Offer a website with major issues identified by the government and major issues voted for by the public (kind of similar to this). Allow the public to submit proposals to solve real technical problems instead of canvassing corporations. Have a simple proposal structure and offer payment for real solutions (military innovation fund). Similar to the innovation fund this can be taken further to initiate a company based around that idea.
There are many intelligent people in this country and the time for real action is now. Instead of getting caught in the bureaucracy of budgeting and getting hamstrung by 8 middle managers in a contract with a corporation, look to crowd sourced ideas and invest in people who will take real, physical, action instead of talking about it.