Watchdog: Too Many DARPA Projects Enter 'Valley of Death,' Don't Progress

The Pentagon's emerging technology agency is more interested in new ideas than it is in transitioning that technology out of development, a new watchdog report claims. 

The Government Accountability Office's recent report to Congress asserted that the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's programs "generally seek to prove the art of 'what is possible' rather than refining, producing and delivering tactical equipment to warfighters."

The report concluded that DARPA's method of tracking "technology transition" -- migrating projects out of laboratories into the commercial and military markets, or passing them along for further development -- was unreliable, which could  "undermine its ability to craft transition plans for new programs."

GAO wrote new technology often falls into the "valley of death," because buyers may want a "a higher level of technology maturity than the science and technology community is willing to fund and develop. “

The report recommended DARPA publish more technical data about technology transition, and that it improve training so managers learn about ways to advance DARPA projects. DARPA agreed only partially with the recommendations; in comments appended to the report, Principal Deputy Stephen Welby said DOD was "concerned with several findings that inaccurately characterize DARPA processes."

But DOD doesn't have a standard definition for "technology transition" throughout the department, GAO concluded, so agencies including DARPA are "free to define and categorize technology transition for themselves."

For instance, DARPA marked one project examining ways to prevent "biofouling" (the vulnerability of naval ships to algae or barnacles) as a "transition" because it was sent for "follow-on development," but GAO classified it as "nontransition" because program funding was terminated.

GAO has brought up these problems in the past. In 2005, 2006 and 2013, the watchdog concluded DOD technology projects face challenges especially in assessing outcomes. DARPA's director "delegates responsibility for oversight and assessment of technology transition strategies to a subordinate office," GAO said. 

In a statement included in the report, Welby argued that technology transition is a "key focus" for DARPA. In 2013, he noted, the director mandated the Adaptive Execution Office should provide support on transition. 

After assessing a handful of DARPA projects, GAO also found that successful technology transition can be linked to four main factors: military or commercial demand; connection to research areas in which DARPA already has "sustained interest"; collaboration with transition partners such as potential federal buyers, or research institutions; and the "achievement of clearly defined technical goals."

(Image via Africa Studio/Shutterstock.com)