Pentagon Asks Silicon Valley For Ideas And New Technologies

The Pentagon is looking to step up its tech prowess by seeking some help and some ideas from Silicon Valley. In an effort to find “current and emerging technologies” that can be used in a military capacity, the Department of Defense has sent out a request for information to defense vendors as well as private firms, labs and academic institutions that don’t normally work with it, for ideas and technologies that could be developed over the next five to 10 years and be ready for military use by 2030.

The request for information comes as part of the DoD’s Long Range Research Development Plan, which seeks to bring cutting-edge technology to the U.S. military and make the department’s spending more efficient.

“We expect the topics and ideas that come back will inform our science and technology planning, and we’re mining that whole space,” Stephen P. Welby, deputy assistant secretary of defense for systems engineering, said in a media briefing reported by DoD News.

The DoD is particularly looking for technologies involving underwater tech, space and air defense. Other areas the plan is looking into include robotics, big data, advanced manufacturing, miniaturization, cybersecurity and decentralized networks.

Though the Defense Department hasn’t determined what kind of funding the program will have, it will focus on key technologies over the next few months through data collected from its request for information, according to the Wall Street Journal.