Introduction

Accelerating the transition of new technologies into systems and products will be crucial to the Department of Defense's development of a lighter, more flexible fighting force. Current long transition times—ten years or more—is now typical—are attributed to the complexity of the process.

To help meet these challenges, the Department of Defense asked the National Research Council to examine lessons learned from rapid technology applications by integrated design and manufacturing groups. This report presents the results of that study, which was based on a workshop held to explore these successful cases.

Key Areas

Three key areas emerged: creating a culture for innovation and rapid technology transition; methodologies and approaches; and enabling tools and databases.