The Department of Defense’s fiscal year 2023 budget request includes the largest ever increase in spending for research and development. The $130.1 billion investment request is more than 9.5 percent over the fiscal year 2022 enacted level, and it represents a major milestone in the DOD’s modernization and innovation efforts.
To find out more about the current state of the R&D landscape in the federal government, Executive Mosaic spoke with Alka Bhave, chief operations officer of Riverside Research, in a new video interview.
On the high level, Bhave is seeing an accelerated need to modernize and transform all domains. Some of the key thrusts in this effort include building resilient and defendable architectures, securing the supply chain, developing offensive capabilities and furthering our nuclear modernization efforts.
Taking a closer look at the DOD’s FY23 budget, there’s increased spending in hypersonics and air and missile defense systems, but “the bulk of the innovation funding through 2027 has a focus on late stage R&D for mature platforms,” Bhave said in conversation with Executive Mosaic’s Summer Myatt.
Only about five percent of the budget is allocated to early stage science and technology, prototyping and pilot programs — this is where industry needs to step in and invest in furthering technologies and innovation, Bhave noted.
As the COO for a national security nonprofit organization, Bhave is intimately familiar with some of the country’s greatest threats. Cybersecurity — which has taken the spotlight in the public sector in recent years — is among the top threats Bhave sees as most urgent.
Another critically important national security issue stems from the talent base in the U.S. “If we don’t have the right people, we can’t carry out the right innovation that’s needed for our country,” Bhave said. “Unfortunately right now, we just don’t have enough STEM workers in the United States to match that growing demand.”
To hear what Bhave says is the most challenging aspect of transitioning from R&D to fielding a technology or solution, watch her full video interview here. Make sure to subscribe to Executive Mosaic’s YouTube channel to keep up with the latest from the leaders of GovCon!
