DEF Boston recently hosted Drink & Think on Thursday, 18 April at 6:00 PM at The Air Force Accelerator by Techstars in Boston. The MITRE Corporation is currently supporting the Department of Defense to transform policies, procedures, and training to enable program offices to thrive in the rapid acquisition and agile DevOps environments. This DEF event is a conversation to address the top innovation barriers for entrepreneurs trying to participate in the DoD acquisition environment, followed by a presentation on recommended tools and techniques to assist.
Thanks especially to MITRE’s Deb Zides and Dan Ward for the awesome discussion and innovation toolkit (slides shared in Slack), and to our friends from the Techstars Air Force Accelerator that shared their space.
AGENDA:
- Background: MITRE’s role in supporting changes to defense policies at the OSD level and how this helps DEF community (10 min)
- Discussion: Understand the current DEF Climate from Audience Perspective (20 min)
- What is the #1 entrepreneur challenge that keeps you up at night?
- If you were king/queen for a day, what is the #1 change you would instill in the Defense Acquisition environment to improve innovation?
- Presentation: Available tools/training/networking solutions (30-45 min)
- Networking (1 hour)
The Defense Entrepreneurs Forum is a non-profit network of problem solvers in the military, government and private sector that work together to increase innovation and support disruptive thinkers in the national security space. The mission of DEF is “Inspire – Connect – Empower” and involves not only monthly gatherings around the world, but periodic DEFx events, an annual conference, and ongoing collaboration via Slack, Facebook and LinkedIn. DEF communities usually meet once a month to hear innovative leaders, entrepreneurs and authors share their stories and to get new ideas flowing in a casual environment (where uniforms and rank are left at the door).
If you are a military member, work in government, are an entrepreneur focused on national security, or find the idea of helping solve tough problems enticing, then the DEF’s monthly Drink & Thinks are great ways to learn more.