The Defense Department‘s Defense Innovation Unit Experimental organization has so far awarded approximately $100 million to fund 45 pilot programs in multiple technology areas, Defense News reported Friday.
The report said DIUx issued contract awards approximately three months after the agency collected responses to solicitations and collaborated with service branches interested to support various projects.
Chris Kirchhoff, managing partner at DIUx, said the organization was created to validate the Pentagon’s capacity to establish closer ties with members of the technology sector through technological hubs such as Silicon Valley.
Raj Shah, head of DIUx, said that the organization looks to disseminate its capacities and processes to other organizations within the Under Secretary of Defense, Research and Engineering team.