The Defense Department’s innovation group has picked a new crop of professionals who will spend four months hacking acquisition.
The Defense Innovation Unit’s Hacking Acquisition, or HACQer, program provides acquisition professionals training in understanding and applying Other Transaction authority. The four-month detail to DIU gives mid- to senior-level acquisition professionals the opportunity to understand and execute the DIU business model, so they can use this authority once back at their home organizations.
Embedded within DIU’s product management and acquisition teams, the HACQers will work on projects across areas such as artificial intelligence, autonomy, cyber, human systems, and space.
DIU said it got “substantially more” program applications this year, and selected eight professionals from those to take part in this year’s HACQer program. This year’s professionals come from organizations including the military branches and intelligence agencies. (See a full list of participants here.)
Launched in 2015, DIU was stood up to help the U.S. military accelerate its use of emergingtechnologies. It’s headquartered in Silicon Valley and has offices in Boston, Austin and at the Pentagon.