On June 23, 2023, a coalition of companies, including venture capital firms like Kleiner Perkins, General Catalyst and Founders Fund, and start-up defense technology companies, published an open letter to the Department of Defense (DoD), addressed to Secretary Lloyd J. Austin, petitioning DoD to consider procurement reform to help “overcome barriers to innovation.” The group asserts these barriers create “antiquated methods for developing requirements and selecting technologies that have drastically limited” DoD’s access to “the best commercial innovation.” In particular, the coalition endorsed adopting four recommendations pulled from a report by The Atlantic Council, a non-partisan international affairs think tank.
First, the letter suggests that DoD modernize to align with the 21stcentury industrial base. The letter acknowledges that DoD has already taken a strong step in this direction by establishing the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), which reports directly to Secretary Austin and whose mission is to accelerate the adoption of commercial technology. The coalition also encouraged DoD to provide DIU with additional staffing and resources to tap into the non-traditional defense industrial base, reinforce “buy before build” commercial practices, and help DoD speed up validation and approval of needs and funding.