Can DOD improve innovation and competition in acquisition by better utilizing small business?: hearing before the Panel on Defense Acquisition Reform of the Committee on Armed Services, House of Representatives, One Hundred Eleventh Congress, first session, hearing held October 29, 2009.

Can DOD improve innovation and competition in acquisition by better utilizing small business? : hearing before the Panel on Defense Acquisition Reform of the Committee on Armed Services, House of Representatives, One Hundred Eleventh Congress, first session, hearing held October 29, 2009.

To be competitive in the global economy, the United States relies heavily on innovation through research and development (R & D). The Small Business Innovation Development Act of 1982 established the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program to stimulate technological innovation among small businesses. SBIR offers one avenue for introducing technological innovation in the Department of Defense (DOD) space sector. GAO was asked to assess (1) the extent to which DOD is utilizing the SBIR program to develop and transition space-related technologies; and (2) whether small businesses face challenges to participating in the space industrial base. To do this, GAO analyzed program documentation and DOD data on the SBIR program and interviewed key officials. GAO recommends that DOD consider collecting data on all SBIR technologies that transition into DOD acquisitions or the commercial sector and ensure these data are defined and recorded consistently; complete efforts to develop and issue SBIR program guidance; and review the challenges identified by stakeholders in this report to assess the extent to which there are improvements that could be made to address them. DOD partially concurred to collect data, and concurred to develop and issue guidance. DOD did not agree to review the challenges identified by stakeholders. GAO believes this recommendation remains valid.

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The authors analyze various approaches to speed acquisition of military capabilities and keep pace with evolving threats, assess these approaches' suitability for different conditions and acquisition types, and identify implementation issues.