US DoD Seeks Vendors to Partner for AI Governance

The Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office (CDAO) of the Department of Defense (DoD) has initiated an open call for an industry partner to enhance AI governance throughout the department. The open call closes on June 16.

“The objective of this Call is to attract and identify a partner to conduct the necessary evaluations, develop recommendations for a path forward, and implement any recommendations the government accepts,” CDAO posted on TradeWinds.

While the Department of Defense (DoD) possesses numerous strong governance processes, including endeavors to recognize and address AI risks, the RAI division of CDAO aims to chart these current mechanisms, pinpoint areas requiring new mechanisms or integration with existing processes, and craft a roadmap for guiding components in this endeavor.

“The DoD seeks a vendor or vendors to develop and implement an approach to advising DoD components on AI governance. which will assist the RAI division in enabling DoD organizations to implement appropriate AI governance mechanisms or to update existing governance mechanisms that are tailored to their unique mission sets and characteristics,” CDAO said.

Recently, CDAO and the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) at the DIU headquarters to accelerate the rapid adoption of AI.

"The close partnership with DIU will enable us to bring the best of industry into our enterprise infrastructure to provide crucial digital and AI capabilities," said Dr. Radha Plumb.

The MOA underscores four pivotal objectives: scaling commercial AI integration into the DoD, expediting autonomy development and deployment, experimenting with digital technologies for CJADC2 enhancement, and collaborating on department-wide policy and governance initiatives to hasten AI, autonomy, and digital tech adoption.