Hacking the Defense Innovation Ecosystem Enterprise: A Comparative Analysis
Abstract
Secretary Mattis 2018 National Defense Strategy acknowledges that the Department of Defenses (DoDs) asymmetric technological capabilities, which enable a decisive military advantage over U.S. adversaries, are steadily eroding. Implementing underutilized traditional and non-traditional acquisition authorities to navigate the innovation ecosystem may prove to be a fast, flexible solution to this technological innovation gap. We comparatively analyze the DoDs innovation ecosystem to understand the communities that make up the ecosystem and how they apply various acquisition authorities, techniques, or processes to accelerate future capabilities to the warfighter, and across the Defense Acquisition System. Our research shows that traditional and non-traditional micro-ecosystems play pivotal roles in the transition of cutting-edge technology through government, industry, and academic collaboration. Aside from traditional authorities, we highlight several non-traditional acquisition authorities with potential for broader adoption across the enterprise. Finally, we discuss lessons learned in terms of what, where, when, and how mid-level management decision makers can think and act entrepreneurially to positively disrupt status-quo bureaucracies that inhibit rapid innovation across the ecosystem.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 01, 2018
- Accession Number
- AD1069574
Entities
People
- Kyle J. Gagnon
- Peter M. Van Remmen
Organizations
- Naval Postgraduate School