May 24, 2018
Now is the time to take DIUx global
The Defense Innovation Unit Experimental — the Pentagon’s signature effort to engage commercial technology startups ― is primed to go global. In fact, DIUx could become a key platform by which the United States and its allies and partners come together to address shared military challenges ― if its next managing director and supporters in the Pentagon and Congress are prepared to seize the moment.
Launched in 2015, DIUx reflected a growing realization that the U.S. military needs to more effectively leverage innovations developed in the commercial technology sector. Intended as a workaround to a sclerotic defense acquisitions process, DIUx came to rely on an obscure contracting authority to rapidly award prototype projects to innovative companies ― a welcome change to the Pentagon business models that never managed to align with the technology industry’s far faster pace.
By the end of the Obama administration, DIUx had expanded beyond Silicon Valley to two other U.S. innovation hubs — Boston and Austin.
Growth gave way to uncertainty following the 2016 presidential election, with observers questioning whether the new team would support DIUx, and Congress moving to restrict its access to funding. Since then, however, DIUx has won the support of key stakeholders. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis visited DIUx in mid-2017 and offered an unequivocal endorsement of its mission to “accelerate commercial innovation to the war fighter.” Michael Griffin, the new undersecretary of defense for research and engineering, has also expressed backing for DIUx, which falls within his portfolio.
Read the Full Article at Defense News
More from CNAS
-
Trump Must Rebalance America’s AI Strategy
Commentary
The disagreements about AI progress are so fundamental and held with such conviction that they have evoked comparisons to a “religious schism” among technologists....
By Bill Drexel & Ruby Scanlon
-
Guidance for the 2025 AI Action Summit in Paris
Commentary
In September 2024, the French government, in collaboration with civil society partners, invited technical and policy experts to share their opinions on emerging technology iss...
By Janet Egan, Michael Depp, Noah Greene & Caleb Withers
-
Sharper: Trump 2.0
Commentary
Donald Trump's return to the White House is widely expected to reshape America's global priorities. With personnel choices and policy agendas that mark a significant break fro...
By Charles Horn & Gwendolyn Nowaczyk
-
Team America
Podcast
Kate Kuzminski, Deputy Director of Studies, and the Director of the Military, Veterans, and Society (MVS) Program at CNAS, joins to discuss President-elect Donald Trump nomina...
By Katherine L. Kuzminski
