# Federal Labs Accelerate Industry Collaboration

Federal laboratories are transforming their technology transfer approach by actively integrating commercially developed innovations into national security applications, significantly accelerating the delivery of advanced capabilities to warfighters. The Federal Laboratory Consortium (FLC) is spearheading this shift by fostering partnerships between federal labs and external industry players, particularly small businesses and startups, to leverage unique lab resources, expertise, and testing facilities. An Innovation for Impact Forum scheduled for December in Washington, D.C., will provide a platform for industry stakeholders to engage directly with federal labs, expanding access beyond traditional contracting mechanisms and opening new avenues for collaboration and technology validation.

- The FLC's evolving model emphasizes two-way technology exchange, with federal labs increasingly serving as testing and validation hubs for innovations developed outside government.
- Procurement professionals should note the growing importance of partnerships with federal labs as a pathway to accelerate technology adoption in defense and national security.
- Small businesses and startups have enhanced opportunities to collaborate with federal labs, leveraging specialized facilities and expert personnel to meet warfighter requirements.
- The December Innovation for Impact Forum represents a key event for contractors and technology firms to establish connections and explore non-traditional procurement engagements with federal research entities.

**Jurisdictions:** federal
**Industries:** Defense & Military, Information Technology
**Topics:** Contracting Vehicles, Digital Infrastructure
**Published:** September 17, 2026

### Government Entities
- Federal Laboratory Consortium (FLC)
- Federal Labs Consortium
- Department of Defense (DoD)
- Army DEVCOM
- Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP)

### Key Quotes
> The unique facilities, resources that we have available, world-class engineers, scientists, researchers 	6 and so really where the labs come in is we have the ability to really work hand-in-hand with industry to ensure that the technologies that they9re developing meet warfighter requirements.
> — Paige George, Executive Director, Federal Laboratory Consortium

> We9re seeing a lot of interaction, a lot more of an acceleration towards working with industry to bring things to the soldier, to the warfighter faster.
> — David Lee, Vice Chair, Federal Laboratory Consortium

### Sources
- [
        At federal labs, a new model may fuel warfighter tech transformation | Federal News Network](https://federalnewsnetwork.com/defense-industry/2026/09/at-federal-labs-a-new-model-may-fuel-warfighter-tech-transformation) - Federal News Network
- [
        In national security technology, some of the most important ideas are now arriving at federal labs from outside government | Federal News Network](https://federalnewsnetwork.com/podcast/federal-drive-with-terry-gerton-podcast/in-national-security-technology-some-of-the-most-important-ideas-are-now-arriving-at-federal-labs-from-outside-government) - Federal News Network