DISAWERX shares AI happenings around agency

By Jeanelle Holder and Michael Hebert
Emerging Technology Directorate
May 10, 2022 

Steve Wallace, the Defense Information Systems Agency’s Emerging Technology director, believes artificial intelligence and machine learning are ever-growing in their importance to the agency and Department of Defense.

Whether it be directly through partnerships with the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center/Chief Digital Artificial Intelligence Office, or indirectly through vendors continually enhancing their products, there has been tremendous growth in recent years.

The generation of data requires the need for greater adoption of artificial intelligence and machine learning to help parse and understand it.

Artificial intelligence and machine learning are an essential part of the DISA Strategic Plan FY2022-2024, and DOD-authorized tools and services are already being used for DISA projects.

The DISA Hosting and Compute Center offers DOD Cloud Infrastructure as Code deployable, DISA-managed, infrastructure for artificial intelligence and machine learning development for Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services.

The Joint Artificial Intelligence Center/Chief Digital Artificial Intelligence Office provides three platforms for artificial intelligence and machine learning development in its Joint Common Foundation, and DISA is using two.

DISA’s Emerging Technology Directorate is preparing to deploy the Joint Common Foundation Cloud Neutral Platform and data labeling tools in DISA’s Technology Analysis Center lab at impact level five for all to use, in essence moving the artificial intelligence and machine learning computing closer to the data.

DISA’s Emerging Technology Directorate, Cyber Directorate and the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center/Chief Digital Artificial Intelligence Joint Information Warfare Mission Initiative are collaborating on applying artificial intelligence and machine learning to detect anomalies on DISA endpoints. The goal is to use AI to shorten the time to detect anomalies by providing speed and accuracy that exceed human
capacity.

Leveraging the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center’s Joint Common Foundation as a development resource, DISA’s Emerging Technology Directorate is helping to facilitate the development of AI capability on DISA data for use cases that directly address operational requirements.

Roy Hendrix, DISA’s Enterprise Change and Configuration Governance Branch chief, has a cooperative research and development agreement to test, evaluate and analyze software company NT Concepts’ machine learning operations Cycle and Exploratory process within DISA and DOD environments.

The intent is to methodically identify candidate technology solutions to determine how state-of-the-industry machine learning technologies can be employed to deliver operational insights. This effort supports DOD and DISA’s data management, network management and cyber security data strategies and challenges.

Artificial Intelligence Summit
Learn more about AI initiatives within DISA and around the Department of Defense during the upcoming Artificial Intelligence Summit.

Hosted by DISA’s Emerging Technology Directorate, industry, government and academia are invited to participate in the Artificial Intelligence Summit on Wednesday, May 18, 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. EDT at DISAWERX, 7000 Columbia Gateway Drive, Suite 100, Columbia, Maryland, 21046.

To register, visit DISAWERX on DISA.mil.