The Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) is working to help the defense industry be more competitive in a tough fiscal environment.
“We have some specific initiatives that we’re focusing just on the defense industry to help (it) be more competitive in the environment we’re in,” DSCA Deputy Director Richard Genaille said yesterday during a panel at the Bloomberg Government defense conference in Washington.
Genaille said the agency initiated a venue called the Security Cooperation Industry Group. He said the idea of the group is to give industry insight into where DSCA is going in terms of security cooperation and any rule, regulation, or law changes that may be coming and how the agency would go about implementing those changes.
Genaille said DSCA is also inviting industry groups like the Aerospace Industries Association and the National Defense Industrial Association to participate in a quarterly security business forum, where it invites international partners to help develop ideas to streamline the security cooperation process, specifically Foreign Military Sales (FMS), and deal with problems.
“We’re providing greater visibility in the FMS process for our international partners,” Genaille said. “This is something they have asked for repeatedly over the years.”
Genaille also said DSCA is inviting industry to attend classes at the Defense Institute of Security Assistance Management (DISAM), which he said helps industry understand the FMS process. He also said DSCA is inviting industry partners to meet with the agency for the purpose of strategic planning. Together, he said, they look into the future to see where new business opportunities may be and then determine the best ways to pursue those opportunities.