The United States Department of Defense (DoD) was formalized through an act of Congress in 1947, which merged the government’s War and Navy Departments. Despite its name, the Department of Defense does not operate with a goal of defending US citizens or territories. Instead, the DoD exists to use military strength as a means of ensuring the foundation for American national policy.
The DoD, which was preceded as a government agency by the National Military Establishment, consists of numerous sub-agencies, such as the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency. Newer sub-agencies include the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU).
Established in 2015 as the Defense Innovation Unit Experimental by Ash Carter, Secretary of Defense at the time, DIU was developed to conduct innovative defense research and experiments. Based in Mountain View, California, one of the nation’s leading technology hubs, the unit consists of active and reserve military personnel, as well as civilian staff. DIU staff work together on various initiatives designed to expedite the DoD’s ability to quickly adopt commercial technologies. DIU emphasizes technology that allows military units to scale and expand.
The organization is also committed to the overall health of the nation’s security innovation markets. To drive innovation in these markets, it introduced Commercial Solutions Opening, a platform designed to streamline processes and increase competition for government prototype contracts. The process not only supports accelerated prototyping, it also provides a pathway to mass-scale production and similar follow-on contracts for defense innovators.
The DIU staff researches and develops a wide range of technologies, allowing them to partner with a multitude of DoD organizations. In addition to working with combatant command and defense agencies, DIU personnel partner with defense services providers and component specialists. These partnerships allow for the rapid creation of prototypes based on the latest commercial advances. To better organize projects and objectives, DIU has spread activities across six portfolios: artificial intelligence, machine learning, cyber, human systems, energy, and space.
While the military and government frequently tout the importance of innovation, DIU has not always received the necessary funding. The program launched in 2015 with a budget of just $30 million, a small fraction of the DoD’s $534.3 billion budget that year. Congress had only upped DIU spending to $43 million by 2022, but the 2023 budget was approved at $112 million. This does not include funding for the National Security Innovation Network, though it is an extension of DIU.
Doug Beck was announced as the new DIU director in April 2023. Beck previously spent 14 years as the vice president of Apple, during which time he co-led global business development and sales. He has nearly three decades of military experience in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Asia Pacific region.
DIU leaders, including Beck, have pushed for more innovation reform throughout the government, particularly in areas of defense. DIU has proposed a $1 billion budget, which is still just one-tenth of 1 percent of the DoD budget. Former DIU director Mike Brown and Rear Admiral Lorin Selby have supported the idea while acknowledging that much more funding will be needed if the United States wishes to remain a defense innovation leader.
