Air Force Funds Digital Engineering Initiative
The U.S. Department of the Air Force awarded an $8.6 million contract to Istari Digital. The funding is for an initiative called Industry Øne, which aims to break down digital engineering barriers. The project is intended to accelerate digital transformation across the defense industrial base.
Istari Digital was founded by Will Roper, the former Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, and is backed by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt. The company's leadership also includes co-founder Chris Benson, a digital engineering expert who worked with Roper on creating digital threads during his time in the Air Force. This contract is part of a larger portfolio of work Istari Digital is performing for the Air Force. Other initiatives include a $15 million contract for a program called "Model One," which aims to link models and simulations to address "internetized" warfare challenges. Another project, dubbed "Flyer Øne," is focused on building the world's first digitally-certified airplane. The push for digital engineering addresses significant challenges within the Department of Defense, including siloed organizational structures, reliance on physical testing, and paper-based airworthiness certification processes. These outdated methods are seen as impediments to rapid innovation and keeping pace with adversaries. The ultimate goal is to create a "digital thread"—a connected, real-time flow of data across the entire lifecycle of a weapons system. This allows for virtual design, testing, and certification, which proponents argue is faster, cheaper, and allows for more complex systems to be developed. Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt has stated that initiatives like these are an opportunity for Istari Digital to help create a "virtual military."
