Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III and Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks hosted the Defense Innovation Board (DIB) for its winter Board meeting in the Pentagon on January 13th, 2025.
Underscoring Secretary Austin's commitment to defending the nation through innovation and modernization, the DIB, chaired by Michael R. Bloomberg, discussed its efforts to catalyze and empower defense innovation leaders within the DoD and the defense industrial base.
During the public remarks portion, Deputy Secretary Hicks reflected on the emphasis she and Secretary Austin placed on solving the Department's innovation challenges over the last four years.
"Innovation is a never-ending imperative for DoD, and I'm deeply proud of the progress we've made over the last four years — substantially lowering barriers to innovation across the DoD-enterprise, from the boardroom to the battlespace," said Deputy Secretary Hicks. "There's no doubt about it: innovation adoption is fundamentally a change-management problem. That's why we've employed an effective theory of change — building trust and confidence across the defense enterprise, demonstrating what's possible, rewarding game-changers, and promoting the best ideas and success through teamwork."
The Board presented its two latest studies on Scaling Nontraditional Defense Innovation and A Pathway to Scaling Unmanned Weapons Systems. The two studies were tasked by the Hon. Heidi Shyu, Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, in September 2024.
This full Board meeting marked the DIB's eighth since October 2022 and the release of eight studies under Mr. Bloomberg.
At today's public meeting, called into session by DIB Designated Federal Officer Dr. Marina Theodotou, the DIB members shared perspectives on the current state of DoD efforts to partner with nontraditional defense companies, particularly developers and manufacturers of unmanned and autonomous weapons systems, along with insights for rapidly scaling manufacturing of critical and disruptive capabilities.
Mr. Bloomberg called on DoD, Congress, and other leaders focused on technology and innovation to work faster to address the nation's defense procurement challenges.
The Board urged the Department to eliminate unnecessary bureaucracy and implement more efficient processes and procedures for ensuring that our servicemembers have access to cutting-edge capabilities. Members emphasized the urgency of this task for ensuring U.S. technological leadership and deterring and winning conflicts.
Mr. Bloomberg and the Board expressed their appreciation for the insights and support of innovators within the Department and across industry, academia, and allies and partners.
The Defense Innovation Board, established in 2016, provides the Secretary of Defense, Deputy Secretary, and other Department leaders independent advice on how to catalyze innovation in DoD.
