The TechCrunch Global Affairs Task explores the rising intertwined relationship between global politics and the tech sector. It shows the Defense Department’s efforts to touch Silicon Valley’s innovation and the abrupt hill tech firms to win DOD contracts. The best thing is that the U.S. government has heard Silicon Valley’s requests to cut bureaucracy and promote new ways to do business. So, let’s see how is the Government Action on Tech Innovation Helpful for Startups.
Critical 4Cs
Since last year, a strong bilateral alignment has appeared between the legislative and executive branches. It aims at removing barriers and closing gaps to success. Therefore there are “Critical 4Cs”: Culture, Congressional Budget, Contracting Cycles, and Champions.
Let us begin with Champions. Fortunately, Americans have two greatest champions of Silicon Valley: Kathleen Hicks, “Deputy Secretary,” and Heidi Shyu, “Under Secretary for Research and Engineering.” Along with other Pentagon winners, they understand the challenge fully and have taken tactile steps from the top to prime the DOD system. Also, this strategy produces the formal policy demand signal to scale up Silicon Valley tech around the DOD.
Hicks has also visibly empowered the Innovation Steering Group and the management group to draft the Pentagon’s innovation efforts. These groups will examine alignment and acquisition exercises and honestly engage with the industry’s smaller tech stakeholders. Moreover, DOD has built new programs to hire and grow tech talent, alluring and retaining the defense tech champions.
Then, it gets at another key, “4C”: creating a tech-savvy and tech-driven culture. Under Shyu, the senior acquisition and procurement executive with engineering and math degrees has launched efforts to let it “go faster.” Shyu helps interrelate the innovation efforts and offices across the Defense Department.
Technology vision is one of them, and it prioritizes the key focus areas of the Pentagon. It includes space, trusted AI, software, and advanced computing. Shyu has also insisted Congress authorities help small innovators with an expanded Small Business Innovation and Research (SBIR) grants process. It helps to mature experimental programs and improve the odds of becoming record programs. In addition, it is one of several efforts underway to ease the systemic “contracting C” barriers for promising programs.
In the Congressional Budget, the last “C,” the Biden administration proposed a 9.5% increase over the FY22 funding level in its FY2023 Budget. It is for the Defense Department’s Research, Development, Engineering, and Technology. It represents a significant effort to enhance tech adoption and modernization. In addition, it focuses on building on the Congress measures passed in the FY22 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
Congressional staffers and members continue to hear from startups in Silicon Valley about the lack of planned funding. But Congress’s challenge is balancing rapid innovation success with accountability and oversight for taxpayer funding. So, they don’t make blank checks. As a result, Shyu requests Congress to expand the SBIR cycle.
Closing Thoughts
The U.S. government recognizes the serious financial and national security imperatives to rapidly adopt Silicon Valley’s most innovative commercial/dual-use solutions. But continued efforts are necessary to mitigate unintended consequences and close gaps. Startups need to engage with the Pentagon actively and Congress to communicate certain instances of their “pain points” and provide constructive ideas.
