The Pentagon is attempting to be less hard to work with on data and IT projects, according to Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Officer Radha Plumb. One method is through holding a series of industry days, with the first one scheduled for mid-July mentioned at the AWS Summit. Plumb’s office recently announced a new ecosystem called Open DAGIR to coordinate data-sharing with companies and enhance its data, artificial intelligence, and analytics capabilities. Palantir was chosen by DOD to develop this ecosystem, which will support the Pentagon’s CJADC2 effort.
The collaborative approach is emphasized by Plumb to identify capability gaps that technology can address across DOD and to establish a routine process for industry partners to help. A memorandum of agreement was signed by CDAO with the Defense Innovation Unit on June 5 to facilitate connection with the commercial sector. DIU, focused on accelerating DOD’s adoption of commercial technologies, also aims to improve collaboration with companies to address critical gaps in military technical capabilities, especially to counter adversaries like China.
Plumb, who previously served as deputy defense undersecretary for acquisition and sustainment, took over as CDAO in April, emphasizing the importance of fostering partnerships between industry and the Pentagon for technological advancements.
