US Air Force Taps Istari for Digital Overhaul
The U.S. Department of the Air Force has awarded an $8.6 million contract to Istari Digital to accelerate its digital engineering transformation. The initiative, called Industry Øne, aims to break down data silos and speed up the adoption of modern digital workflows across the military-industrial base.
The CEO of Istari Digital, Will Roper, is no stranger to the Air Force's modernization goals; he previously served as the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics. His company, founded in 2022, is focused on creating a "level digital playing field" to overhaul how the defense industry collaborates. The "Industry Øne" initiative aims to create an "Internet of Models," allowing engineers from different organizations to collaborate on designs in real-time without moving or copying sensitive data. This approach tackles long-standing hurdles in defense acquisition, such as incompatible software and strict security needs that slow down development. This contract builds on previous, smaller-scale Air Force projects with Istari. "Flyer Øne," a partnership with Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works, focused on the digital certification of the X-56A aircraft. Another initiative, "Model Øne," aimed to break down barriers for collaboration across different security domains. The core problem being addressed is that defense programs rely on thousands of suppliers using incompatible tools behind separate firewalls. The current process of manually sharing data is slow and introduces security risks, a significant bottleneck the Air Force aims to eliminate to keep pace with adversaries. The ultimate vision is a shift from manual, document-based processes to live, continuously updated digital engineering systems. This mirrors digital transformation successes in other high-tech fields, like Formula 1, where thousands of digital car designs are tested virtually each season.
