Building a Bridge to Tech Companies

The Pentagon needs to build a bridge back to the technological innovators in the United States, a community that used to have a much closer connection to the Defense Department, Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Monday at an Atlantic magazine event in Washington, D.C. Although most of the technology “of consequence” is developed within the US military and national security community, a lot of it is commercial and global, noted Carter. “We’re still a big force, but I have to recognize that a lot of technology is commercial and global and a lot of our innovators are outside of our walls,” he added. “A lot of our innovators don’t know all of us, have never worked with us, even have an uneasy relationship with us.” Through initiatives such as the Defense Digital Service and Defense Innovation Unit-Experimental is aimed at “bringing people in from the outside” and building a bridge back to the Pentagon. One key way to do that is to get people “inspired” by the mission of national defense and service, Carter said.