Fergie's Tech Blog

Pentagon Urges Less 'Gee Whiz', More 'Relevant' R&D

George Leopold writes on EE Times:

U.S. military planners, faced with mounting casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan along with a decline in federal R&D spending, are pressing contractors to shift their focus from gee-whiz technologies to "relevant" ones that can save lives and improve capabilities today.

As procurement and military health and retirement costs soar, pressure is building to reduce the Pentagon's science-and-technology budget. Thus, Defense Department planners are asking technology companies "to become more relevant to the war fighters," said David Janos, business development manager at Northrop Grumman's Electronic Systems unit (Baltimore).

Janos headed an industry forecast panel on DOD science-and-technology spending sponsored by the Government Electronics and Information Technology Association (GEIA). The results of the GEIA forecast were released here last week.

posted by Fergie @ 10/20/2006 02:46:00 PM