George Mason University and Wharton Aerospace Community held an excellent event on the productivity of independent research and development (IR&D). Discussing the topic was an insightful panel including former ASD(A) Kevin Fahey, defense analyst Byron Callan, and former Acquisition Talk guest Anne Marie Knott moderated by Stephanie Halcrow, senior fellow at GMU's Center for Government Contracting. 

IR&D, of course, in the defense world is different than the R&D done at commercial firms like Google and Netflix. IR&D projects are funded by defense contractors, but the cost is reimbursed by government as an indirect rate spread across their portfolio of contracts. (You can find more about that in the forward pricing rate process). This provides for some interesting incentives and comparisons with the commercial sector. The panelists discuss:

- Whether defense contractors spend enough on IR&D

- Rates of return on corporate venture capital

- The effect of profit policy on IR&D

- How to align contractor IR&D with defense objectives

- How the Research Quotient can be used to benchmark IR&D

This podcast was produced by Eric Lofgren. Soundtrack by urmymuse: "reflections of u". You can follow us on Twitter @AcqTalk and find more information at AcquisitionTalk.com.