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Michael Brown says he has added more than 100 new suppliers to the Pentagon list.
Yes, but: Brown told Axios that if the Pentagon really wants to use commercial technology, it will have to make more structural changes to the way it procures equipment.
Why is it important?Brown is leaving the Pentagon when his term ends in September, and the agency is actively searching for a replacement, marking a key juncture for the department and its efforts.
Grab it fastDefense Innovation Unit (DIU) It was created in 2015 by Defense Secretary Ash Carter with the goal of opening up the Pentagon’s technology acquisition process — especially to smaller companies that have been bogged down by regulations and red tape in the hope of selling it to the military. .
The big picture: The Department of Defense itself has been at the forefront of developing key new technologies, including the Internet, but today most innovations are happening outside of its direct influence. That’s why the Pentagon aims to create new bridges to the private sector.
- By the end of the decade, Brown said, there will be 1,000 commercial satellites for every 1,000 government-owned satellites. And today, the U.S. military announced less than one percent of its semiconductor consumption.
- Private companies have also led the way in developing other new technologies that the military has their eyes on, including drones and AI.
- “If we don’t take advantage of that in the military, my goodness, our enemies are going to use that commercial technology, because unfortunately it’s available to everybody,” Brown said.
Between the lines; Brown said he continues to run into the same challenge: the Army’s procurement process. “We’re still buying things the same way we bought them 50 or 60 years ago,” he said.
- It takes three years to develop a plan to spend $1, he explained. Expenditure in 2024 should be budgeted for this year. “That might work well for the F-35,” Brown said, noting that it doesn’t change from year to year. “But for the technologies we’re talking about – for the business world – that’s meaningless.”
- Instead of asking for the best drone or AI algorithm available, the Pentagon sets specific requirements when buying, Brown says.
Budget for the army He is also very stubborn. When he runs tech companies in Silicon Valley, money can’t move as much as he needs to when he’s recently working at Symantec.
- “Everything is green in the private sector,” Brown said. “In DoD, money is not always money. There are restrictions called “colors of money” – they are limited in the way things can be moved.”
Brown multiplies my praise. “Wonderful” people at the Pentagon, both military and civilian, he added, but “the limitations we’ve made are inexcusable.”
Be smart: Tech companies’ willingness to do business with the military hasn’t always been a given, but Brown says that’s becoming less of an issue.
Today’s startups, he said, are often happy to expand their businesses, while large companies are reluctant to work at the Pentagon.
- There is a growing awareness in the US of the importance of a supply chain focused on domestic production and the United Nations rather than sourcing from around the world, particularly China.
- “The army does more than blow things up. “There are different missions that the Army has to perform. We in the Army owe it to them to provide the best equipment.”
What’s next?Brown said he would like to see the Pentagon take the approaches pioneered in DIU and extend it throughout the military — or, as he puts it, take the two-lane road the group built and turn it into a superhighway.
- In a world like this, you might not even need a defensive innovation class. Don’t expect that anytime soon though. Brown says: “I don’t think I’m going to worry about job security for the next director. We’re nowhere near that right now.”
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