The Research Symposium & Innovation Summit serves as a catalyst for meaningful progress and informed change in the field of defense acquisition. The event brings together academic researchers, acquisition professionals, and defense service leaders for two days of exploration, discovery, and dialogue intended to inform acquisition policy and modernization efforts.

In keeping with recent executive orders and DOD memoranda, the goal of this dual event is to explore and promote innovative ways to enhance readiness, deter adversaries, and increase warfighting capabilities by reviving our defense industrial base, reforming our acquisition process, and rapidly fielding emerging technologies.

We welcome papers and panels proposals that address these areas of concern, as well as the themes below and any other topics related to accelerating warfighting capabilities in procurement, acquisition, requirements, research and development, program management, acquisition workforce, and technology transition.

The Innovation Summit will take place on Thursday afternoon, featuring panels designed to showcase current and future innovation efforts across the defense innovation ecosystem that accelerate warfighting capabilities. These panels will be composed of a curated selection of symposium research proposals and stakeholders from across academia, industry and government, bringing together diverse perspectives and areas of expertise.