A draft of a House defense bill contains two provisions that would create a five-year pilot program to identify promising technologies and broaden Navy programs that promote innovation involving small businesses to help address the “valley of death” between research and acquisition in order to get the technology into the hands of warfighters, Defense One reported Wednesday.
The proposed National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) would direct the Strategic Capabilities Office (SCO) to identify Indo-Pacific Command’s “critical cross-service operational needs” and appoint a mission manager to collaborate with the military’s research agencies to build, test and deliver software and other information technology platforms.
The draft NDAA bill proposes $8.6 million in funds to expand the Navy’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (SBTT) programs.
According to the draft measure obtained by the publication, the service has “demonstrated success” in mentoring businesses that have reached the SBIR program's Phase 2, reflecting the Navy's capability in helping non-traditional vendors better navigate the defense contracting process.
