CTO Keoki Jackson Lays Out Lockheed Martin's Plan for Transformational R&D in Aerospace & Defense

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CTO Keoki Jackson Lays Out Lockheed Martin’s Plan for Transformational R&D in Aerospace & Defense

R&D organizations can build resilient innovation cultures by stressing openness and adaptability

May 9, 2017 (Boston, MA) – The speed and acceleration of new product development in today’s economic landscape is forcing many organizations to alter how they manage their R&D functions. Lockheed Martin is among the leading firms pursuing deep, meaningful change in its R&D capabilities. In his keynote address at the Industrial Research Institute’s (IRI) Annual Meeting in Boston, MA, Keoki Jackson, Lockheed Martin’s Chief Technology Officer, stressed the important role that focused customer partnering, global technology scouting, corporate venturing, and the use of entrepreneurial challenges have played in adjusting their R&D culture to be more adaptive to the shifting global landscape.

Another element that plays a significant role in adjusting R&D culture, Jackson said, is transformational R&D. By taking on projects that focus on long-term, transformational capabilities, organizations are forced to engage the entire science and technology ecosystem, including leading-edge research universities. This stress on opening up R&D functions to external actors, incentivizing collaboration and entrepreneurship, and taking on transformational projects allows R&D companies to build a resilient innovation culture with a technology workforce that easily adapts to changes in the marketplace.

“We often hear about varieties of innovation, be they incremental, radical, or disruptive,” said Ed Bernstein, President of IRI, “but what’s driving all of them is a desire among R&D workers to change the world. Keoki’s concept of building an adaptive R&D culture to empower these workers is an excellent example of applying cutting edge R&D management practices to a large, diverse, and complex R&D ecosystem.”

About IRI

The Industrial Research Institute (IRI) is an organization of almost 200 industrial and service companies having a common interest in the effective management of technological innovation. IRI member companies span diverse industries and represent a substantial portion of our nation’s gross domestic product. IRI is the only cross-industry organization creating innovation leadership solutions and best practices in innovation management developed through collaborative knowledge creation. For more information, call 703-647-2580 or visit www.iriweb.org.