The missing key for defense innovation? A good coworking space
As the director of commercial engagement for the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), a Department of Defense (DOD) organization that funds startups developing cutting-edge weapons technology for the military, Sarah Pearson is well acquainted with keeping secrets.
What's surprising is that her team often keeps secrets from the very startups it recruits.
It's not for any cloak-and-dagger reason, just bureaucracy. With security clearances taking up to 18 months, Pearson's team often supplies startups with fake data—made-up enemy capabilities—to simulate real defense scenarios, so they have something to work on until they're cleared to access classified material. 'In the fast-moving world of AI, if it takes 18 months . . . I no longer need that company, their model is already obsolete,' she says.
Enter Nooks, a startup that acts as a kind of coworking space for classified communication. The company's cutesy name and squirrel logo belie its purpose: to build and maintain a network of these high-tech, espionage-proof, on-demand facilities where startups can handle classified information—spaces known as SCIFs, or sensitive compartmented information facilities.
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