On this episode of Defence Deconstructed, Alessandra Jenkins from Avascent discusses ways in which to foster defence innovation in Canada and the United States with Eric Fournier, Leslie Babich, and Bradley Goodrich.

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Participants' Bios

Alessandra is Senior Manager at Avascent, a leading strategy consulting firm for aerospace, defence, and technology industries. She has extensive experience advising both government and private sector leaders in Canada and abroad to support key decisions on industrial investment, procurement, and market expansion strategies. Her expertise in innovation and emerging technologies for defence spans remotely piloted and autonomous systems, clean technologies, marine technologies, and advance computing capabilities.

Leslie Babich joined the DEFENSEWERX team to lead SOFWERX in Tampa, FL in October 2020. As the Director of SOFWERX, Leslie provides operational and personnel oversight while developing and implementing business plans that optimize results for its government partner, the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM).

Mr. Fournier is presently the Director-General Innovation for the Assistant Deputy Minister (Science & Technology). He is a Scientific Advisor to the Department of National Defence and to the Canadian Armed Forces. His role is to ensure that the Canadian Armed Forces/Department of National Defence (CAF/DND) have access to the most cutting-edge solutions for their challenges from Canadian Innovators.

Bradley Goodrich is currently serving as a Deputy Director for NavalX, an innovation cell for the US Navy. NavalX seeks to create a more agile, connected, and collaborative US Navy by guiding stakeholders to rapidly deliver capability to the warfighter. The organization reports to the Assistant Secretary for Research Development and Acquisition (ASN RDA) and the Office of Naval Research (ONR), and brings industry best practice to advance the US Navy in capability and culture change.

Host bio

David Perry is the President of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute.

Recording Date: 1 Dec 2021

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Produced by Charlotte Duval-Lantoine. Music credits to Drew Phillips