b'Conversations with Leaders The National Security Innovation Network (NSIN) works with universities, incubators, and accelerators. It attracts new talent to solve national security challenges, leverage start-ups and academic communities for new concept development, and facilitate the launch of new, dual-use ventures by commercializing Department of Defense lab technology and through customer discovery. In fact, some companies started through this program are now vendors to the DoD. The National Security Innovation Capital (NSIC) is a way to catalyze private investment in hardware. The venture capital industry in the U.S. is more focused on software than hardware, but the military runs on hardware. This newly-funded initiative enables dual-use hardware startups to advance key milestones in their product development by addressing the shortfall of private investment from trusted sources.On Working with DIUWe model the commercial world by focusing on speed andWhether seeking hardware, software, or service solutions, simplicity. This is different than how the DoD traditionallyDIU lowers the barriers to entry and makes it faster and acquired capabilities. When you buy an aircraft carrier youeasier for companies of any size to do business withmight need some of that complexity; but if youre buyingthe department. commercial software, you dont need it. What weve done is maximize the ability for competition by minimizing the opportunity costs for companies to compete.On Challenges The first challenge pertains to resources. For example, in We identify and understand critical national securityfiscal year 2021, we launched thirty-seven projectsalmost challenges that can be solved with leading-edge commercialdouble the average number of projects weve started over technology within twelve to twenty-four months. Throughthe last six years of DIUs existence. So were on a growth our Commercial Solutions Opening (CSO) process, wepath. But we continue to work with the same number of competitively solicit proposals for innovative solutions thatbillets and a modest increase in budget year over year. Our meet the needs of our DoD partners. DIU leverages Otherthroughput is increasing exponentially while our supporting Transaction Authority (OTA) to award prototype agreementsresources remain fixed. We need the people and the funds in as few as sixty to ninty days. More importantly, after ato be able to sustain this growth. Securing the necessary successful prototype, the company involved and any DoDresources to sustain our growth and facilitate technology entity can enter into a follow-on production contract oradoption across DoD is one of my top priorities. agreement, without having to recompete it. The second challenge involves working effectively with an We make it easy for companies that have never done businessorganization the size of the U.S. Department of Defense. with the DoDor the U.S. governmentto win contractsWe are a change agent charged with fielding and scaling based on merit and to implement solutions at commercialtechnologies in the department. Our goal is to ensurespeeds. DIU has already introduced more than seventy-fivethat these technologies have an impact for our end users,first-time vendors to the DoD. DIU delivers revenue throughthe warfighters. flexible prototype contracts that apply commercial innovations to solve national security challenges.2022 IBM Center for The Business of Government 11'