,,ii  #aaeth ,,congress  #b;d ,session  
,s4 #cjdd  ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of     
,,the ,,united ,,states  ,june #aa1     
#bjah,mr4 ,rounds introduced the        
following bill2 which was read twice and
 referred to the ,committee on ,armed   
,services  ,a ,,bill  ,to establish the 
,national ,defense ,accelerator ,network
 pilot program4  #a4 ,short title ,this 
,act may be cited as the ,national      
,defense ,accelerator ,network ,act of  
#bjah4  #b4 ,national ,defense          
,accelerator ,network pilot  7a7        
,findings ,congress makes the following 
findings3  7#a7 ,defense ,innovation    
,unit ,experimental 7,d,i,ux7 has       
spurred investment from private venture 
capital into businesses and academic    
institutions1 which do not have a       
traditional relationship with the       
,department of ,defense1 that focus on  
national defense solutions4 ,since ,june
 #bjaf1 seven startups supported by     
,defense ,innovation ,unit ,experimental
 have raised close to #gbj1jjj1jjj in   

subsequent rounds of private venture    
capital funding4  7#b7 ,an innovation   
ecosystem can be developed based on a   
hub and spoke network closely aligned to
 public research universities in        
partnership with the government and     
private capital4  7b7 ,sense of         
,congress ,it is the sense of ,congress 
that-- 7#a7 while ,defense ,innovation  
,unit ,experimental has been able to    
attract early stage private capital to  
dual-use start-ups1 more needs to be    
done to re-establish a dual use         
innovation ecosystem in the ,united     
,states similar to what was created in  
the #aiejs and early #aifjs in radar and
 microelectronics technologies2  7#b7   
this older ecosystem eventually evolved 
into the globally dominant commercial   
information technology industry         
primarily based in ,silicon ,valley but 
was initially jump-started based on a   
partnership between the ,government1    
leading universities1 and the private   
sector2 and  7#c7 new innovation        

networks should be developed and        
incubated that would be comprised of    
businesses and academic institutions1   
which do not have a traditional         
relationship with the ,department of    
,defense1 to enable the ,department to  
stabilize and then hopefully begin to   
close the digital and technological gap 
that is beginning to emerge in many key 
areas with ,united ,states competitors4 
7c7 ,pilot required  7#a7 ,in general   
,the ,secretary of ,defense shall       
conduct a pilot program to assess       
innovation network capabilities4  7#b7  
,establishment of network ,in carrying  
out the pilot program required by       
paragraph 7#a71 the ,secretary shall    
establish a network of the dual-use     
startups produced under the pilot       
program4 ,such network would be known as
 the ,national ,defense ,accelerator    
,network4  7#c7 ,initial test phase ,in 
carrying out the pilot program required 
by paragraph 7#a71 the ,secretary may   
carry out an initial test phase at one  

leading university that--  7,a7 has an  
established leadership team that is     
intimately familiar with the workings of
 ,in-,q-,tel and ,defense ,innovation   
,unit ,experimental2 and  7,b7 has      
established relationships with leading  
venture capital firms and other sources 
of early stage financial capital4  7#d7 
,producing dual-use startups ,the pilot 
program required by paragraph 7#a7 shall
 be a pilot program to assess the       
ability to produce dual-use startups    
focused on priority defense technology  
that attract seed and round ,a financing
 from premier venture capital firms in  
the ,united ,states4  7#e7 ,scalability 
,the ,secretary shall ensure that the   
pilot program conducted under paragraph 
7#a7 is designed to be scalable and1 if 
successful1 enlarged to consist of at   
least #aj and not more than #bj leading 
regionally-based public research        
universities4  7d7 ,semiannual reports  
,not less frequently than once every six
 months for the first two years of the  

pilot program conducted under subsection
 7c71 the ,secretary shall brief the    
congressional defense committees on the 
progress of the ,secretary in carrying  
out the pilot program4  7e7 ,funding ,of
 the amounts appropriated or otherwise  
made available by this ,act for the     
,industrial ,base ,analysis and         
,sustainment program 7,,ibas71 ,defense 
,innovation ,unit ,experimental1 the    
,rapid ,innovation ,fund 7,,rif71 and   
for any purpose relating to             
strengthening and improving the defense 
industrial base1 #e1jjj1jjj shall be    
available to carry out the pilot program
 required by subsection 7c74  7f7       
,congressional defense committees       
defined ,in this section1 the term      
congressional defense committees has the
 meaning given such term in section #aja
 of title #aj1 ,united ,states ,code4