Building Trust in Innovation Practices
2 MONOLITHS EXTENDING BEYOND THEMSELVES
There have been legendary enterprises in the realm of A & D. Over the decades, through great leaders and people, iteration and breakthroughs, and mergers and acquisitions, they grew into mighty monoliths of groundbreaking technology production. From advancements in platforms, to intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance systems, to cutting-edge command, control and communication capabilities, their technologies inspired countless books, films, and television shows.
However, the days of A & D – at least in the US – leading the race for technology are waning. The sheer breadth and availability of advancements makes this true. It is no longer a world of who invents what first. It has become an arena of who can best utilize what first. The leader is defined by who can develop, or more specifically adapt most quickly to using new technologies best, to change outcomes to their advantage.
This is by no means a declaration that the end is nigh, and the primes have grown irrelevant. On the contrary, these institutions still lead in providing the technologies that serve as foundations and building blocks, consistently incrementing advancement to maintain position with friend and foe. It does mean primes must extend beyond the US Federal Acquisition Regulation( FAR) framework. The ability for a corporation to extend beyond itself is one component of building a framework for successful innovation. This component focuses on this need to establish new attitudes and incentives, empowering resources and capabilities, and forging new and stronger partnerships [ 4 ].
A successful innovation framework will provide ways for a corporation to extend into areas such as academia, small businesses, start-ups, internal incubator projects, etc. Details will vary based on need and opportunity. Examples and motivation for such follow. Key in each is the symbiotic relationship between the prime corporation and the areas into which it extends.
Fundamental research, both incremental and groundbreaking, must continue to be realized through efforts with universities and research consortiums. Academia itself is facing growing challenges [ 5 ]. By establishing new avenues to university funding and improving student pipelines to enterprise careers, these institutions will continue to thrive as corporations benefit from new technologies, perspectives, and ideas. The opportunities to pair fresh thinking with seasoned subject matter experts benefits such as mentoring, identifying top talent, and bidirectional knowledge transfer.
Similarly, small businesses benefit from working with primes to drive transformative technologies through Small Business Innovation Research( SBIR), Small Business Technology Transfer( STTR), and Mentor-Protégé( MPP) programs. These government programs incentivize collaboration by identifying technology needs, providing equite-free funding, and accelerating product commercialization. The backing of larger defense enterprises brings resources, clout, and expertise to amplify small business.
108 May 2025