<nettime> Former Google CEO Schmidt to head new Pentagon innovation board

[Felix Stalder <felix@openflows.com>]

[There was a time, when it was difficult to trace things like the
"industrial-military-media complex". Just a year ago, Assange spent
an entire chapter to detail the close link between google and the US
administration (though, he focussed on the state "deptartment). Now,
it is all naked and obvious, proudly advertised. "To solve new and
emerging problems" is quite an euphemism for what the Pentagon does,
though. Felix]


Former Google CEO Schmidt to head new Pentagon innovation board
SAN FRANCISCO | By Andrea Shalal
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-military-innovation-idUSKCN0W421V

Eric Schmidt, the former chief executive officer of Google, will head
a new Pentagon advisory board aimed at bringing Silicon Valley
innovation and best practices to the U.S. military, Defense Secretary
Ash Carter said on Wednesday.

Carter unveiled the new Defense Innovation Advisory Board with Schmidt
during the annual RSA cyber security conference in San Francisco,
saying it would give the Pentagon access to "the brightest technical
minds focused on innovation."

Schmidt, now the executive chairman of Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O), the
parent company of Google, said the board would help bridge what he
called a clear gap between how the U.S. military and the technology
industry operate.

Schmidt also said he saw the group looking for ways to use new
technologies to solve new and emerging problems.

The board is Carter's latest effort to kick-start innovation across
the U.S. military by building bridges to the technology industry. The
U.S. defense chief announced the board's creation on Wednesday during
his third trip to Silicon Valley since taking office just over a year ag
o.

It had been 20 years since the last U.S. defense secretary visited
Silicon Valley.

"If we don’t innovate and be competitive, we’re not going to be the
military that the country needs and deserves," Carter told reporters.
"We should have done it a while ago."

Carter has argued forcefully for spending more on science and
technology to maintain the U.S. military's competitive edge over
Russia and China as they expand their militaries.Carter and Schmidt
said they would choose up to l2 individuals to serve on the board,
focusing on people who have led large private and public
organizations, and excelled at identifying and adopting new technology
concepts.

Schmidt told reporters he had a list of possible members, but had not
yet contacted them. The Pentagon said a first meeting could take place
as early as April.

Modeled on the Defense Business Board, which provides advice on best
business practices from the private sector, the new panel is intended
to help the Pentagon become more innovative and adaptive in developing
technology and doing business.

Members will draw on their experience in Silicon Valley to advise on
rapid prototyping, iterative product development, complex data
analysis, the use of mobile and cloud applications and organizational
information sharing, the Pentagon said.

"The secretary is always looking at ways to ... keep the department
thinking fresh, bringing in new ideas, bringing in new voices, and he
sees this as another opportunity to do that," said a senior defense
official.

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe, G Crosse)



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