Breaking Barriers to Defense Innovation, convenes industry and DAF leaders focused on the core problems the DoW faces scaling delivery of innovative capability to the Air and Space Force. It will highlight how the DAF plans to increase the pace of innovation through the strategy, policy and execution including the forthcoming DAF Service Innovation Plan, and DoW Innovation Exchange—a platform itself developed through the SBIR program. . 

This panel will discuss efforts by the DAF CTO, AFWERX, and AFMC Digital Tranformation Office to speed capability delivery and enhance the effectiveness of the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, providing a pathway to get technology into the hands of warfighters quickly, enabling middle-tier acquisition through Phase III contracts. 

The session will begin with a live demonstration of the Innovation Exchange platform, followed by a transition to a panel discussion on upcoming changes to the SBIR program and how the DAF seeks to more effectively leverage innovative acquisition approaches to bridge the "Valley of Death."

The Problem Space
"America's most asymmetric advantage is its small business innovation engine that designs, prototypes, and builds technology the government can't produce on its own. The SBIR program was designed to harness that engine, but the process around it is a maze of disconnected portals, siloed data, and compliance friction that kills momentum between award and deployment. Concepts stall. Teams never form. Brilliant prototypes die in compliance purgatory. The innovation pipeline doesn't have a technology problem. It has an evolution problem." — Mike Aleo

Session Flow & Agenda

Segment 1 · Introduce Innovation Exchange (Live Demo): The Innovation Exchange is a functional operating system for defense acquisitions that connects early-stage concepts directly to fielded military capabilities. The tool brings together program teams, vendors, and private capital to plan, fund, and launch innovative technologies. Panelists will demo the platform live and provide the audience with the opportunity to sign up for the waitlist.

Segment 2 · Conquering the Valley of Death: To open the panel, speakers will map the lifecycle from onboarding with the DoW from R&D opportunities, to commercial transition. This includes funding, technology readiness, Go-To-Market (GTM) strategy, and compliance. Panelists will discuss how the Innovation Exchange aims to solve these systemic transition challenges.

Segment 3: The Compliance Bottleneck · Panelists will tackle the core compliance barriers facing technology innovation. The discussion will cover strategies for preparing for and navigating major hurdles, including CMMC, Facility Clearances, ATOs, and FedRAMP.

Segment 4 · Industrial Base Visibility: To close the panel, the discussion will focus on the strategic move away from disconnected tracking programs. Panelists will highlight the shift toward a single, unified infrastructure layer designed to ensure industry has clear visibility into DAF requirements, and program teams have real-time visibility into available commercial technologies.