Venture capital and strategic investment for developing government mission capabilities / Tim Webb, Christopher Guo, Jennifer Lamping Lewis, Daniel Egel
Introduction -- Strategic investment for innovation support -- Case studies of U.S. government strategic investment -- Economic framework for innovation incentives -- Observations from GSI case studies and economic modeling -- Appendix A: Economic model algebraic details -- Appendix B: Other Transaction (OT) Authority reference
Summary
A wide range of military capability improvement efforts have benefited from development and procurement methods that accommodate urgent operational needs. Changes in the threat environment suggest a need for a fresh examination of the adequacy and suitability of acquisition methods for the coming decade. This report examines one class of acquisition method, known as government venture capital (GVC), or government strategic investment (GSI). The research extracts general observations from previous cases and from a partial economic model of the GSI type of initiative. Taken together, these analyses will help government acquisition managers to judge more thoroughly the suitability of strategic investment methods for motivating future government mission-oriented innovation by private firms. The report does not explicitly compare GSIs and alternatives for their efficacy in advancing government mission objectives. If it had, it is likely that the main advantage of GSI would be improved access to information about alternative approaches available in the commercial market, resulting from the close relationships the GSI structure engenders between government and business
Notes
"RAND National Defense Research Institute."
"This research was ... conducted within the Acquisition and Technology Policy Center of the RAND National Defense Research Institute"--Preface
