Advancing a Defense Collaborative in Minnesota: Insights from Defense and Innovation Initiatives

Abstract

Across the United States, organizations are studying the successes and failures of ecosystems like Silicon Valley. As Secretary of Defense Ash Carter emphasizes, there appears to be a formula for its unparalleled technological evolution. Where once the U.S government was instrumental in driving technological innovation, it can no longer compete with the advancement, voracity, and speed of the private sector. The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) embraces the reality that partnering with the private sector is critical for the nation’s security and defense. GREATER MSP’s initiative, the Minnesota Security Project, seeks to partner with the DoD and capitalize on future defense priorities. As an initial part of this newly created initiative, GREATER MSP sought additional research from students as part of the Humphrey School of Public Affairs’ capstone program. Our report focuses on understanding those priorities and how other organizations successfully market to key DoD decision makers; it provides insight into existing defense related economic development initiatives to help identify best practices and capability gaps for Minnesota; and lastly, it identifies areas that receive the most DoD funding and how they align with the Minnesota Security Project. We identified and synthesized key data by using a mixed-methods research design. The literature review identified that DoD and private sector collaboratives remain largely unstudied. Furthermore, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) provisions did not permit access to governmental contracts related to DoD initiatives. However, sources such as non-classified government data, informational interviews, and research into existing state and regional defense-oriented economic development initiatives informed critical findings.