D.C. Tech Community Recognizes Booz Allen for Innovation Center, Entrepreneurial Support

As more startups and companies flock to D.C.’s inclusive tech scene, the region is becoming a burgeoning playground for emerging entrepreneurs. This past November, Technical.ly DC named eight individuals and companies who are contributing to the growth and advancement of the region in its first annual Technical.ly DC Awards which are voted on by the local tech community.

Booz Allen joined the ranks of Technical.ly DC award-winners like Black Code Collective, Women Who Code DC, and the Hatchery, AARP’s internal incubator. The firm tied with Capital One for the Corporate Innovations of the Year award.

Partnering to accelerate progress

Technical.ly DC highlighted Booz Allen’s support of local entrepreneurs through its initiatives with SEED SPOT, the social good accelerator, and the Vinetta Project DC. Through these partnerships, the firm is committed to creating a more diverse base of entrepreneurs with a focus on women, minorities and military spouses through mentorship. 

Additionally, the firm was also recognized for its Innovation Center—a product incubator for designing, prototyping, and iterating new ideas. At the Innovation Center, project teams collaborate to help solve the world’s pressing challenges, from creating artificial intelligence solutions for the early detection of lung cancer, to designing the digital soldier of the future, to using technology to transform the government to citizen experience. The center also engages the local innovation community through startup weekends, hackathons, and roundtable panels.

“The center enables us to engage with our clients and the D.C. innovation ecosystem on some of the hardest mission challenges through collective ingenuity. It’s a place to experiment, fail fast, and learn,” said Brian MacCarthy, Director of Booz Allen’s Innovation Ecosystem and the DC Innovation Center.

Powering a global hub of problem-solvers

Booz Allen’s Innovation Center is one key part of the firm’s Innovation Hub (iHub) network. iHubs connect groups of entrepreneurs, startups, incubators, venture capitalists, and other leading-edge firms to pre-existing hotbeds of innovation in places like Austin, Boston, San Francisco, and Seattle. Through the iHubs network, Booz Allen explores what innovations and new businesses are emerging to discern how companies are tapping into exponential technologies, how investors are rating ROI and putting skin in the game, and ultimately, how trends are forming.

“Our investment in this space goes beyond illustrating how startups and non-traditional organizations can apply game-changing technology, but how we can work together to speed up the delivery of getting solutions to market to solve our client’s toughest problems” said Booz Allen Executive Vice President and Solutions Lead Dee Dee Helfenstein. “We are thrilled to accept this award and will continue to invest in partnerships and innovative solutions that will change the world.”

Learn more about the Technical.ly DC Awards and innovation at Booz Allen