Secretary of Defense Carter Opens Innovation Unit in Cambridge

Secretary of Defense Ashton B. Carter was in Cambridge on Tuesday, July 26 to open the east coast office of the Defense Department's Defense Innovation Unit-Experimental (DIUx). The DIUx was launched by Carter a year ago to "rebuild the bridges between our national security endeavor...and America's wonderfully innovative and open technology community."

At the Cambridge opening event, Secretary Carter announced that DIUx will have three teams. An Engagement team will introduce the military and military problems to entrepreneurs; a Foundry team will work with "maturing" technologies and others that might be adapted for military use; and a Venture team will identify emerging commercial technologies and explore their applicability for potential use across the Defense Department.

Along with Secretary Carter, a former director of the Belfer Center, attendees at the Cambridge event included current Belfer Center Director Graham Allison,  Defense and Intelligence Projects Director Kevin Ryan, and Chief of Staff to Secretary Carter and Belfer Center alumni Eric Rosenbach.

See the attached PDF for Secretary Carter's remarks.