The EDGE® is based on a simple premise. Each year, industry and academia invest millions, even billions of dollars in research and development aimed at meeting user and customer needs.  By sharing knowledge, these investments are better informed, and can deliver a far better solution to the Warfighter.

Often times, the end products of these investments fall short of user and customer expectations due to: Not understanding the end user needs Not having access to requirements or feedback from users prior to, or during the research and development Not having access or awareness into the military's top-requested and desired capabilities Lack of awareness into what investments are being made by the DoD in their research labs Lack of access to the actual users and customers who have expressed the need for a specific capability The EDGE® provides an environment where technology developers and innovators are openly informed of user capability needs, and open system interfaces that facilitate smooth integration of components. It also provides access to direct user feedback throughout the development process. This knowledge enables EDGE members to apply their internal research funds to innovation projects that are more likely to meet customer and user needs and become candidates for insertion into existing programs of record, or rapid fielding initiatives. The EDGE enables innovation and delivery of prototyped capabilities at faster cycle times than currently possible using the DoD acquisition process. It provides customers and warfighters with a powerful new alternative to address their top needs. Read about recent Focus Projects