US Air Force Awards $8.6M Digital Engineering Contract
The Department of the Air Force has awarded an $8.6 million contract to Istari Digital. The funding will establish Industry Øne, an initiative designed to accelerate digital transformation and break down digital engineering barriers across the Defense Department.
The Industry Øne initiative aims to create an "Internet of Models" for the defense industry, allowing thousands of suppliers with incompatible software tools to collaborate without having to manually copy and share data. This approach is designed to tackle persistent challenges in defense acquisition, such as fragmented IT environments and strict security requirements that currently hinder rapid development. Istari Digital's platform enables this collaboration by providing secure, policy-enforced access to engineering data without centralizing or storing it outside the owner's control. This means each organization can maintain its own firewall and data sovereignty while their digital models interact through controlled interfaces, a concept the company's CEO likens to "the experience of Git across guarded firewalls." The CEO of Istari Digital is Will Roper, the former Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, a key figure in the push for digital transformation within the service. The company is also backed by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, highlighting the significant blend of defense and tech industry expertise driving the initiative. This contract builds on previous successful efforts. "Flyer Øne" was a partnership with the Air Force Research Lab and Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works to pioneer digital certification for an X-plane. Another initiative, "Model Øne," focused on breaking down barriers for collaboration across different security domains. The push for digital engineering is a major focus for the Department of Defense as it seeks to accelerate the delivery of new capabilities to the warfighter. Top officials have noted that near-peer competitors like China can deliver new capabilities in seven years or less, compared to an average of 16 years for the USAF, making digital transformation a critical business practice for staying competitive. The ultimate goal of these digital initiatives is to move away from paper-based processes and create a "digital enterprise" across the entire Department of the Air Force. This involves creating digital twins and using model-based systems engineering to design, test, and sustain complex weapons systems more efficiently and effectively.
