defense Innovation Unit-Experimental in Boston.
Carter was in Boston on July 26 to mark the opening, joined by state and local officials and technology leaders from the area.
The first DIUx opened in in April 2015 in in Silicon Valley to bring talent and innovative ideas from the tech sector to solve the department’s critical problems. Carter announced plans in May this year to open an East Coast office to foster the innovative industries, academic institutions and projects in the Boston area.
“This city is home to a tremendous legacy of service – one that will continue in a new way with DIUx,” Carter said. “It’s a testament to the fact that Boston has always been a place where great minds and great ideas come together to help advance the safety and security of our country. And that’s what we do every day in the Department of Defense.”
Carter also provided details new practices at DIUx for fostering innovative engagement with the private and commercial sector. According to DoD officials, DIUx is employing an innovation engagement mechanism called a Commercial Solutions Opening aimed at seizing on flexible and fresh authorities for prototyping. That’s something the department has gotten away from since the Cold War — to the Pentagon’s detriment, some say.
“Prototyping is an area the department has under emphasized within the last 10 to 15 years. And what you’re seeing under the current leadership…is a lot of prototyping coming back because it’s a step that was really important for us in the Cold War for keeping up with Russia,” William Roper, director of the Strategic Capabilities Office said at CSIS in Washington in July.
To help field tools and solutions faster, the CSO will allow technology firms to bring ideas to DoD just as they do to other buyers of commercial technology. The department, in turn, can provide funding in less than 60 days after the first brush with companies and within 30 days after a first proposal.
DIUx will also be organized into three teams:
- A Venture Team to identify emerging commercial technologies and explore battlefield impact
- A Foundry Team to identify technologies that aren’t fully developed or require much adaptation for military applications
- An Engagement Team to introduce innovators to military problems and entrepreneurs to discover solutions
Cater told reporters Tuesday that a lot of the tech community isn’t used to working with DoD, meaning the department isn’t on their radar screen — something he wants to rectify. Carter also described how while DoD was good at innovating in the Cold War against the Soviet Union, that model is too slow and outdated. Competitors such as Russia, China, Iran and even ISIS are innovating everyday with the latter demonstrating proficiency in the social media space, Carter said.
Carter also took the opportunity Tuesday to introduce two additional members of the DIUx leadership team; Chief Science Officer Bernadette Johnson, the former chief technology officer at MIT Lincoln Laboratories and Boston military lead Col. Mike McGinley, a lawyer specializing in cybersecurity issues who serves as an Air Force Reserve cyberwarrior.
In addition to these personnel announcements, Carter announced nine new potential members to the Defense Innovation Advisory board, an effort to foster the culture, organization and process of the tech community chaired by Alphabet Chairman Eric Schmidt. The prospective new members, among others, include Amazon CEO and Chairman Jeff Bezos, Code for America Founder Jennifer Pahlka and astrophysicist and author Neil deGrasse Tyson.
DIUx recently underwent a makeover into it’s new iteration dubbed DIUx 2.0. Changes were made to leadership and the chain of command, with the office will now reporting directly to Carter.
