US DOD Launches New Cyber Academic Engagement Office

The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) have announced the launch of the Cyber Academic Engagement Office (CAEO). Launched under the mandate of Section 1531 of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), this office will function as the centralized hub for coordinating cyber-related initiatives between the DoD and academic stakeholders.

Mark Gorak, who currently serves as the Principal Director for Resources and Analysis, will also assume the responsibilities as Director for the CAEO effective immediately.

“Mark's responsibilities will include coordinating and funding academic engagement programs for the Department, conducting ongoing analysis of the performance for cyber-related educational efforts, establishing requirements, policies, and procedures to collect data on, and evaluating the performance of covered academic engagement programs,” the DoD said in a statement.

Recently, the Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office (CDAO) under DoD unveiled Open DAGIR, a fresh strategy for expanding data, analytics, and artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities.

Open DAGIR represents a multi-vendor ecosystem with accompanying business models, facilitating the integration of data platforms, development tools, services, and applications for both industry and government.

Crucially, this approach ensures the preservation of government data ownership while respecting industry intellectual property rights.