Ep. 2: Apogee Research is Changing the System from Within

Apogee Research is a small engineering firm that developed one the Defense Department’s latest solution to the age-old challenge of interoperability. Over seven years, Apogee not only engineered a technical solution, but helped build a constituency for the tool chain inside the ecosystem, and equipped warfighters with the know-how to use it.

In this episode I spoke with David Gerson, the firm’s Vice President, about how they engineered from transition, how building for defense is different, and what the future may hold. Check it out and let me know what you think! And if you like it, please don’t forget to share and subscribe!

⏲️Timestamps ⏲️

2:43 – Introduction to Apogee Research

6:36 – The Apogee model

13:00 – What it means to build for transition

17:00 - Helping program managers craft great programs

20:28 – How Apogee partners

26:07 – Why interoperability is hard for DoD

29:20 – The genesis of DARPA’S SoSITE Initiative

33:59 – How DARPA works

37:50 – Why global standards fail

46:36 – The STITCHES customer discovery process

50:00 – Running the Gauntlet: Building buy-in among user communities

54:20 – Finding a transition partner

57:30 – Contracting for transition

1:04:49 – The future of defense technology