Innovating in the Defense Sector to Remain Competitive With China, Featuring Michael Brown

It has become abundantly clear that the United States faces a
robust economic and military competitor in China. In at least one
respect, this is a more daunting challenge than America faced in
the Cold War, because while the former Soviet Union had a strong
military, it struggled with a weak economy. In those days, the
United States also could rely on specialized defense contractors
to provide most of the technologies that the Defense Department
needed to maintain military superiority, but that’s no longer
true. Now, many of the capabilities the country needs for its
defense reside in the private sector. It is, therefore, critical
to establish better links between the commercial sector and the
military.


Enter the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), a Defense Department
entity that was launched in 2015 to work more closely with the
private sector. Rob and Jackie talk to Michael Brown, DIU’s
director and a former CEO of Symantec, about remaining
competitive by innovating in the defense sector. 


Mentioned: 


Stephen Ezell and Caleb Foote, “How Stringent Export Controls
on Emerging Technologies Would Harm the U.S. Economy” (ITIF, May
2019). 

Nigel Cory and Robert D. Atkinson, “Why and How to Mount a
Strong, Trilateral Response to China’s Innovation Mercantilism”
(ITIF, January 2020). 

Robert D. Atkinson, “Emerging Defense Technologies Need
Funding to Cross ‘The Valley of Death’,” RealClearDefense,
February 15, 2020.