MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA -- Three years after it launched as the Defense Department's conduit to Silicon Valley, the Defense Innovation Unit can now award contracts using its own other transaction authorities, rather than rely solely on service-led acquisition groups. Ellen Lord, the Pentagon's acquisition chief, signed a Nov. 17 memo allowing DIU to issue OTAs by itself, David Rothzeid, DIU's acquisition pathways director, told Inside Defense last week. DIU typically works with Army Contracting Command-New Jersey to find commercial companies...
