A More Nuanced Look at the 'Valley of Death'.

• Author: Magnuson, Stew

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

Psalm 23

HONOLULU -- "Psalm 23" is most likely the origin of the term "Valley of Death" used in the defense acquisition world.

Biblical scholars can debate what it means in the religious context, but for those who are in the business, it has come to mean a slice of time when good ideas for military technologies --usually developed on the taxpayer's dime--wither and die for bureaucratic reasons, or lack of funding.

It could literally mean the death of a small business or startup that has a great technology it developed --for example, through a Small Business Innovation Research grant --but doesn't have the capital to wait out the Defense Department's long, laborious funding process.

They eventually can't make payroll, have to shut their doors, and the new technology never makes it into the hands of warfighters.

But there is an even worse scenario, where the technology does emerge from this "shadow of death" through Chinese investment. The technology does make it into the hands of warfighters--namely those belonging to members of the People's Liberation Army.

Bridging the Valley of Death has become somewhat of a crusade--to borrow another religious term --for Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Heidi Shyu, who spoke at length about the problem during a keynote speech at the National Defense Industrial Association's recent Pacific Operational Science and Technology conference in Honolulu.

She touted the recently formed Office of Strategic Capital, which operates under her office's purview, and is intended to be the "rod and staff that "comforts" small businesses by offering bridge loans so they can make it to the other side of the valley.

Later in the conference, the organizers held what they called a "Shark Tank" event where members of the government science and technology community shared some of their best ideas.

One of the "contestants" was William B. "Willie" Nelson, deputy assistant secretary of the Army for research and technology, who used the occasion to slip in some of his thoughts on the Valley of Death.

He offered a more nuanced view of the problem. His interpretation of the metaphorical valley sounded more like Darwinism than something out of the Holy Bible. Some technologies are meant to wither and die, he suggested.

There are actually three Valleys of Death, Nelson...