even—especially—sectors


of industry


that traditionally have not associated with DOD, such as the tech companies of Silicon Valley.


Welby remarked that, on a recent visit to Silicon Valley, a host company asked him not to sign the visitors book in the lobby. Puzzled, he asked why and learned that his host did not want potential investors to see that the company was talking with DOD. An April 22 article on DefenseOne.com demonstrated why, noting that “CEOs said the sluggish pace of Pentagon con- tracting is preventing commercial tech firms from responding to the entreaties of Defense Secretary Ash Carter and other DOD players. Prime contracting pro- cesses can take a decade, far longer than Silicon Valley investors are willing to wait for a return on their investment.”


Which is why it’s imperative to speed up the notoriously slow DOD procurement machine to take advantage of innovative, strategically important opportunities before they disappear, Welby said.


“We can’t afford 10-year programs,” Welby continued. Instead, DOD needs to do more prototyping of potential solu- tions, “making small bets” to get a head start on the technology, even though they may be small, incremental or, ultimately, false starts. “I’ve never seen a surfer surf a wave from behind,” he remarked. (See Figure 1 on Page 59.)


Te Pentagon is looking hard at con- tracting timelines, he added, noting that DOD has talked to some angel inves- tors—affluent individuals who provide startup capital, usually in exchange for ownership equity—and found that they work in six-month time frames; that’s how long a product has to prove viability.


“Tat’s the horizon, not a 30-year hori- zon,” Welby said.


Pervading all of these considerations is the central theme of affordability, he said, both in good stewardship of


life cycle,


tax-


payer money and in “how we prove the effectiveness of everything we do” across the


from conceptualization through delivery and exercise to disposal.


“Tat efficiency allows us to do more … to free up resources to allow us to create those options.”


CULTURE SHOCKS To bridge the biggest gap with industry, the one that has Silicon Valley compa- nies viewing DOD as potentially toxic to business, the department has developed a cultural exchange, so to speak, whereby DOD assigns military officers and senior civilians to work for a while in Silicon Valley because, Welby said, “We need folks who speak DOD and speak Valley.” Conversely, DOD has had early success


INNOVATING SAFETY


The PackBot 510 robot—capable of assessing chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive threats—undergoes final testing late last year at the Army's Robot Logistics Support Center at Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Michigan. Given the limitations on resources, prototyping and experimentation can prove to be good investments for the U.S. military. (U.S. Army photo)


ASC.ARMY.MIL


65


SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY


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