Air Force Funds Unified Acquisition Platform
The Department of the Air Force has awarded Istari Digital an $8.6 million contract to build "Industry Øne," a unified digital platform for acquisition and supply chain management. The project aims to streamline government procurement, centralizing workflows and simplifying how small businesses and new contractors engage with the DAF.
Istari Digital is spearheaded by Dr. Will Roper, the former Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics. Backed by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, the technology startup aims to create an "engineering metaverse" where technologies can be developed and certified in a completely digital environment. The "Industry Øne" initiative builds on previous Istari projects with the Air Force, including "Flyer Øne" and "Model Øne". The Flyer Øne program, a partnership with the Air Force Research Lab and Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works, is working to create the world's first digitally-certified airplane using the X-56A as a test case. This digital approach is inspired by the rapid design iterations seen in Formula 1 racing, where teams design over 30,000 digital cars a season using authoritative modeling and simulation. The goal is to move beyond the Pentagon's traditional linear and rigid acquisition structure, which can take nearly 12 years to deliver initial capabilities for major weapons programs. Istari's platform functions as a vendor-neutral "Internet of Models," allowing secure collaboration across different companies and firewalls without centralizing or copying proprietary data. This addresses key hurdles in defense contracting, such as fragmented IT environments and incompatible software tools that slow down development and sustainment. The push for digital acquisition aligns with broader DoD policy, such as DoD Instruction 5000.97, which mandates the use of digital engineering across the lifecycle of acquisition programs. This reflects a strategic shift to accelerate technology adoption and counter the risk of falling behind adversaries, as outlined in the National Defense Strategy. Other government agencies are also exploring unified procurement platforms and AI-driven tools to modernize. The DoD's Chief Digital and AI Office, for instance, has developed an AI large language model called AcqBot to speed up contract writing by as much as 400%.
