As a former Pentagon official whose tenure spanned three Presidential administrations, Pamela Berkowsky serves as a Senior Executive Defense Consultant to the South Florida Defense Alliance (SFDA), a non-profit 501(c)(6) organization established to 1) grow defense investments in South Florida in the areas of space, aviation and healthcare, and 2) educate South Florida’s innovation ecosystem about accessing DOD funding and contracts (https://pt.slideshare.net/pamelabberkowsky/doing-businesswithmilitarycompiled). In this regard, Pamela Berkowsky and her SFDA colleagues work closely with the Miami-Dade Beacon Council, the County’s economic development authority, to connect South Florida tech founders, funders, and entrepreneurs to the relevant Department of Defense (DOD) entities. The Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) is one of the primary entities playing an integral role in DOD’s innovation acquisition strategy. It was established in 2015 with a mission of accelerating DOD’s commercial tech adoption through partnerships with leading companies in locales including Boston, Austin and Silicon Valley. DIU’s commercial partnerships extend well beyond the sphere of traditional defense contractors and are facilitated through a pair of complementary efforts: National Security Innovation Capital (NSIC) and the National Security Innovation Network (NSIN). The latter involves partnerships with incubators, universities, and accelerators in areas such as dual-use ventures and new concept development. It also encourages “customer discovery” as a key pathway toward commercializing technologies developed in DOD laboratories. By contrast, NSIC serves to direct investment toward next generation hardware technologies through Other Transaction Authority (OTA) agreements. In addition, the DIU has simplified the process of securing merit-based contracts for companies that have never before worked with the US government. Its current director Mike Brown (former Symantec CEO) has repeatedly underscored the need for the US military to rapidly acquire and utilize leading edge commercial technologies in areas such as autonomous systems, AI, sensors, space, communications and cyber security. With awards ranging from $500K - $3M, DIU facilitates an accelerated means of addressing challenges defined as critical for national security through delivery of workable commercial technologies within a 12- to 24-month timeframe.

1. Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) Brings
Private Tech Innovation to Fore
Pamela Berkowsky

2. Introduction
As a former Pentagon official whose tenure spanned three Presidential administrations, Pamela Berkowsky serves as a
Senior Executive Defense Consultant to the South Florida Defense Alliance (SFDA), a non-profit 501(c)(6) organization
established to 1) grow defense investments in South Florida in the areas of space, aviation and healthcare, and 2)
educate South Florida’s innovation ecosystem about accessing DOD funding and contracts
(https://pt.slideshare.net/pamelabberkowsky/doing-businesswithmilitarycompiled). In this regard, Pamela Berkowsky
and her SFDA colleagues work closely with the Miami-Dade Beacon Council, the County’s economic development
authority, to connect South Florida tech founders, funders, and entrepreneurs to the relevant Department of Defense
(DOD) entities.

3. The Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) is one of the primary entities playing an integral role in DOD’s innovation acquisition
strategy. It was established in 2015 with a mission of accelerating DOD’s commercial tech adoption through
partnerships with leading companies in locales including Boston, Austin and Silicon Valley. DIU’s commercial
partnerships extend well beyond the sphere of traditional defense contractors and are facilitated through a pair of
complementary efforts: National Security Innovation Capital (NSIC) and the National Security Innovation Network
(NSIN). The latter involves partnerships with incubators, universities, and accelerators in areas such as dual-use
ventures and new concept development. It also encourages “customer discovery” as a key pathway toward
commercializing technologies developed in DOD laboratories. By contrast, NSIC serves to direct investment toward
next generation hardware technologies through Other Transaction Authority (OTA) agreements. In addition, the DIU has
simplified the process of securing merit-based contracts for companies that have never before worked with the US
government. Its current director Mike Brown (former Symantec CEO) has repeatedly underscored the need for the US
military to rapidly acquire and utilize leading edge commercial technologies in areas such as autonomous systems, AI,
sensors, space, communications and cyber security. With awards ranging from $500K - $3M, DIU facilitates an
accelerated means of addressing challenges defined as critical for national security through delivery of workable
commercial technologies within a 12- to 24-month timeframe.