Crossing the Technology Adoption Chasm: Implications for DoD

Abstract

DoD faces significant challenges in delivering promising new technologies to service members quickly and cost-effectively. To better understand DOD's technology adoption challenges, we review the technology diffusion literature to identify factors associated with successful and unsuccessful technology adoption processes, conduct case studies of DoD's advanced technology programs and propose a conceptual technology adoption model. The literature review identifies three overarching factors reflecting the complexities of defense technology adoption: benefit-cost uncertainty, organizational externalities, and direct and indirect network externalities. Technology adoption clearly involves benefit and cost uncertainties. Organizational externalities arise because there are typically multiple stakeholders from different DoD constituencies. Direct and indirect network externalities reflect the joint and interrelated nature of defense technologies on the battlefield. A closer look at one of DoD's advanced technology development programs indicates that success factors in this program generally parallel the results of the literature survey: the importance of benefit-cost uncertainty, management commitment (organizational externalities), technology champion (network externalities) and the prospects for future technology transfer (network externalities). Finally, we present conceptual technology adoption models incorporating benefit-cost uncertainty, organizational externalities and network externalities. These models can explain the diffusion patterns observed in the defense department: no adoption, full adoption, and partial adoption/de-adoption.