and are passionate about delivering national security capabilities . This type of cross-pollination is critical to our future success as a military and as a country .”
In a bid to drive innovation , the US Air Force is determined to work more closely with startups . “ They innovate at a faster pace than anyone else ,” Knausenberger affirms . “ We ’ re working with an increasing number of businesses with a startup mentality that are focused on innovation . It ’ s hard to survive in the US tech market because every entrepreneur thinks that they ’ re going to be a unicorn but , in reality , very few succeed . The competition is tough .”
Knausenberger states that a key reason why the US Air Force wants to adopt this approach is to not only support small businesses but also to embrace an alternative type of talent . “ It ’ s important we bring diversity into the defense industry ,” she says . “ And that ’ s diversity on every level : mindset , abilities and all aspects of background . It ’ s important to recognize that we ’ re not going to be able to achieve what we want if we always work with the same people . It ’ s also a really great business line for them , and we have really cool , complex problems that can ’ t be solved anywhere else . The startup community is often telling us ‘ we want the coolest , most wicked problems that you could throw at us ’, and we have those in spades ! It ultimately makes for a great , synergistic relationship . “ The Air Force also finds incredible synergies with our allies ,” Knausenberger explains . “ Our Air Force ’ s Strategic Studies Group is a key part of the brain trust for for driving innovation across the force , and includes our Exchange Officers from Japan , Germany , the United Kingdom , and France . And through those networks we 43 www . technologymagazine . com