Dana Deasy Talks Cloud, Artificial Intelligence at DISA’s Forecast to Industry Conference

Dana Deasy, chief information officer at the Defense Department, has said he believes cloud provides DoD components with capabilities to update Pentagon’s technology systems and manage data assets “in an enterprise manner,” MeriTalk reported Monday.

“DoD is committed to maintaining a multivendor, multicloud environment,” he said Monday at a Defense Information Systems Agency-hosted conference.

“We will have a combination of general purpose clouds, and fit-for-purpose clouds.”

He noted that the Defense Enterprise Office Solutions contract exemplifies a fit-for-purpose cloud and cited the Pentagon’s decision to use the General Services Administration’s IT Schedule 70 for procurement.

“By using the flexibility of the GSA contract vehicle, it will allow the DoD to transition to the cloud with less schedule risk, and at a lower cost,” he said at the Forecast to Industry event in Linthicum, Md.

C4ISRNET reported that Deasy said he expects the new joint artificial intelligence center to help secure military networks and carry out cyber operations in partnership with U.S. Cyber Command and DISA.

Deasy, who oversees JAIC, said the center will focus on cross-service platforms.

“I believe AI will be a partner, no doubt, first and foremost, from a lethality standpoint,” he added.