Army to host the first xTech 3 Summit, a premier technology showcase across the U.S.

By Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and TechnologySeptember 8, 2020

xTechSearch 3
The xTechSearch 3 Finalists will be competing for a grand prize of $250,000! Tune in to see which innovative dual-use technology will win! (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Army will host its premier technology showcase, the xTech 3 Summit, Sept. 9-11. This first-ever virtual event will showcase the Army’s innovative technologies from more than 250 unique small businesses that have been incubated through the xTechSearch program since 2018.

The event will feature a technology showcase from finalists of the Army’s biannual xTechSearch 3 Accelerator competition, alongside VIP speakers from academia, industry, federal labs and DoD innovation groups. The event is open to the public and will begin at 10:00 am. EDT. Prospective attendees can register online at http://www.xtech3summit.eventbrite.com.

The Army, which has been hyperfocused on modernizing the force since the formation of Army Futures Command in 2018, has turned decades-old technology development policies upside down to work with the best tech startups from across the country, according to Zeke Topolosky, xTechSearch Program Manager. The summit will feature a keynote welcome from Army leaders, deep dives on the programs supporting tech startups, and final pitches from xTechSearch 3 finalists. A variety of technology topics will be discussed by leading experts in the field, including future flight technologies, human performance enablers and biotech breakthroughs. Each session will be followed by engineered virtual networking opportunities, allowing all participants to interact and build relationships.

Ten team finalists from the xTechSearch 3 Accelerator competition will virtually pitch and demo their technology solutions aimed at tackling the Army’s most critical modernization challenges, and compete for a grand prize of $250,000. The prize competition, known as “The Original Army Technology Innovation Competition” is a biannual $4 million prize pool sponsored by the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology, focusing on small businesses and nontraditional companies to uncover novel dual-use science and technology solutions. Over $7.5 million has been awarded and 1,000+ technologies have been evaluated since xTech Search was launched in June 2018.

Since 2019, the Army has operated the xTech Accelerator for finalists of the xTechSearch competition. The Accelerator not only actively develops the finalists into robust, sustainable small businesses, but also demystifies and guides them in transitioning their technologies for the Army.

Dr. Bruce Jette, Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology, explained the driving principle behind the Army’s xTech program is to “open a door for people with great ideas and great opportunities to come and participate in sharing their ideas and innovations that otherwise would be hard to get to the government.” The xTech 3 Summit is based on that vision of providing access, visibility and potential opportunity of the American innovation ecosystem to the U.S. Army.

“The xTech Summit is the culmination of five successful xTechSearch programs since 2018 uncovering and developing advanced technologies for national security needs,” said Will Dickson, the Accelerators Program lead. “The Summit showcases a powerful story of one of the largest organizations on the planet -- the U.S Army -- pivoting to adapt to modern technology development trends.”

For more information contact Christopher Semancik at christopher.j.semancik.civ@mail.mil. To register, please go to http://www.xtech3summit.eventbrite.com.