InsideDefense – September 27, 2016 | Marjorie Censer
SwitchPitch, a platform that convenes big companies with startups, held its first aerospace and defense-focused event Tuesday, featuring contractors including BAE Systems and Harris.
The event, held at startup incubator 1776 in Crystal City, VA, came as the Pentagon is pushing for greater use of commercial technology in defense.
Jerry McGinn of the Pentagon’s Office of Manufacturing and Industrial Base Policy told attendees the Defense Department is seeing the sources of innovation change.
“The defense industrial base is critical for the department. We view it as part of our force structure,” he said. “Nothing strengthens that defense industrial base more than competition and new blood.”
SwitchPitch was established in hopes of making it easier for big companies and startups to work together, Michael Goldstein, president of SwitchPitch, told Inside Defense in an interview. The platform is predicated on the idea that the process is improved when big companies first lay out their needs and then startups can respond.