Deputy Press Secretary Jamal Brown provided the following readout:
Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks visited Boston, Massachusetts, to meet with academic institutions, industry partners, and military innovation incubators to discuss and assess their efforts in support of Secretary Austin’s commitment to modernize and drive innovation across the Department of Defense.
The Deputy Secretary met with representatives from Harvard’s Science and Engineering Complex, including former Secretary of Defense Ash Carter and former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs retired General Joseph Dunford.
Following the visit, she visited the Air Force Artificial Intelligence Accelerator at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), had lunch with Fellows at MIT-Lincoln Labs, and visited the U.S. Army Natick Soldier Systems Center at Draper Labs. While at Draper Labs, the Deputy Secretary spoke with soldiers and scientists involved in biotechnology and security and microelectronics about their work to advance and support America’s warfighting capabilities through rapid experimentation, innovative technologies, prototyping, and testing and evaluation.