The peer and near-peer threat is top of mind for Pentagon officials and top decision makers. As global powers and major competitors continue to make technological advancements and jeopardize the United Statesâ dominance in key areas, defense leaders are honing in on a few elements that are proving to be critical for achieving and maintaining...
Doug Beck, a vice president of Apple and a U.S. Navy Reserve captain, has been appointed to serve as director of the Department of Defense’s innovation arm beginning on May 1. He will report directly to the defense secretary as part of a realignment of the Defense Innovation Unit’s management structure and oversee the adoption...
Given its role as the organization responsible for helping the U.S. Department of Defense bring in and implement commercial technologies, the Defense Innovation Unit was among the first DOD entities to take up the fast follower strategy. The fast follower approach holds that government and research organizations should, rather than focus on their ow...
By the time a new technology is funded, developed, prototyped, tested, produced and finally put in the hands of our warfighters, itâs often already outdated, as the federal governmentâs acquisition processes can take years to get through. The Defense Innovation Unit is on a mission to drastically speed up the Department of Defenseâs acquisiti...
The private sector is known for its rapid technological innovation process unencumbered by bureaucracy, restrictive requirements or mysterious funding procedures. Unfortunately, these qualities have not typically described the innovation process within the U.S. federal government; but now, public sector leaders are taking a page from the commercial ...
Many prognosticators and pundits have speculated that we have moved past the Information Age to a new phase of life and society dictated even more by technological advancements. Some call it the IoT, or Internet of Things Era and others consider it the Artificial Intelligence Era. Whichever moniker ends up sticking, there is no doubt that...
Tom Gentile, president and CEO of Spirit AeroSystems, and Ted Colbert, president and CEO of Boeingâs (NYSE: BA) defense, space and security business, have been elected to serve as chairman and vice chairman, respectively, of the Aerospace Industries Associationâs board of governors for 2023. Eric Fanning, a previous Wash100 awardee, will continu...
The Defense Innovation Unit awarded 72 prototype other transaction contracts to commercial companies and transitioned eight commercial platforms to Department of Defense end-users in fiscal year 2021, bringing DIUâs cumulative transition rate to 41 percent. The number of awarded prototype OT contracts reflects a 31 percent rise from FY 2020, accor...
Mike Petters, president and CEO of Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE: HII) and a previous Wash100 awardee, has been appointed chairman of the Aerospace Industries Association’s board of governors for 2022. He will also serve on the association’s executive committee along with Spirit AeroSystems President and CEO Tom Gentile, who is set...
Mike Madsen, deputy director and director of strategic engagement at the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), was presented his first Wash100 Award, the most prestigious and respected award in all of government contracting (GovCon), during a recent visit by Jim Garrettson, CEO of Executive Mosaic and founder of the Wash100 Award. Executive Mosaic re...
