Fortune 500 company bringing Innovation Factory Hub to Huntsville

Science Applications International Corp. (NYSE: SAIC) on Monday announced plans to add a new Innovation Factory Hub in Huntsville, which is already the Fortune 500 company’s second-largest single location.

This marks the latest expansion of SAIC’s Innovation Factory nationwide network where the Department of Defense (DOD) and other federal government agencies can evaluate new technologies and accelerate the delivery of new and modernized systems.

The network’s physical and virtual environments use a highly automated, cloud-hosted toolset; agile practices; and DevSecOps production chains to rapidly build, test and deploy first iterations of solutions quickly and then enhance them quickly through close customer collaboration.

Simply put, Innovation Factory hubs connect SAIC’s innovators and toolsets, startups/tech companies and the customer.

The Huntsville Innovation Factory Hub will be seamlessly integrated into SAIC’s existing network and showcase uniquely-focused technologies enabling end-to-end analysis, experimentation and engineering focused on digital engineering with modeling and simulation and rapid prototyping capabilities, according to a release.

The Huntsville hub will reportedly open in a phased approach. Phase 1 is an immediate fielding of Innovation Factory cloud-based process and tools focused on app and IT modernization, and teams will use existing conference spaces until hub spaces are ready. Follow-on phases will leverage “workplace of the future” renovations in SAIC’s Odyssey Drive facility, and incorporate digital engineering, data analytics and modeling and simulation cloud-based tools. Completion of hub spaces is targeted for spring 2021.

Once completed, the new hub will operate alongside SAIC’s Innovation Factories located in Reston, Virginia; Lowell, Massachusetts at the University of Massachusetts Lowell (UML) Research Institute; Los Angeles, California; and the Capital Factory in Austin, Texas.

Jim Scanlon, SAIC executive vice president and general manager of the Defense Systems Group, stated, “As we have witnessed during the COVID-19 pandemic, the requirement for true digital transformation has never been greater. This expansion to SAIC’s longstanding presence in Huntsville with a new Innovation Factory Hub allows us to support emerging needs, while also leveraging our solutions and company-wide expertise – developed over four decades supporting local customers.”

“With all sectors rapidly implementing technology to meet and conduct business virtually, our new Innovation Factory Hub will enable our Huntsville-area customers to accelerate solutions to meet their mission requirements,” he added.

With more than 2,800 employees, the Rocket City represents SAIC’s largest location outside of its Reston headquarters. The company’s employees and leaders in Huntsville can leverage cloud-based technologies within the Innovation Factory immediately, while facility renovations are underway. In addition to supporting local customers, the Huntsville Innovation Factory Hub will advance innovation for the entire community and be able – on day one – to integrate solutions from SAIC’s local small and large business partners.

“The Huntsville Innovation Factory Hub is focused on driving Defense modernization initiatives while addressing the technical challenges associated with DOD multi-domain operations and force modernization initiatives,” concluded SAIC chief technology officer Charles Onstott. “Our researchers and engineers will leverage digital engineering and agile software development to enable the DOD to rapidly explore and implement innovative technologies, such as big data analytics, artificial intelligence, augmented and virtual reality, and modeling and simulation, focused on improving mission outcomes.”

Sean Ross is the editor of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn