Connect with us

Politics

A look back at the origins of DIU

Published

2 months ago

on

What: The creation of the Defense Innovation Unit
When: Defense Secretary Ash Carter launched the organization as the Defense Innovation Unit Experimental, or DIUx, in 2015.
Why it matters: The creation of the DIU marked a pivotal shift in how the Pentagon approached innovation.
To celebrate our 25th anniversary in 2025, we’re spotlighting 25 pivotal moments that reshaped the way the government operates. Visit our anniversary page each week as we look back on these defining moments.

In a 2001 paper, Ashton Carter, then a professor at Harvard, wrote about how commercial technology would play a decisive role in deterring and prevailing in conflict. Carter warned the U.S military must become adept at rapidly integrating commercial innovations into its operations — or a technological revolution that began in the Defense Department would quickly pass it by. 

In the years to follow, Silicon Valley surged ahead, driving technological advancements across various sectors, while the military continued to fall further behind due to outdated procurement processes, bureaucratic hurdles and cultural resistance, among other factors. 

“It was as if the military had resigned itself to becoming a display in the Museum of Computer History,” Raj Shah and Christopher Kirchhoff wrote in “Unit X.” “You could visit an Army, Air Force or [a] naval base to see what people used in the past, then go to Best Buy to see how far technology had evolved.”

Carter saw it in 2001 — the Defense Department needed to become “the world’s fastest adapter and adopter of commercial technology into defense systems”— and nearly 15 years later, shortly after becoming Defense secretary in 2015, he created the Defense Innovation Unit Experimental (DIUx).

“There’s a lot of people with a lot of visions and ideas. There’s very few that know how to execute — and Secretary Ash Carter knew both. He had a vision; he had the knowledge and the wherewithal to actually get anything done. It was his brainchild, and he made it come together and fought all the bureaucrats and pivoted the department,” Shah, who was one of the DIUx’s early leaders, told Federal News Network. 

Carter’s vision for DIUx was to create a bridge between the Pentagon and the commercial technology sector — using funding to quickly buy existing products, help companies develop new ones and leverage venture capital to grow a broader ecosystem of firms serving the Defense Department.

The organization had a rocky start, but when Carter asked Shah and Kirchhoff to lead the unit, the pair created a whole list of things they thought they needed to get the unit off the ground. They wanted the unit to report directly to the secretary, instead of being buried in layers of the Pentagon hierarchy. They wanted Carter to assign one of his special assistants to the unit. If the unit asked other parts of the military for help, they were expected to comply. The unit could request a policy waiver should it get in the way. And the unit would oversee its own budget and staffing. 

The early days of DIUx were challenging — there were budget troubles, and the organization needed a way to buy technology faster. 

“I think our strategy was just to prove that we could exist. We went from 8 people to 100 in two years. And one small office to four. We were just trying to stay alive. When I joined the organization, we had zero written contracts, so we had to build a whole contracting apparatus and system,” Shah said. 

“I think the biggest battles in government outside the Pentagon were all budget battles with the Office of Management and Budget and Congress, trying to defend what we were doing and why we needed our budget. And because it was so high profile, being the Secretary cared about it, a lot of entities would try to use it as leverage. They would hold us hostage to try to extract something, some concession, from the department, and so we would get in the car in the middle of a lot of these fights. It’s very painful,” he added.

Finding a ‘loophole’

The Defense Department has traditionally operated as a monopoly buyer, but when it came to Silicon Valley, the Pentagon wasn’t even a minority buyer. DIUx knew it had to fundamentally rethink how it did business — it needed to become a better customer, be able to move quickly and get companies on contract fast. DIUx knew it had to find an alternative to the traditional acquisition process under the Federal Acquisition Regulations, which can take at least a year to negotiate. 

At the same time, the 2016 defense policy bill drastically expanded the DoD’s ability to use Other Transaction Authority (OTA). OTAs have been around for decades, but agencies mostly used it for work with research labs, universities and small businesses to build prototypes. 

But the 2016 defense legislation enabled the Defense Department to start using OTAs to not just buy prototypes, but to move from prototype into production. 

Lauren Dailey, who was the director of acquisitions at the time, took it a step further by designing a “Commercial Solutions Opening” process, which would let DIUx work directly with commercial companies and buy technology at scale. 

One of DIU’s early success stories was with Shield AI, a startup that makes autonomous quadcopters. The company wanted to work with the Defense Department but struggled to raise money since investors did not view DoD as a reliable customer. DIUx, however, liked the technology and brought the company through the CSO process — within about a month, Shield AI received an OTA contract to prototype its technology. The contract then helped unlock private investment in the company. 

Michael Brown, who succeeded Shah as DIU director, came in to scale that model.

“We got the transition rate, or the rate from a vendor coming in to compete on a military contract to having a production contract, in half to 50%. It wasn’t surefire, because it wasn’t 100% but you had a very good shot now of getting a production contract if you came in through a DIU process. We introduced over 50 capabilities to DoD and 50 new vendors to DOD. We really expanded on the concept,” Brown told Federal News Network.

During his time as the director, Brown’s team, along with the office of the under secretary for acquisition and sustainment, created an OTA guide to make these authorities more accessible across the acquisition workforce. The guide helped clarify not only how OTAs work, but also what their limits are. 

In addition, the organization launched the Immersive Commercial Acquisition Program, a yearlong rotational initiative that embedded acquisition professionals from each military service inside DIU. The goal was to cultivate a new cadre of acquisition experts equipped with practical experience in non-traditional contracting. Plus, the Defense Acquisition University introduced specialized training programs to teach the fundamentals of OTAs.

Brown said while the combination of those efforts yielded some positive results, it is nothing like Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth directing the Defense Department to use the Commercial Solutions Openings and Other Transactions as the default contracting approaches for buying capabilities under the software acquisition pathway. 

“Now everyone is going to be interested in figuring out, ‘How do I do this?’ That pull effect is going to be very strong. I think that will be the start of a complete change in the order of magnitude of OTAs are being used,” Brown said.

“We’ll start to see a lot more change more quickly. Previously, I would say there was some concern about who all was endorsing the use of the OT versus FAR. If FAR is the way we buy most things and it’s already well understood by the General Councils, by the acquisition officials within the services, OTs would have remained on the fringe. But now there’s an emphasis to go commercial first. So let’s finally start implementing something Congress asked for 20 years ago called modular open system architecture,” he added.

Now, a decade later, DIU has evolved from a small experimental organization into a central player backed by a billion-dollar budget and expanded support from Congress. Plus, in 2016, around the time the CSO process was launched, there was approximately $8 billion in venture capital investment going into companies working on defense technologies. By 2024, the number went up to about $43 billion — a 525% increase.

“I’m disappointed that we still need DIU, that the whole department has not transformed itself into being a very innovative organization. So to that point, I think there’s still a lot of work to be done,” Shah said.

The post A look back at the origins of DIU first appeared on Federal News Network.

Related Topics:
Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Politics

Judge Subramanian DENIES Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Bail for the Fifth Time – Disgraced Rapper Will Remain in Prison Pending His October 3rd Sentencing

Published

14 hours ago

on

August 5, 2025

By

Judge Subramanian: no “exceptional reasons” to release Diddy before sentencing.

Recent Judge Subramanian’s decisions may indicate hard times for Diddy come sentencing.

We have been following the pre-sentencing motions in the high-profile criminal trial of rap mogul Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs.

The defense: ‘Sean Diddy’s Combs’ Conviction Is Racist and Sexist’, Say Disgraced Rapper’s Lawyers on Yet Another Legal Filing Trying to Release Him on Bail Pending Sentencing

The Prosecution: Prosecutors Oppose Sean Diddy Combs’ 50M Bail Package, Ask for ‘Substantially Higher’ Sentence Than Before

Look who appeared: Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Trial: Ex-girlfirend Who Disappeared and Did Not Testify Against Rapper as ‘Victim 3’ Now Writes Letter to Judge to Grant Him Pre-sentencing Bail

Diddy has had his request for bail denied for the 5th time.

Today, we learn that federal judge Subramanian has yet again declined to grant Sean “Diddy” Combs bail, saying he found no ‘exceptional reasons’ to release him pending his October sentencing.

ABC News reported:

“Combs was convicted of transportation to engage in prostitution, which the judge said mandates incarceration. His sentencing is set for Oct. 3.

Judge Arun Subramanian said Combs remains a risk of flight and a danger to the community, pointing to the violence exhibited on 2016 hotel surveillance footage that shows him kicking and dragging Cassie Ventura.”

Combs remains a risk of flight and a danger to the community: Judge.

The judge ruled that the ‘swinger lifestyle’ argument does not fly in a case that includes ‘evidence of violence, coercion or subjugation in connection with the prostitution’. And the record, he wrote, contains evidence of all three.

Subramanian: “’While Combs may contend at sentencing that this evidence should be discounted and that what happened was nothing more than a case of willing ‘swingers’ utilizing the voluntary services of escorts for their mutual pleasure, the Government takes the opposite view: that Cassie Ventura and Jane were beaten, coerced, threatened, lied to, and victimized by Combs as part of their participation in these’.”

Read more:

As He Awaits Sentencing in Prison, Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Joins ‘Self-Improvement’ Program To Curb Drug Use and Violence Against Women

The post Judge Subramanian DENIES Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Bail for the Fifth Time – Disgraced Rapper Will Remain in Prison Pending His October 3rd Sentencing appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Continue Reading

Politics

Nearly 78,000 New Applicants Flood ICE Recruitment to Help Crack Down on Illegal Immigration (VIDEO)

Published

14 hours ago

on

August 5, 2025

By

In a scorching new development under the Trump-backed ICE reign, Acting Director Todd Lyons confidently announced that “we have almost 78,000 applicants since we opened up,” referring to the agency’s massive recruitment surge launched just one week prior.

This seismic surge in interest aligns with ICE’s newly launched “Defend the Homeland” recruitment blitz, unveiled by the Department of Homeland Security on July 29, 2025.

ICE is budgeting for 10,000 new agents, dangling $50,000 signing bonuses, student‑loan forgiveness, enhanced overtime pay, and upgraded retirement plans to attract recruits.

According to the press release:

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) today launched a new U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) campaign to recruit brave and heroic Americans to join ICE as federal law enforcement agents and remove the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens from America’s streets.

“Your country is calling you to serve at ICE. In the wake of the Biden administration’s failed immigration policies, your country needs dedicated men and women of ICE to get the worst of the worst criminals out of our country,” said Secretary Kristi Noem. “This is a defining moment in our nation’s history. Your skills, your experience, and your courage have never been more essential. Together, we must defend the homeland.”

To support this effort, ICE is offering a robust package of federal law enforcement incentives, including: 

  • A maximum $50,000 signing bonus
  • Student loan repayment and forgiveness options
  • 25% Law Enforcement Availability Pay (LEAP) for HSI Special Agents
  • Administratively Uncontrollable Overtime (AUI) for Enforcement Removal Operations (ERO) Deportation Officers
  • Enhanced retirement benefits

Backed by significant new funding through the recently signed One Big Beautiful Bill, ICE is rolling out patriotic recruitment posters and benefits to attract the next generation of law enforcement professionals to find, arrest, and remove criminal illegal aliens.

During the Fox interview, Todd Lyons delivered the incredible news.

“We have almost 78,000 applicants since we opened up. We’re going through and finding those people who really want to serve the country and truly be in law enforcement. I think it’s a great way to recruit now.

We’re taking back our re-hired annuitants — people who left the job early because they weren’t allowed to do the law enforcement mission.

But we have so many people who are now interested in working with ICE because, under Secretary Nome’s leadership, they’re seeing that we have a viable law enforcement partner in the community. You’re actually out making a difference. We’re really ecstatic about seeing the increase in new recruits who are applying.”

WATCH:

The post Nearly 78,000 New Applicants Flood ICE Recruitment to Help Crack Down on Illegal Immigration (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Continue Reading

Politics

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene Calls on Trump to Commute George Santos’ Excessive 7-Year-Sentence: ‘Some Members of Congress Who’ve Done Far Worse Still Walk Free’

Published

14 hours ago

on

August 5, 2025

By

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R‑GA) has formally thrown down the gauntlet.

On Monday, she submitted a letter to the Office of the Pardon Attorney pleading for President Trump to commute the 87-month federal sentence of ex‑Congressman George Santos (NY‑03)—a punishment she calls “a grave injustice” and emblematic of a justice system fractured by politically selective persecution.

Greene wrote on X:

“BREAKING: I just sent a letter to the Office of the Pardon Attorney urging President Trump to commute the sentence of former Congressman @MrSantosNY.

A 7‑year prison sentence for campaign‑related charges is excessive, especially when Members of Congress who’ve done far worse still walk free.

George Santos has taken responsibility. He’s shown remorse. It’s time to correct this injustice. We must demand equal justice under the law!”

Greene signed her letter Aug. 4 to Pardon Attorney Edward Martin Jr. at the Justice Department, demanding Trump use his executive power to undo what she calls a “grave injustice.”

Drawing on inside knowledge, she described Santos as “without a prior criminal record,” “sincerely remorseful,” and portrayed his case as campaign-related maleficence, nothing warranting “one of the most extreme sentences in recent history.”

Green also reminded officials of the roster of current or former lawmakers who actually broke laws or ethics rules yet never lost a day.

The letter reads:

“I am writing to request that your office urge the President to commute the sentence of former Congressman George Santos. In April 2025, Mr. Santos was sentenced to 87 months in federal prison for wire fraud and aggravated identity theft charges. I wholeheartedly believe in justice and the rule of the law, and I understand the gravity of such actions. However, I believe a seven-year sentence for such campaign-related matters for an individual with no prior criminal record extends far beyond what is warranted.

As a Member of Congress, I worked with Mr. Santos on many issues and can attest to his willingness and dedication to serve the people of New York who elected him to office. He committed himself to serving his constituents and did whatever it took to represent their interests in Washington, D.C. He is sincerely remorseful and has accepted full responsibility for his actions. Furthermore, my office has spoken with a pastor of his who discussed the regret and remorse of Mr. Santos, agreeing that the sentence imposed is a grave injustice.

While his crimes warrant punishment, many of my colleagues who I serve with have committed far worse offenses than Mr. Santos yet have faced zero criminal charges. I strongly believe in accountability for one’s actions, but I believe the sentencing of Mr. Santos is an abusive overreach by the judicial system.

Commuting his sentence would acknowledge the severity of his actions and simultaneously provide a path forward in allowing him to make amends for his crimes and strive to better serve the people in his community.

I respectfully request you to urge the President to commute the sentence of Mr. George Santos.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.”

According to the Advocate, Trump can pardon Santos, but has not been asked about it.

The Advocate reported:

“He lied like hell, and I didn’t know him,” Trump told Newsmax host Rob Finnerty during an interview at the White House. “But he was 100 percent for Trump. I might’ve met him. Maybe, maybe not, but he was a congressman and his vote was solid.”

[…]

In the Newsmax interview, Trump seemed to question the severity of Santos’s sentence. “It sounds like a lot,” he said. “Is it seven years he just went away? It’s a long time.”

Trump went on to say that while he hadn’t been approached about pardoning Santos, the door remained open. “Nobody’s talked to me about it,” he said. “They really haven’t talked to me about [Santos]. They have talked to me about Sean [Combs], but they haven’t talked to me about [George]. But again, with him, I have the right to do it. Nobody’s asked me, but it’s interesting.”

In April, U.S. District Judge Joanna Seybert sentenced Santos to 87 months in federal prison for wire fraud and aggravated identity theft after a guilty plea in August 2024.

Those charges stemmed from fabricating donor names, laundering campaign funds, misusing donor money, and claiming unemployment while campaigning.

Santos took to social media earlier this year to criticize the ruling and pleaded with President Trump for leniency.

He wrote:

This is the hardest statement I have ever written. I write this humbled, chastened, and fully accountable for choices that shattered the faith so many placed in me.

I betrayed the confidence entrusted to me by many. For that, I offer my deepest apology.

When I pled guilty, I did so without reservation. I said then, and I repeat now, that my conduct betrayed my supporters and diminished the institution I was privileged to serve. Those words have weighed on me every day since.

I cannot rewrite the past, but I can control the road ahead. I asked the Court for a sentence that balances accountability with the chance to prove through sustained, measurable action that I can still contribute positively to the community I wronged.

I believe that 7 years is an over the top politically influenced sentence and I implore that President Trump gives me a chance to prove I’m more than the mistakes I’ve made.

Before the sentencing, Santos had slammed federal prosecutors for going easy on violent criminals while trying to make an example out of him.

“I will however remind everyone that they want me to go to prison for 87 months while they let sex traffickers walk freely, they give drug lords slaps on the wrist and most importantly refuse to prosecute the cabal of pedophiles running around in every power structure in the world including the US Government,” he wrote on X.

The post Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene Calls on Trump to Commute George Santos’ Excessive 7-Year-Sentence: ‘Some Members of Congress Who’ve Done Far Worse Still Walk Free’ appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Continue Reading

Trending