The Department of Defense Joint Artificial Intelligence Center and the Army Contracting Command – Rock Island awarded an Other Transaction Authority (OTA) Agreement January 20 to IN3 (Indiana Innovation Institute) to set up and manage a prototype business process that streamlines rapid procurement and agile delivery of AI capabilities for the Department of Defense. This online environment, called “Tradewind,” will focus on developing efficient AI acquisition processes for the U.S. military.

Through the Tradewind environment, the JAIC will build a collaborative ecosystem partnering with commercial, academic, and industry partners that will work with the DoD to develop, design, and implement AI capabilities. A primary goal is to create an environment of transparency between the DoD, academia, and industry, thereby fostering a healthy whole-of-nation approach to supporting the DoD with AI Innovations.

“Tradewind will provide a user-friendly framework for our private sector partners to work more efficiently with the DoD to scale and implement AI for the warfighter and consumers across the military,” said William Roberts, JAIC Chief of Acquisition. “We want to learn from this initiative to improve the way DoD works with all types of private sector and academic partners, and inject the much needed speed and agility necessary to scale artificial intelligence and transform the Department.”

The Tradewind portal will be accessible via AI.mil, the DoD flagship website for artificial intelligence. The initial phase of the Tradewind ecosystem will feature online capabilities that connect with small and non-traditional companies, create rapid contract actions, and help DoD offices to integrate end-users through agile delivery. Additional tools, features, and information will become available and part of the online portal in the coming months.

For more information on Tradewind, visit www.AI.mil or TradewindFAQ.org