Identifying and obtaining innovation from the commercial sector has been an ongoing challenge for the Department of Defense (DoD). With new breakthroughs in both technology and processes emerging from the commercial sector, both domestically and internationally, it is increasingly important for DoD to be able to productively interact with innovative companies. Getting these companies to work with DoD has proven difficult, however, in large part because of the intimidating regulatory regime that defense contractors must operate under, on issues ranging from intellectual property to cost accounting. For many vendors, the burdens involved in entering the defense market are significant enough that these vendors don’t see a viable business case for working with DoD, even if they are otherwise inclined to do so.
DoD’s Third Offset Strategy focuses heavily on this challenge, with entities like the Defense Innovation Unit Experimental (DIUx) designed to access nontraditional suppliers and accelerate deployment of technology. DIUx has faced criticism, however, because it lacks authority to bypass the traditional acquisition system that so many see as restricting DoD’s ability to work with innovative firms.
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