Industry asked to participate in 'defense innovation marketplace'.

• Author: Erwin, Sandra I.
• Position: Defense Insider

The Defense Department reimburses contractors $4 billion a year for research-and-development projects, and yet has little insight into how companies spend those funds.

Contractors, for their part, say they need a better grasp of what technologies the military wants so they can invest R&D money more wisely.

There is clearly a disconnect, said Ronald Kurjanowicz, senior advisor to the assistant secretary of defense for research and engineering.

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Seeking to bridge the communications gap, Kurjanowicz' office a year ago launched a website called "Defense Innovation Marketplace" at www.defenseinnovationmarket-place.mil.

The site informs contractors of future military needs, and also is a repository for industry to provide yearly detailed accounts of how it spends the research dollars that the Pentagon reimburses--also known as "independent research and development," or IR&D.

The government needs "greater access to information about industry research-and-development projects," Kurjanowicz said in an interview. "At the same time...