DoD Industry Day Details Latest AI Developments

The Defense Department held its second AI Industry Day in partnership with the Army Research Lab to discuss the agency’s progress in artificial intelligence and to identify additional partnership opportunities. The DoD said Thursday the event in Silver Spring, Md., gathered more than 600 attendees from 380 industries, academia and government organizations. 

Dana Deasy, chief information officer at the Pentagon, provided updates on the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center. JIAC was established in early 2018 and now consists of nearly 25 representatives from across the DoD. The agency plans to establish the center’s main office in the national capital region and satellite locations across the U.S. to connect innovation districts. 

“Our goal is for the JAIC to have and deliver the capabilities to solve very large, unique problem sets that touch multiple services,” Deasy said.

Air Force Lt. Gen. John Shanahan, director of defense intelligence for warfighter support discussed Project Maven. He said DoD’s Algorithmic Warfare Cross-Functional Team already provided initial operational functions and established partnerships with industry and academia to support the AI program. Project Maven aims to accelerate the agency’s integration of big data, AI and machine learning into military intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance programs.