U.S. Army Futures Command is laying the groundwork to strengthen collaboration with academia and small businesses to solve some of the service’s most major problems.

The Army has struggled with relationships outside of the established defense industry, particularly with small businesses and Silicon Valley.

Small businesses have expressed concerns about working with the government, mostly in regard to the time it takes to secure a contract award as well as the complex and cumbersome government-contracting process.

The Government Accountability Office issued a report last week that found Army Futures Command could improve how it works with small businesses.  The report was released on the eve of AFC’s declaration of full operational capability, which is officially set for July 31.

“The funny thing is if I talk to defense primes, they are convinced all we are working with is small business, and I talk to small business [and they are] all [convinced] … we are [just] working with the defense primes,” Gen. Mike Murray, AFC commander, said during a July 18 press briefing at the Pentagon.

“It’s going to take a combination of both for us to accomplish our mission, and in many ways a combination of both working together” to achieve the command’s goals in modernizing the Army, he said.

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