; (2) shall report directly to the Secretary without intervening authority; and (3) may communicate views on matters within the responsibility of the Unit directly to the Secretary without obtaining the approval or concurrence of any other official within the Department of Defense. (d) Responsibilities The Unit shall have the following responsibilities: (1) Seek out, identify, and support development of and experimentation with commercial technologies that have the potential to be implemented within the Department of Defense. (2) Accelerate the adoption or integration of commercial technologies within the Department of Defense to transform military capacity and capabilities. (3) Serve as the principal liaison between the Department of Defense and individuals and entities in the national security innovation base, including entrepreneurs, startups, commercial technology companies, and venture capital sources. (4) Carry out programs, projects, and other activities to strengthen the national security innovation base. (5) Coordinate and harmonize the activities of other organizations and elements of the Department of Defense on matters relating to commercial technologies, dual use technologies, and the innovation of such technologies. (6) Coordinate and advise efforts among elements of the Department of Defense on matters relating to the development, procurement, and fielding of nontraditional capabilities. (7) Coordinate with the Joint Staff and the commanders of the combatant commands to identify operational challenges that have the potential to be addressed through the use of nontraditional capabilities, including dual-use technologies, that are being developed and financed in the commercial sector. (8) Using funds made available to the Unit— (A) select projects to be carried out by one or more of the service-level innovation organizations; (B) allocate funds to service-level innovation organizations to carry out such projects