Defense Innovation Board to meet on key tech studies

The Defense Innovation Board will hold a public meeting April 17 to discuss two ongoing studies about innovating with U.S. allies and accelerating technology adoption, according to a Federal Register notice published today.

The first study, called “Optimizing How We Innovate with Our Allies and Partners,” centers around the importance of bolstering alliances and partnerships while adversaries attempt to threaten stability to security, munitions stockpiles and defense industrial capabilities.

David Honey, deputy under secretary of defense for research and engineering, tasked the board with performing this study due to the international challenges that threaten to pass the U.S. in critical technology areas in a Dec. 20 memo.

“This study will examine current challenges facing the way we innovate with allies and partners including tackling supply chain issues, understanding allies and partners’ technological innovation comparative advantages, examining threats to sustainable and enduring interoperable partnerships, and exploring opportunities to further deepen collaboration and partnership within the security innovation ecosystem,” the memo said.

The board will then host an open discussion on the study, before diving into updates about their next study called “Aligning Incentives to Drive Faster Tech Adoption,” which aims to aid the Defense Department in keeping a technological edge through smoother adoption of innovative technologies.

Honey tasked the board with holding this study in a Jan. 4 memo, calling for the ability to deliver at scale and speed while absorbing failure along the way.

“This study should produce recommendations that outline how the Department can calibrate and align its incentive structures, disseminate, and scale the implementation of such incentive structures, and track the progress thereof,” the memo said. “The recommendations should aim to promote an ecosystem which enables the Department to incentivize the stakeholder community to embrace prudent risk while adopting new technologies with speed and agility.”

In January, the board briefly announced these two studies, before moving on to discuss them in a closed session. This will be the first time updates on the studies are shared publicly.