Today, the Department of Defense (DoD) Office of the Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Officer (CDAO), in partnership with the Office of the Under Secretary for Defense Research and Engineering (OUSD R&E) and the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), hosted the inaugural Global Information Dominance Experiments (GIDE) Industry Analyst Forum. The day-long event, held at the Hyatt Regency Reston in Reston, Virginia, highlighted opportunities for private sector collaboration to address DoD’s artificial intelligence (AI) needs while amplifying the importance of CDAO’s recent GIDE iterations.
“The GIDE Industry Insights Forum is a critical event to communicate to government and industry leaders what the Department of Defense needs to drive innovation and advance AI and digital capabilities,” noted Dr. Radha Plumb, CDAO. “Working with our industry leaders enables faster innovation by identifying the best industrial solutions and technologies to integrate into our enterprise infrastructure to support the warfighter.”
The GIDE Industry Insights Forum featured plenary sessions and networking opportunities to drive engagement and collaboration between government and industry leaders, from traditional and non-traditional industries, to solve some of the department’s digital challenges. The GIDE Forum focused on key lessons learned from the development of Combined Joint All-Domain Command and Control (CJADC2) during GIDE iterations 5 through 11 in 2023 and 2024. The event also included presentations from OUSD R&E’s Joint Fires Network (JFN) and CDAO Acquisitions, which highlighted the role of the new Open Data and Applications Government-owned Interoperable Repositories (Open DAGIR) program to integrate capabilities.
Open DAGIR is CDAO’s approach to evolving data, analytics, and AI capabilities by establishing a multi-vendor ecosystem to enable industry and government to integrate data platforms, developer tools, services, and applications in a way that preserves government data ownership and industry intellectual property. The GIDE Forum is a key step in enabling Open DAGIR by engaging with industry.
“The GIDE Industry Insights Forum validates CDAO’s commitment to integrating innovation from academia and business at all levels into its AI capabilities and talent pipeline,” noted Bonnie Evangelista, CDAO’s Acting Deputy for Acquisitions.
CDAO plans to host similar events in the future to deepen industry engagement and build on Open DAGIR. Historically, Industry Days and similar events have proven to strengthen business partnerships and improve understanding of DoD technology needs and talent, enabling the advancement of AI initiatives.
About GIDE
GIDE 1-4 were hosted by the North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command to drive rapid innovation in DoD critical capabilities alongside other combatant commands. In 2023, GIDE transitioned to OSD/CDAO with GIDE 5, expanding collaboration across combatant commands and international partners.
About CDAO
CDAO became operational in June 2022 and is dedicated to integrating and optimizing artificial intelligence capabilities across DoD. The office is responsible for accelerating DoD’s adoption of data, analytics, and AI, enabling the Department’s digital infrastructure and policy adoption to deliver scalable AI-based solutions for enterprise and joint use cases, thereby protecting the nation from current and emerging threats.
For more information about CDAO, please visit our website at ai.mil. You can also connect with CDAO on LinkedIn (@DoD Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office) and X, formerly known as Twitter (@dodcdao). Additional updates and news can be found on the CDAO unit page on DVIDS.
About the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering
The Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (USD(R&E)) is the chief technology officer for the Department of Defense. USD(R&E) champions research, science, technology, engineering, and innovation to maintain the U.S. military’s technological advantage.
About the Defense Innovation Unit
As the only organization in the Department of Defense (DoD) focused exclusively on deploying and scaling commercial technologies across the U.S. military at commercial speeds, the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) accelerates DoD adoption of commercial technologies at high speed and scale to deter or win major conflicts. With offices in Austin, Boston, Chicago, Mountain View, and Washington, D.C., DIU connects DoD partners with leading technology companies across the country.
