Army of Davids Beats Pentagon Procurement

chris-chittleborough writes "The Wall Street Journal reports that 'a Marine officer in Iraq, a small network-design company in California, a nonprofit troop-support group, a blogger and other undeterrable folk designed a handheld insurgent-identification device, built it, shipped it and deployed it in [Iraq] in 30 days.' Compare this to the Automated Biometric Identification System, a multi-megabuck Pentagon project now 2 years old. With bureaucracy increasingly strangling innovation, will agile smaller businesses be able to accomplish what once required a sprawling government project?"

Comments

There must be a typo.

[EveryNickIsTaken]

You used "government" and "innovation" in the same sentence.

Re:There must be a typo.

[jonnythan]

They used "strangling" in the same sentence, so it's OK.

There's a difference

[CaffeineAddict2001]

The government doesn't spend $10 on a screw. They spend $10 on an M2.5 truss head stainless steel threaded fastening device.

Re:It is not a "major war"

[Anonymous Coward]

Really? What about all the other wars? What about the War on Drugs? Or the War on Terror? Or how about the War on Christmas? And, don't forget, we've always been at war with Oceania! Good God, y'all!