Annual Report for FY 2021: Extramural Acquisition Innovation and Research Activities
Abstract
The Secretary of Defense created the Acquisition Innovation Research Center (AIRC) on September 30, 2020, in response to section 2361(a) of title 10 U.S. Code. AIRC has achieved its goals for its inaugural year, and a breadth of activities have been funded to engage AIRC on key challenges facing the Department of Defense (DoD).AIRC is a 22-university collaboration within the DoDs Systems Engineering Research Center(SERC) University-Affiliated Research Center (UARC). This structure substantially accelerated its establishment and ensures broader engagement of academia on DoD challenges. Advisory boards were established, activated, and consulted to identify innovative ideas and ensure alignment with DoD priorities. Acquisition research focus areas were considered, discussed, and finalized through those boards and were approved by DoD acquisition leadership. An Interim Director was identified, and the DoD is pursuing a permanent director. Emphasis in AIRC is placed on applied experiments, prototypes, and demonstrations (beyond white papers and publications) to address and test solutions to enduring challenges in defense acquisition policies, practices, education, training, and decision making.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 30, 2021
- Accession Number
- AD1186058