About the Defense-Industrial Initiatives Group

Strengthening our understanding of the relationship between the Department of Defense and its industrial base. 

DIIG provides timely, in-depth analysis on the critical issues at the cross-section of the Department of Defense and its industrial base. With a focus on defense acquisition trends, technological innovation, security cooperation, and ongoing reform efforts, DIIG monitors important developments in the global defense industry. DIIG’s products consist of major research projects, published reports, commentaries, interviews, and events.

With a combination of extensive scholarly expertise and regular interaction with government and industry practitioners, DIIG offers unmatched strategic insights to policymakers and to the broader public. Moreover, by bringing together people with a wide range of perspectives (including government officials, industry leaders, legislative staffers, and academic experts), DIIG is able to identify both common ground and continuing challenges within the increasingly complex defense acquisition community.

DIIG uses a wide range of research methods, linking the research approach to the particular question and the availability of data.  DIIG maintains a unique capability to mine government spending data and uses it to identify major defense acquisition trends, look at the causes and implications of these trends, and make informed estimates of what the future will bring. Through years of analytical research, DIIG has strengthened its capabilities to draw from large databases (notably the Federal Procurement Data System) and tens of millions of transaction records to present information in a clear, meaningful way. With each new project, the DIIG team builds on past efforts by developing new, innovative methods to interpret government contracting data, and dozens of often-cited research reports and conference presentations have been the result.

DIIG also continues to collaborate with the broader International Security Program by looking at the role that defense acquisition plays in other issue areas such as strategy, budgets, and force structure. For more on such projects, visit Defense 360.

Experts and Staff


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Cynthia Cook
Director, Defense-Industrial Initiatives Group and Senior Fellow, International Security Program
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Gregory Sanders
Deputy Director, Defense-Industrial Initiatives Group and Senior Fellow, International Security Program
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Katy Buda
Associate Director, Defense-Industrial Initiatives Group

Non-Resident Experts


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Ted Harshberger
Senior Associate (Non-resident), Defense-Industrial Initiatives Group
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Will Metts
Senior Associate (Non-resident), Defense-Industrial Initiatives Group
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Anna Dowd
Adjunct Fellow (Non-resident), Defense-Industrial Initiatives Group

Amanda Girth

Adjunct Fellow (Non-Resident), Defense-Industrial Initiatives Group
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Zach Huitink
Adjunct Fellow (Non-resident), Defense-Industrial Initiatives Group