Emerging Tech Horizons

The Hon. Sue Gordon, President of Gordon Ventures, Member of the Defense Innovation Board, and former Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence, and Sean Blackman, Co-founder and CEO of Nooks, return for part two of our unclassified discussion on the challenges new entrants face in the defense innovation ecosystem. They examine obstacles for small businesses, including allies and partners, such as navigating classification rules, the clearance application backlog, and streamlining compliance processes. Mr. Blackman shares how Nooks simplifies these steps for businesses, and Ms. Gordon discusses the need to modernize outdated policies and foster collaboration between government, industry, and academia to create an ecosystem that balances security, drives innovation, and attracts top talent.

Nooks: https://nooks.works/

Securing a place in the defense intelligence sector can be an uphill battle for small companies, universities, and other organizations aiming to participate in national security and intelligence-related projects. Today, we’re exploring the unique challenges faced by these innovative players as they navigate stringent security requirements, costly infrastructure upgrades, and the complex world of classified projects. Unlike large defense contractors, these emerging entities often struggle with limited budgets and resources, hindering their ability to contribute groundbreaking ideas to national security. Our guests, the Hon. Sue Gordon, President of Gordon Ventures and former Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence, and Sean Blackman, Co-founder and CEO of Nooks, offer insights into overcoming these obstacles and share the work currently being done to help small innovators bring their vision to the defense landscape.

Matt MacGregor, Fellow at the Acquisition Innovation Research Center and Senior Director for Strategic Growth at Anduril Industries, joins the podcast to discuss how Congress plans to fund Pentagon modernization programs. In this episode, they dive into the current state of the Congressional defense appropriations process and their implications for emerging defense technologies, including:

- Winners and losers in the House and Senate defense appropriations bills including research and technology programs.

- How high priority technology activities, like the Rapid Defense Experimentation Reserve, Replicator, and the Defense Innovation Unit, are faring in the appropriations negotiations - given Congressional concerns over innovation funds.

- New budget reform flexibilities like budget line consolidation and portfolio management being considered by Congress to give DOD more ability to move money faster to keep up with emerging technologies and threats, including how they are handling the recommendations of the PPBE Commission.

- Where the appropriations process goes from here in the current political climate.

Defense Tech and Acquisition News substack: https://defenseacquisition.substack.com/

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How is DOD adopting autonomous technologies for both tactical missions and back-end work? How are industry and government working together to deliver those capabilities? Join Randy Yamada, Vice President at Booz Allen Hamilton overseeing technical teams and signal processing for control systems, as he discusses Booz Allen's engineering labs, how speed of technological change affects acquisition, and what challenges and opportunities exist for integrating commercial and DOD product development.

Booz Allen Hamilton: https://www.boozallen.com/ ___________________________________________________

This episode is sponsored by Booz Allen: https://www.boozallen.com/ ___________________________________________________

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Jeff Janey is Chair of NDIA’s Munitions Technology Division, which facilitates technical dialogue between industry and government concerning the development, production, maintenance and demilitarization of munitions. We caught up with Jeff at the 2024 Future Forces Capabilities Conference (FFC) to discuss the state of play in munitions acquisitions, trends in emerging technologies like AI and directed energy, how the munitions industry thinks about cyber threats, and why working in the munitions industry can be so fulfilling.

NDIA Munitions Technology Division: https://www.ndia.org/divisions/munitions-technology

Czechoslovak Group: https://czechoslovakgroup.com/en

Leveraging Artificial Intelligence in Acquisition Symposium: https://www.ndia.org/events/2024/10/18/ai-in-acquisition-symposium

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This episode is sponsored by Booz Allen: https://www.boozallen.com/ ____________________________________________________

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Nick Perry, NDIA Armaments Division Chair and Director of Global Strategy and Defense Systems at Northrop Grumman, joins live from the floor of the 2024 Future Force Capabilities Conference & Exhibition to discuss the conference, the Armaments Division, and the impact of emerging technologies on armaments. Mr. Perry and host Arun Seraphin cover advancements in UAS and C-UAS, the new generation of munitions, how the division is addressing workforce challenges, and how the government can best support the munitions and armaments industrial base.

Northrop Grumman: https://www.northropgrumman.com/

NDIA Armaments Division: https://www.ndia.org/divisions/armaments

Leveraging Artificial Intelligence in Acquisition Symposium: https://www.ndia.org/events/2024/10/18/ai-in-acquisition-symposium

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Matt Dooley, NDIA Robotics Division Chair and Defense Strategic Initiative Lead at Forterra, and Pat Acox, Head of Government Growth at Forterra, join live from the floor of the 2024 Future Force Capabilities Conference & Exhibition. They discuss featured robotics panels at the conference, how the Robotics Division is focusing on multi-domain operations and cross-industry collaboration, and the development and integration of autonomy for unmanned vehicles.

Forterra: https://www.forterra.com/

NDIA Robotics Division: https://www.ndia.org/divisions/robotics

Leveraging Artificial Intelligence in Acquisition Symposium: https://www.ndia.org/events/2024/10/18/ai-in-acquisition-symposium

____________________________________________________This episode is sponsored by Booz Allen: https://www.boozallen.com/ ____________________________________________________

DOD's new Acquisition Innovation Research Center brings together the best minds in academia with experts in defense acquisition to help address some of the thorniest and most challenging acquisition challenges facing the Pentagon. Join Dr. Dinesh Verma, Executive Director of the Acquisition Innovation Research Center, as he discusses the AIRC's research portfolio, how it is helping to address perennial acquisition problems, and how industry and government can access its expertise.

Acquisition Innovation Research Center: https://acqirc.org/Systems Engineering Research Center: https://sercuarc.org/AI4SE & SE4AI Workshop: https://sercuarc.org/event/ai4se-se4ai-workshop-2024/Leveraging Artificial Intelligence in Acquisition Symposium: https://www.ndia.org/events/2024/10/18/ai-in-acquisition-symposium

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How has Estonia, a country of just 1.5 million people, blessed with few natural resources, developed a flourishing defense technology sector? For this NATO and EU member, and vibrant democracy, necessity is the mother of invention. Estonia, where the prime minister is often just an email away, has often been praised for its pioneering efforts in digital “E-government.” Less well-known may be the large bets Estonia’s public and commercial sectors have placed on developing a robust innovation ecosystem specializing in AI and cyber. Joel Burke, a researcher focused on AI and technology policy, joins us to discuss Estonia’s collaborative approach to integrating government and private resources, personnel, and technologies to support national defense.

Book website: Rebooting a NationReference to KAPO's report: https://news.err.ee/1609309593/internal-security-service-publishes-2023-2024-annual-reviewTomas' study on Defence AI in Estonia: https://defenseai.eu/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/daio_study2320_caught_between_today_and_tomorrow_tomas_jermalivicius.pdfE-Estonia briefing center (as the best place for folks to contact to start a collaboration with the Estonian defence-tech ecosystem): https://e-estonia.com/e-estonia-briefing-centre-services/about-us/E-governance Academy: https://ega.ee/Video Testimonies: https://exhibits.stanford.edu/baltic-video/feature/no-boundaries-the-digital-nomads-of-estonia-collection

How well is the DoD positioned to field systems at the speed of relevance? Has the DoD effectively used additional Congressional acquisition authorities and its new Adaptive Acquisition Framework to deliver warfighting capabilities at a lower cost and accelerated schedule? Shelby Oakley, Director, Contracting and National Security Acquisitions, for GAO joins today’s podcast episode to discuss the GAO’s 22nd Weapons Systems Annual Assessment, which analyzes the characteristics and performance of 108 of DoD’s costliest weapon programs to include their implementation of leading practices for product development and software development approaches.

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This episode is sponsored by Booz Allen: https://www.boozallen.com/ ____________________________________________________

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