ST. LOUIS — The US secretary of defense used a DARPA conference here Wednesday in St. Louis today to again court the non-defense tech sector to open up business with the Pentagon.

Ash Carter was the keynote at the "Wait, What?" DARPA conference, a three-day event that began Wednesday and encompasses encompassing a series of forums on future technologies.

Carter was greeted with whistles and hooting from the audience, which seemed primed to embrace his message that the department needs to think "outside the five-sides box" that is the Pentagon.

"Over the next couple days, this convention center is going to be its own innovation ecosystem," Carter told the audience. "You're some of our nation's most innovative physicists, chemists and geneticists; nanotechnologists, molecular biologists, data scientists, computer scientists, neuroscientists; experts in manufacturing, cyber, satellites and space. With all of you in this one building, the opportunities for cross-collaboration are endless."

Carter has made increasing input from the commercial sector a key part of his innovation push since coming to office earlier this year, launching a number of initiatives to tie the department closer with Silicon Valley and other research centers.

That is a relationship which the Pentagon has struggled to maintain in recent years, with the department's complicated acquisition systems scaring off more nimble commercial entities at the same time the revelations of Edward Snowden created cultural distance between DC and the Silicon Valley culture.

Carter acknowledged those issues in his speech, saying conferences like the "Wait, What?" show are vital to "drilling tunnels through that wall that sometimes seems to separate government from scientists and commercial technologists — making it more permeable so more of America's brightest minds can contribute to our mission of national defense, even if only for a time."

About 270 companies were represented in the crowd, along with a number of universities and nonprofits, according to DARPA Director Arati Prabhakar.

Underscoring the outsider narrative of the attendees, a significant portion of the audience was female — a segment of the population that both the Pentagon and tech sectors have struggled to bring into their workforces.

Carter also used the opportunity to reiterate his call for more stable funding for the Pentagon.

"Indiscriminate cuts from sequestration, not to mention a continuing resolution, are wasteful for taxpayers, dangerous for our strategy, unfair for our people, and frankly, embarrassing in front of the world," he said. "We need to come together behind a multiyear approach to our budgeting, and we must start immediately."

Carter indicated an interest in setting aside "seed money" to help develop technologies in the future. That strategy has paid off for DARPA, he said.

Email: amehta@defensenews.com

Twitter: @AaronMehta

About Aaron Mehta

Aaron Mehta was deputy editor and senior Pentagon correspondent for Defense News, covering policy, strategy and acquisition at the highest levels of the Defense Department and its international partners.

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