The Defense Innovation Board met for the first time Wednesday to discuss a list of interim recommendations meant to help the Pentagon act more like a tech startup. The recommendations are focused on ways to enhance “the department’s culture, organization, and process,” according to a Defense Department news release. They include: appointing a chief innovation officer, establishing a career track for computer science, building a culture of “evidence-based and outcome-driven policies,” directing US Cyber Command to conduct a security review, establishing an institute for studying artificial intelligence, increasing the speed of acquisition as well as investment in the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and establishing a computer science resource of programmers and developers. There are 15 members on the board, which Defense Secretary Ash Carter formed in March, including Reid Hoffman, the co-founder of LinkedIn, and former US Special Operations Command boss retired Navy Adm. William McRaven. (See also: Making the DOD More Googley.)
The $4.26 billion Small Business Innovation Research contracting program widely used by the Air Force went into hibernation as the government shut down Oct. 1, but unless lawmakers strike a deal on reforms, the program could reach an abrupt end.
