Hirono Welcomes Establishment of New Navy Tech Bridge in Hawaii

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Mazie K. Hirono, Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Seapower Subcommittee, welcomed the U.S. Navy’s announcement today that it was establishing a new Tech Bridge in Hawaii. A collaboration between the Navy, the University of Hawaii’s Office of Innovation and Commercialization, and the Hawaii Technology Development Corporation (HTDC), the Tech Bride program aims to deepen the Navy’s collaboration with and expand opportunities for Hawaii academics, small businesses, and nonprofit organizations to strengthen the sea service.

“The establishment of a new Tech Bridge in Hawaii will serve as a conduit for the U.S. Navy to draw upon the expertise of local Hawaii businesses and research institutions, while simultaneously providing new economic opportunities in our state,” Senator Hirono said. “I want to thank Secretary Geurts for selecting Hawaii as the next Tech Bridge site, and I will continue working to leverage our local expertise to enhance American national security and grow our economy.”

“Today’s Tech Bridge additions are a symbol of the Department of Navy’s momentum to rapidly deliver capabilities into the hands of our Sailors and Marines,” Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development, and Acquisition James Geurts said. “There is nothing more exciting than seeing the speed and transition of technology that dramatically accelerates capability, and improved development processes – this allows our Navy and Marine Corps to provide the U.S. with the ability to adopt and scale its asymmetric advantage." 

“The Hawaii Tech Bridge will be a tremendous resource for our innovation community,” Wayne Inouye, Director for INNOVATE Hawaii, said. “We can't wait to get started." 

According to the Navy, Tech Bridges “collaborate and partner with start-ups, academia, corporations, small businesses, non-profits, and private capital to match capability problems with technology solutions. Additionally, Tech Bridges serve within the growing ecosystem of the U.S. Department of Defense’s innovation groups -- Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), National Security Innovation Network (NSIN), U.S. Army Futures Command, AFWERX, SOFWERX -- that bolsters NavalX’s overarching ability to connect people, companies, and technology solutions.  The Hawaii Tech Bridge focus areas entails efforts to adopt technology advances for command and control, communications, cybersecurity, intelligence, space systems, and resilient infrastructure.” 

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