How would you spend $1M in Independent Research and Development (IR&D) funding if you were a consultant, engineer, or acquisition professional in the Defense Arena? There are lots of new technologies to explore, hardware to buy, processes to improve, and training to develop, but what would you do if it was your money? That's a question we ask all the time and it's challenging to get a straight answer.
At Innoplex, we are always trying to push the envelope to develop leading edge solutions, but you'd be surprised to learn it isn't always easy to pick the perfect IR&D project aligned to the hearts of our engineers and the minds of our mission customers. We would love to hear from all of you to know what you would do what $1,000,000 in IR&D funding. That might not seem like a lot, but it would be more than enough for a few months of funding to develop a Proof of Concept or minimum viable product. Here are some core areas we are always considering ideas for:
High-Performance Computing; applies to Signals Intelligence (SIGINT), supports Artificial Intelligence (AI) , and we are trying to push more HPC solutions to the "tactical edge"
AI Frameworks and Machine Learning; in a fluid field we need to continually push the envelope
Automate Everything; applies across any mission areas from Security to Contract and Program Management, no one wants to do repetitive tasks
What do you think????...
It would be great to hear from you on social media or in the comments below about what you as an engineer or end customer would do with IR&D to meet your hardest mission challenges.