U.S. Navy Adm. James Winnefeld Jr., vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has said the Defense Department‘s plan to stand up an innovation unit is intended to bolster partnership between the agency and Silicon Valley firms, DoD News reported Thursday.
Winnefeld told a cybersecurity summit in West Point, New York, that the DoDÂ is establishing the Defense Innovation Unit X in order to look for new technologies, Jim Garamone reports.
“It will be staffed by some of our brightest active duty and civilian personnel and augmented by a new reserve unit custom-designed for those who work as technologists in their civilian life,†he said.
Winnefeld added that the DoD must keep “a robust and enduring relationship†with commercial technology innovators in order to maintain the United States’ technological edge, according to the report.
He told an audience of government, industry and military officials that such partnership is part of Defense Secretary Ashton Carter’s defense innovation initiative, DoD News reports.
Winnefeld said the department must also maintain its ties with cyber companies to take advantage of emerging technologies, Garamone reports.
