Strengthening Defense Innovation Adoption

Atlantic Council Commission Releases Interim Report

The Atlantic Council’s Commission on Defense Innovation Adoption published the interim report Wednesday with a big event. The focus of the Commission is:

Accelerate DoD’s ability to adopt cutting-edge technology from commercial and defense sectors and deliver high-impact operational solutions to the Warfighters.

The co-chairs are former SECDEF Dr. Mark Esper and former SECAF Deborah Lee James. Stephen Rodriguez is the Commission Director, with Clementine Starling the Program Director.

The report was co-authored by Whitney McNamara, Eric Lofgren, and I.

We started by framing out eight enterprise challenges:

1. Outdated R&D Model

2. Long Timelines and Inflexible Execution

3. Fewer Companies Providing Defense Solutions

4. Valleys of Death

5. Hamstrung Workforce

6. Program-centric Acquisition

7. Cumbersome Reporting from DoD to Congress

8. Limited Understanding of Emerging Technology

The commission offered 10 priority recommendations:

1. Introduce a new capability portfolio model

   1. Select 5 PEOs to deliver more integrated suites of capabilities

   2. Manage requirements, budget, and acquisition at broader portfolio level

2. Consolidate program elements

   1. Merge 200/year x 3 years to enable greater flexibility with insight

3. Reset reprogramming authorities

   1. Revert from Congressional prior approval to 30-day notification

   2. Raise authorities and change New Start thresholds to for the FY

4. Modernize the DoD to align with the twenty-first century industrial base

   1. Elevate DIU to DEPSECDEF and resource it

   2. Charter team to enable more commercial acquisition: Buy before build

5. Strengthen alignment of capital markets to defense outcomes

   1. Generate direct to Phase III SBIR awards; scale STRATFI program

   2. Remove SBIR barriers for companies that are >50% VC backed or public

   3. OSC leverage external capital market funding for R&D pilot projects

6. Incentivize tech companies to do business with the DoD

   1. Shift back to more Procurement vs RDT&E for higher production awards

   2. Raise CAS thresholds; modernize SAM.gov; champion rapid efforts

7. Modernize budget documents

   1. DoD and Congress design streamlined docs with links to program details

8. Establish bridge fund for successfully demonstrated technologies

   1. $250M to scale operationally relevant tech demo’ at operational exercises

9. Scale the Space Development Agency model

   1. Empower modern day Rickover to move out on priority tech/mission area

10. Modernize the DoD’s requirements system

    1. Streamline processes, reviews, and docs to enable speed and agility

    2. Rapidly validate commercial solutions vice 2+ years to write requirements

Watch the event rollout here:

The Commissioners are an esteemed group of former senior defense executives and industry executives representing a broad array of backgrounds.

Amb Barbara Barrett, Gen (ret) James Cartwright, Frank Finelli, Hon Michele Flournoy, Scott Frederick, Hon James “Hondo” Geurts, Peter Levine, Hon. Ellen Lord, MGen (ret) Arnold Punaro, Nick Sinai, Josh Wolfe, and Hon Robert Work.

Industry Commissioners include: Steven Escarvage, Wendy Anderson, Prashant Bhuyan, Mark Brunner, Colin Carroll, Adam Hammer, Chris Lynch, Mara Motherway, Michael Niggel, and Doug Phillippone.

It has been an amazing experience to be a part of this group to debate the challenges and offer solutions from across DoD, Congress, and Industry. We engaged dozens of officials to gather their perspectives, feedback on initial thoughts, and refine the recommendations to be focused and actionable.

News Coverage:

• Steps to take now for defense acquisition reform, Federal News Network

• Congress should give Pentagon more flexibility in buying, budgeting, report urges, Breaking Defense

• Pentagon should expand DIU’s role, experts say, Defense News

• Think-tank commission diagnoses 'innovation adoption problem' at DOD, Inside Defense

• Pentagon Acquisition Has Innovation Problem, New Study Finds, USNI News

• Congressional Action Needed to Quicken DoD Innovation Buys, MeriTalk

• Atlantic Council’s Interim Report Offers Recommendations to Advance Defense Tech Adoption, Executive Gov

• Expert Panel Says DOD Has 'Innovation Adoption' Problem, Law 360

• Start-Ups Bring Silicon Valley Ethos to a Lumbering Military-Industrial Complex, NY Times

Commissioner Op-Eds

• To deter conflict, the Pentagon must accelerate innovation adoption, Mark Esper and Deborah Lee James, The Hill

• How to accelerate innovation adoption at the Pentagon, Clementine Starling and Stephen Rodriguez, Defense News

• Want More Pentagon Innovation? Try This Experiment, Mark Esper and Deborah Lee James, Defense One

• How to leverage America’s software advantage in the decisive decade, Michèle Flournoy and Wendy Anderson, Breaking Defense

• Leveraging U.S. Capital Markets to Support the Future Industrial Network, Joseph Votel, Francis Finelli, and Samuel Cole, War on the Rocks

Videos and Podcasts

• Michele Flournoy and Clementine Sterling, NEXUS 23

• Ellen Lord and Whitney McNamara, NEXUS 23

• Crossing the Valley Of Death, War on the Rocks Unspent Rounds

• Whitney McNamara and Pete Modigliani, Building the Base