Lawmakers Want DOD to Explore Tech’s Valley of Death Problem – By Mila Jasper (Nextgov) / July 27 2021
A House Armed Services subcommittee is calling for mandates in the upcoming National Defense Authorization Act to examine barriers to scaling innovative tech.
In the defense technology world, one phrase is inescapable: The valley of death, or the two-year period between development funding and inclusion into a program of record, frustrates Pentagon officials, outside experts and industry alike as the Defense Department attempts to modernize and integrate innovative technologies.
The valley of death problem tends to affect companies that are often newer or smaller entrants that don’t typically work with the department. For these companies, it can be hard to justify the gap between receiving development dollars and getting funds as a program of record in their business plans.
House Armed Services committee lawmakers want to use the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act to take a stab at getting DOD to figure out how to eliminate the valley of death issue, according to committee aides. During a Tuesday briefing a day before the HASC cyber, innovative technologies, and information systems subcommittee NDAA markup, aides detailed several provisions in the draft bill aimed at getting after the problem.
The proposals to be reviewed at Wednesday’s markup directs the Defense secretary to carry out a five-year pilot to help take science and technology activities into full-scale implementation as well as to submit a report evaluating the barriers that prevent DOD from scaling innovative tech.
