Raj Shah, head of the Defense Innovation Unit Experimental organization, has said he is optimistic DIUx will continue to operate under the administration of President-elect Donald Trump amid criticisms from Republican lawmakers, Federal News Radio reported Wednesday.
“My hope and sense is that innovation is not a partisan issue and so having the opportunity to continue to new things, make mistakes, understand what doesn’t work as well is what will be critical to us in a rapidly changing threat environment,†Shaj said Wednesday at the Federal Times Cybercon event in Washington.
Shah told event attendees that DIUx has made development work on several technology areas such as artificial intelligence, biotechnology, autonomy, machine learning, commercial space and networking, Scott Maucione writes.
DIUx has awarded contracts worth approximately $36 million combined and has opened offices in Boston and Austin, Texas, in addition to its Palo Alto, California-based outpost, according to a report by Sydney J. Freedberg Jr. and Colin Clark for Breaking Defense.
Shah noted that the 2016 National Defense Authorization Act seeks to facilitate the transition of system prototypes to full-rate production through the Commercial Solutions Opening procurement vehicle, according to the report.
