An Organizational Network Analysis of the Sprawling U.S. Department of Defense Innovation Ecosystem

Abstract

The 2022 United States National Defense Strategy (NDS) highlights that the greatest strategic challenges for today’s security environment are linked to rapidly changing military capabilities and emerging technologies. It is through innovation that the military’s technological edge is maintained. Defense innovation refers to the broad set of experimental activities aimed at developing and implementing transformational technologies, strategies, and organizational practices to provide enhanced capabilities for the military or to reduce the cost of military operations.

The Department of Defense (DoD) relies on a massive connected network of government agencies, private industry, academia, and research institutions to accomplish these activities. This Defense Innovation Ecosystem grew rapidly over the last decade, but many organizations that comprise the ecosystem today were established independently of one another to address specific needs. This growth led to a massive ecosystem that is not optimally organized to support innovation at the speed required to maintain the military’s technological advantage, especially in light of the rapid commercialization of new technology.

This research develops an organizational network model of the Defense Innovation Ecosystem through a comprehensive review of publicly available data sources. Then, using this model, it conducts an organizational network analysis based on five centrality measures, including degree, weighted degree, eigenvector, betweenness, and closeness. This analysis is then used to update the model visualization. Lastly, a modularity assessment of the network model examines a potential hierarchical realignment that cuts across existing organizational boundaries.

This research aims to better understand the Defense Innovation Ecosystem as it currently exists and then provide one viewpoint on how the DoD might evolve the ecosystem to meet future demands.