The Defense Innovation Unit, rebranded in January as the War Innovation Unit, is launching the Bridge Program to accelerate the adoption of commercial technology across the military and eliminate acquisition bottlenecks.
The program, developed over the past year by Sarah Pearson, a former Navy officer and current chief of strategic initiatives at the unit, targets critical barriers including security clearances, access to classified spaces, technology accreditations, and testing procedures. The unit was founded in 2015 and is purpose-built to accelerate the War Department's adoption of commercial technology at speed and scale to lower cost and increase combat power.
The Bridge Program operates across three main areas. The first focuses on evolving classified infrastructure design, construction, accreditation and operation. According to the program, when successful, "classified infrastructure is resourced based upon usage and becomes operational within months — not years — of the need arising."
The second line of effort establishes an accelerated accreditation portfolio using enhanced cybersecurity expertise, risk management and artificial intelligence capabilities. The third focuses on test and evaluation, building an end-to-end testing approach for commercial technologies entering the prototype pipeline.
The program's first major contracting announcement came in July when President Donald J. Trump announced a $10 billion investment in Pennsylvania's defense industry. The announcement included funding for four shared commercial classified facilities, one of which will be built in Pittsburgh using a joint funding model that the Bridge Program is prototyping.
Beyond Pittsburgh, the Bridge Program has contracted for nine additional commercially owned and operated sites across the U.S., including Austin, Texas; San Francisco; Boston; Charleston, South Carolina; Chicago; Cleveland; Louisville, Kentucky; and New York. Additional locations are to be announced in coming weeks.