The Defense Innovation Unit is set to launch a digital "marketplace" in the coming weeks where commercial defense technology vendors can seek partners from a group of pre-approved commercial manufacturing companies, enabling the scaled production of their solutions, a DIU official told attendees during the Reagan National Security Innovation Base Summit on Wednesday.
DIU Deputy Director of Commercial Operations Liz Young McNally said the marketplace will be one of the first flagship initiatives out of the Blue Manufacturing program, which the organization announced in August. The program’s goal is to establish and maintain a roster of commercial manufacturing companies that are approved for Defense Department use, much like DIU’s other “Blue Lists” for domestically produced drones and drone components.
Young McNally said commercial vendors may not need concern themselves with scaled production when they work on a prototype contract for the Pentagon, but it may become something DOD requires on further contracts -- and many companies may not have the means to scale when the time comes. The challenge poses a second proverbial “valley of death” for commercial companies working with DOD, according to Young McNally.
“How do we also enable it so that companies can focus on the technology and then think about someone else or others to focus on the production? Which will also allow us to scale even more should we have to in a different situation,” she said.
Manufacturers will be able to apply for entry to the marketplace, at which point DIU will vet them. When manufacturing companies are in the system, the marketplace will use a matching function so defense technology vendors can better find them, enabling different ways to scale production.
Young McNally also told attendees that following initial launch, the marketplace will be an evolving solution.
“We’re going to iterate as we go,” she said. “This is not a sort of fully fleshed-out thing either, but to the spirit of the conversation we’ve had today, we just need to get going.”