The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) hopes that its new Open Data and Applications Government-Owned Interoperable Repositories (Open DAGIR) Challenge initiative will streamline how the US military acquires AI and to scale it across the services. The U.S. Army, meanwhile, is looking at establishing a separate sub-path within its larger software acquisition program specifically for AI. The Pentagon has been working in earnest to develop AI capabilities that can do tasks that normally require human intellect. Open DAGIR was launched in July by the Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office (CDAO) in partnership with the Office of Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, the Joint Fires Network, and the Defense Innovation Unit. The CDAO said at the time that it “remains focused on driving a healthy, competitive landscape for data, analytics, and AI platforms, tools, and services, and that it “will allow DOD to match the pacing challenge, incentivize innovation, and drive industry to offer its best technical solutions to address critical mission needs. In late August, the CDAO announced that Open DAGIR was being hosted in the Tradewinds Solutions Marketplace and will support and combine a highly innovative acquisition process with the department’s Combined Joint All Domain Command & Control (CJADC2). DOD’s Tradewinds Solutions Marketplace enables industry, academia, and other innovators to get their solutions in front of government buyers. It is a venue for DOD organizations to search, view, review, compare, contrast, contact, discuss, negotiate, and procure data, analytics, digital, and AI/ML capabilities solutions through rapid acquisition procedures.

Full report : DOD, Army looking to streamline, fast-track AI acquisition; but it’s slow.