top of page
rashad blog

The Pentagon, Tech and R&D

Updated: Feb 28

The United States of America is one of the countries across the globe who are vocal in terms of modern advancements in technologies, Research and Development and overall security. In particular, The Pentagon is America’s and global administrative institution that holds fundamentals in the realm of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mechanics. Despite its core function in controlling the Department of Defense in the country (US), the Pentagon is a foundational pillar for multiple worldwide inventions in the digital spheres, research faculties and development.


Financially, the administrative organization has supported global spenders in transitioning the world in sectors such as higher education, national and international company growth through allocation of profound budgets to specified projects. The article categorically showcases various inventions which have been backed and funded by the Pentagon in the quest to achieve technological advancements and certain global growth. Various research and development projects have also received funding and backing from The Pentagon and the importance of these will be scrutinized in the article.


Inventions Backed and Funded by the Pentagon in the Modern Scope


Global innovations require massive funding from the government through its agencies and administrative organizations such as the Pentagon. A couple of firms in the technological realm are beneficially of Pentagon funding in order to bring off the ground the foundation of digitization in the modern and future times. Below are some inventions backed or funded by these administrative organizations.


Microchip Invention

Various universities and IEEE certified firms received massive funding from The Pentagon administration to research, invent and continuously develop computational programming infrastructures. Microchip technology was the primary building blocks towards modernized computing in the following current and trending areas: Data centers are as a result of microchip technology which through gradual innovations, complexity of data in the repositories has been reduced. Microchip technology paved the way for data expansion and solution towards data heterogeneity which increased as technological devices continue to evolve.


Massachusetts Institute of Technology is fundamental in the growth of microchip advancements thus showcasing the significance of The Pentagon in research and development which involve higher institutions of learning such as universities. The ease of hardware customization in the modern computing infrastructure is as a result of microchip invention which was funded by the pentagon from the ground.


Global Positioning System Invention

Also known as GPS, the global positioning invention was as a result of The Pentagon management funding in the beginning of 1990. Funding and backing of this project were as a result of the administration’s high involvement in surveillance (security related reason as it is in the Defense organ of the Pentagon) and space navigation. However, through advanced research and development, the infrastructure laid a foundation to digital innovations such as time synchronization and global satellite navigation system and related infrastructure. Through various classified organizations in the technological dockets, The Pentagon has funded and backed GPS advancements in various computing infrastructures such as mobile technologies.


The modern administration of the Pentagon (Particularly a number of executives) have shown discontent as the technology is faced with a couple of vulnerabilities which makes the GPS technology expensive to use. Despite the allegations, the Pentagon continues to fund and back GPS technology and related innovations through proactive campaigns to improve the system. Annual budgets are set aside for the transitioning of Global Positioning System infrastructure through research and development procedures.


Barcode Technologies

Nearly everything that is packed or rather sealed has a feature called a bar-code. Look at it this way, most supermarkets across the globe use the bar-code metrics to identify goods and services in the process of selling and buying. Bar code technology was first funded and backed by the Pentagon in 1970 in cooperation with the National Science Foundation alias NSF. The hardware computing infrastructure development was funded from the research level and later on the development of artifacts and amenities to read them was later introduced. 


The modern bar-code readers and scanners are products that are beneficially from The Pentagon funding in the schemes that involve research in various educational domains and developing hardware companies. The efforts of bar-code related technologies are in the modern world enjoyed through the mitigation and curbing of human errors resulted by manual data entry. Reduced time and cost in training workforce personnel is also achieved.


Google Prototype and Network invention

The Pentagon community was among the first stakeholders and spenders of the modern day google. It all started with the community trying to maintain information superiority within the community for controlled administration and intelligence services. The United State Intelligence under the Pentagon community partnered with multiple companies such as Silicon Valley which later became the foundational stone of google. Direct funding of research and development organization was initiated by The Pentagon with the aim to secure personnel and organization in the online world.


Two decades earlier, The Pentagon geared the operation to improve the networking which would later be considered as the modern network. The Pentagon has worked with founding organizations to establish strategies and policies which govern network domains. The Defense Intelligence Agency which is under the Pentagon community facilitates the evolution of powerful networks and information integration through funding, research and development in association with universities.


Currently, The Pentagon community is outlining various strategies which will foster modern technology particularly in the field of Artificial Intelligence and machine learning. According to the Pentagon’s main community i.e. the department of defense posture for artificial intelligence, recommendations to leverage new technological advances such as Ai will have to adhere to certain ethical reasoning such as verification and validations.  


Biggest Contracts Between Technological faculties and The Pentagon – last 3 years

There are a variety of technological inventions that are of interest in various administrative bodies of the globe i.e. The Pentagon. Technologies such as Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence and Cloud Computing are among the few computing infrastructures that are deemed to change the operational competencies in the modern and future worlds.  The Pentagon has partnered with various companies through contract agreement in order to bring prompt technological advancements. Below are some of the biggest contracts between pentagon and technological infrastructure.


$1 Billion Cloud Computing Pentagon Deal with REAN

Also known as REAN Cloud, the Information Technology company is based in Virginia, USA where it specializes in modern cloud computing through open partnership with Amazon Web Services. Through REAN financial statements and correspondents, USD 950 Million deal was offered to the company in order to strengthen the vast cloud computing infrastructure and related service in the entire Defense Department or rather the entire Pentagon community. Software as a Service (SaaS) can be used to simplify the deals term while the company will be involved in delivering a wide range of undisclosed technologies to foster inventions in the tech docket. REAN Cloud is a computing Organization which majors in enterprise cloud computing migration and its reputation in DIUx production contract is remarkable.


Microsoft Victory on $10 Billion Pentagon Contract.  

The digitization of the United States Military which is a significant community in The Pentagon and the 2019 Ten-Year contract in outsourcing cloud computing services and related infrastructure is remarkable. Also known as JEDI, the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure made deals with the world’s biggest technological organization Microsoft in the process of transforming cloud infrastructure in the military. Pentagon’s exertions to revolutionize its technology is notable for the past three years which means pentagon will partner and is in partnership with worldwide technological establishments.


Surgical Robotics Pentagon deal worth $450 Million

In the beginning of 2020, the United State Logistic Agency alia The Pentagon publicized a multi million contract which involved supply of modern robotics infrastructure which entails intuitive surgical infrastructures. The decision towards a digitized health system was reached in the fiscal year of 2020 which was passed by the congress in the same year i.e. 2020.


The Pentagon is a great promoter of Science, Technology, Engineering and mechanical faculties and it is always evident when universities and higher learning institutions are improved to promote research and development of such fields. The Pentagon is also working towards funding research and development agencies so as to enhance the process of developing autonomous systems and Intelligence Agents across the community.  


$11.2 Billion Information Technology Network Consolidation.

In 2020, the Pentagon community in conjunction with Defense Information Systems Agency launched a single-award contract with the aim to consolidate all Information Technology infrastructure in the government. According to the administration, this high-valued contract’s main intent is to unify all government agencies with operating Information Technology enterprises in one network.  


$500 million deal with Small Business Innovation Research (SIBR)

In the realm of computing, designing of application and software amenities is a fundamental practice that ease the development and deployment of Information Technology infrastructure in the relevant dockets. In addition, mobile computing is significant in the Pentagon and a vivid research had to be achieved through research and development agencies for the long-term solution. Small Business Innovation Research is the company that was awarded the contract on the third phase where commencement of the activity was done in the Naval Air systems command.


Yearly Budget of Pentagon with Regards to Tech

In 2020, the speculated budget of the entire country was said to be 4.7 trillion where the funds related to communication and information technology amounted to 53.36 billion dollars in the progressive year (current 2020). The IT budget was not inclusive of the Pentagon administration technological budget which is a split of two major parts which deals with multidimensional disciplines in the Pentagon technological regards. USD 671 billion is the adequate budget of the pentagon in 2021 with an inclusive budget of USD 69 billion.


Despite classified information budget use in the administration, the aims of the Pentagon to reach worldwide heights of Information Technology is visible. The pentagon has continued massive investment in the fields of enterprise software starting from cloud computing infrastructure to Software as a Service algorithms and related protocols. The administrative organization has invested in technology and further backing and funding private sectors in the quest to achieve assured transformation.


The Transition of The Pentagon Being the Biggest Spenders in Global Businesses Which Spend the Most Towards R&D

Increase in technological efficiency has increased the demand and the spirit of vivid research and related development. The Pentagon is one of the greatest world administration organizations which dwells on research and development (R&D) to improve technological innovation across the globe. Research and Development in the paradigm of computing and technology entails methodological practices and activities which includes an association of applied and basic research with the objectives of developing and discovering cognitive solutions and knowledge towards a new innovation. The Pentagon spends more on R&D through funding learning institutions which speeds up digital transformation.


The Pentagon understands the significance of having the Research and Development department in providing adequate solutions to the public and the entire administration. In the year 2019, the expenditure rate of the pentagon on Research and Development was $30 Million which later rose promptly in 2020 and still rising in 2021m onwards. The fiscal year 2020/2021 displays the efforts to improve the R & D department on demand with a $2 billion increase from 2020. There have been claims that the pentagon request $106.6 billion to back and fund Research, development and increase evaluation by 2025. Over the past years, Pentagon has been partnering with reputable businesses such as Amazon, REAN Cloud and so forth to speedily transform technological innovations.


Why R&D is important on company scale & on national scale

The Pentagon administration has shown positive concern on the Research and Development department and related practices since 1970. Well. Research and development can be elaborated as a set of activities and routine adhered by a given establishment, organization or a company throughout the processes involved in innovations.


In particular, technological innovations are as a result of Research and Development which are later evaluated so that they can be introduced in the market spheres. The paradigm is divided into two sectors namely basic and applied research and development which service significant roles in the growth of technological innovation on the scales of companies and national scalability at large. The importance of research and development are discussed in the below segment.  


Research and Development Importance on Company Scale

The act of pentagon administration to fund and back private companies is evidence to prove why it is important for companies to adopt research and development. A company scale can be viewed as the potential of an establishment (business, firms, etc.) to improve its functionalities. Research and Development is fundamental because it puts a company on the scale of growth and the abilities of adverse competition.


The scalability of technology can rag a business behind if research on perfect technological improvements are not done on time. A company that adopts to new technologies improves the existing system thus boosting the chances to dominate in the market. A company scale likely to grow in terms of new product lines which meets customer specifications thus rapid Return of Investment (RoI). This is with respect to Technological Innovation such as Business Intelligence which promotes company scale.

Modern computing companies continue to show reliability of Research and Development to improve operational efficiencies and inflate their Technological infrastructure to meet customer expectations in the scaling digital world. The main interest of Research and Development in these companies is to bring about improved advancements in technology and build reputation in the same industry grounds. There are major companies who show dominance in the realm of R&D investment with regards to technological innovativeness.



The Pentagon, Tech and R&D

Research and Development Importance on national Scale

The Pentagon is an official administration organ of the United States. Investing on Research and Development is a key factor to improve the citizens of the nation thus economical growth. Research is the avenue used by innovators in the creation of machineries which help grow the economy of a particular nation. Economic growth is a bi-product of educational supremacy i.e. Research and Development is introduced into universities to bring about engineering knowledge which is later distributed into the workforce.  


Technologically, Research and development has resulted in promoting digitization processes of countries across the world particularly in certain sectors such as cybersecurity, information systems, software development and so forth. Nationally, the promotion of research and development only increases productivity and a good example is the United Kingdom government to develop Research and Development taxation credits through foundational policies and strategies.


Technological markets have gained healthy competition where the government or rather the national administration has established governing avenues which promote controlled investment. Quality Control in a nation is as a result of research and development funding in higher institutions.  The Pentagon has budgets allocated for non-profit research, development and evaluation administration which promote technological innovation through provision of free materials such as technological hubs and platforms which intend to support futuristic investors. 


How Universities Can Partner with Companies in R&D

Healthy strategies which will promote collaboration between Research and Development faculties are in demand in the modern technological sphere. Global administrative establishments such as The Pentagon in The United States have proven the importance of Research and Development in the process of innovation in the technological world. Through non-profit routines and approaches, the Pentagon has backed and funded various Institutes such as MIT in the pursuit of ensuring Research and Development is promoted in universities.


In the Technological spheres, there are more than 20 Research and development companies that should partner with universities to bring about innovations. However, universities should adopt the following strategies and policies to promote collaboration amongst them and the companies actively involved in Research and Development. The goal that moves a given university towards partnership should be outlined. An example in the area of business intelligence, various universities should focus on digital entrepreneurship and partner with related companies in the mission of research and developing business technological infrastructure.


Indicators of the university should always attract Research and Development companies which ease collaboration. An institution such as MIT has solemnly set focus on technological advancements which in return attracts a lot of research and development firms. MIT has dominated in technological innovation because the key indicators of the firm are purely related to computing and Information Technology growth.  Collaboration formats should also include specific reasons why a given university fits with certain R&D companies in achieving deployable technological inventions.


How government can help?Recently me & my colleagues from ATL Tech have decided the “what” & are now discussing the “how”. What I mean by it is that we have decided to launch an R&D department but haven’t decided on “how” exactly to do it. We even had a brief discussion with one of the top local universities to partner up on it, however we ended on discussion on the terms of – let ATL to create its format first & then we can focus on how university can help – an approach which was accepted by the university.


We all know that there is a huge gap between Academia & Industry in Azerbaijan. Which means that any attempt which brings those two together can and should be praised by the government. At one of the round tables where coalition of government & tech industry was being discussed I offered the following – companies which invest into R&D and the ones who partner up with universities should get tax cuts in that same amount, because out of all the points I mentioned above it is crystal clear where innovation can lead to with help of R&D. Yet again its just an idea which is rough around the edges – but worth to consider if we really want to diversify from oil & gas.


One of good examples of IT services export is Ukraine & I would like to share something with you all which I stumbled on kyivpost.com below;


Demand for Ukrainian tech services was high last year despite the pandemic. The country’s export of information technology services grew by 20% to $5 billion in 2020 — a slightly slower rate of growth than in 2019 when annual tech exports expanded by 30% to $4.17 billion, according to data from the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU). Local companies that provide tech services were more resilient to the coronavirus crisis than those that work in transport, tourism or financial industries, according to the Ministry of Economy.


While IT export grew by $853 million over the year, the country’s overall service exports plummeted by 28.5% to $11.17 billion. According to the Ukrainian IT Association, the country’s tech sector bounced back quickly last year because the global demand for IT-related services was high. To satisfy it, Ukrainian companies exported their services and opened new vacancies even amid the crisis. Now IT is the most exported service in Ukraine — it accounts for 8.3% in the country’s $60.4 billion export of goods and services.


In this small example you can see how innovation & tech can lead to become as one of the main contributors to the economy, food for thought….


What success can Research and Development lead to

Research and Development is the spine to modern or rather new invention in the tech domain. Technological Advancements are related to national growth, company growth and individual growth in multiple sectors such as business and overall production. In a business, technological innovation resulted by research and development leads to improved product, customer experience and quality assured services. This means that Return of Investment (RoI) is assured at the end of each final year. National sectors such as the Pentagon rely on Research and Development to change various perspectives of operations particularly in the Science and technology.

Comments


bottom of page