Defense-tech network to launch next year; focus on innovation

BOSTON – An online network aimed at more effectively connecting large government clients or large technology firms with innovative technologies will go live early next year, according to the Defense Technology Initiative.
“[The Innovative Access Network] is designed to help extend the reach down to technologies that are outside of currently existing procurement relationships,” Chris Anderson, president of Boston-based DTI, told Providence Business News. He added that the company wishes to reach “firms that have not yet done business with the government – young, entrepreneurial or just have never been in a government space before – because they don’t know that certain federal agencies may be looking for exactly the type of technology that they have. “
“It’s a question of accelerating the ability to connect awareness of these opportunities both from the government side as well as from the innovator side,” Anderson said, listing the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the Navy and Air Force as potential customers.
“We’re providing an opportunity for any entity – whether federal or private – [that] is looking for innovative technologies,” he said. “We’re going to provide a vehicle that allows the connections to innovation be made more effectively.”
The network could feature a range of technologies related to information technology, robotics, night vision and sensors, among others.
“There’s really no limitation on the type of technology that’s in here,” said Anderson. The network was created in conjunction with the U.S. Army Natick Soldier Systems Center, universities and private companies. &#8226