Mission Innovation News

Breaking Defense: Acquisition Reform That Works & No One Has Heard Of

Congress and the new Pentagon leadership must act now and expand the program to the Army and Navy, and the defense agencies. Scaling the program up will not cure all the department’s innovation woes but it will send an important message to our next generation of entrepreneurs that the Pentagon really is open for business.

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Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS): Joint Base Charleston innovation lab looks to further innovation with automated processes

Joint Base Charleston’s innovation lab, Palmetto Spark, worked with Air Force mission partners to create new automated processes to help not only Team Charleston, but the entire military.

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National Defense: It’s Time for a Fresh Look at Resourcing Defense

Acquisition reform depends on effective resourcing processes, policies, & decisions—decisions that ultimately define defense priorities. Understanding these processes is a first step in prioritizing the capabilities for America’s national security.

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The Tech: Social innovation — a corporate revolution or lip service?

ESG investing has notoriously avoided tackling root causes of inequality and environmental crises — what explains this?

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U.S. Air Force: Empowered Airmen accelerate change across Air Force

Airmen worldwide continue to exemplify Innovation & a forward-looking mindset as they find new ways to implement programs & processes to accelerate change in support of the “Accelerate Change or Lose” strategic approach

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Mission Innovation Working Paper: Kessel Run—An Innovation Opportunity for the U.S. Air Force

Kessel Run is a hybrid unit of the U.S. Air Force (USAF), combining acquisition and operations, established and then scaled to bring software solutions to the warfighter.

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The Hill: To meet the US innovation challenge, keep NSF’s mission intact

Substantial attention should be paid to agency culture and the management skills necessary to translate frontier research into viable, competitive technologies.

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Project Syndicate: Build Back the State

In promising to "build back better" from the pandemic, US President Joe Biden has certainly struck the right note. But to succeed, he will need to forge a new social contract, drawing on the lessons of a previous era when the US state led a program that is still paying economic dividends.

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The Washington Post: The U.S. system created the world’s most advanced military. Can it maintain an edge?

Experts say Congress, while providing important oversight, has at times hindered innovation by blocking the Pentagon from retiring weaponry. In addition, requirements designed to reduce waste or accelerate innovation sometimes backfire.

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