WASHINGTON — FedLearn, a provider of online education services focused on federal government mission areas, said the Pentagon’s Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office will test the company’s artificial intelligence-based learning platform for training.
Under the terms of the “other transactions” agreement, the CDAO will undertake a 90-day demonstration prototype project utilizing the FedLearn AI-enabled learning platform among a select group of U.S. Department of Defense participants. It’s the first time that the DoD will provide training on the use of FedLearn’s technology via a hands-on AI training experience, it said in a statement.
Participants will experience AI via real-time learner assessments to determine if they are grasping online lesson content and how engaged they are with the material, among other capabilities. The project agreement was awarded via the Tradewind system by Army Contracting Command – Rock Island on behalf of the CDAO under the OT prototyping authority. No contract value was disclosed.
“FedLearn is honored to support the DoD in its drive for workforce AI-readiness by 2025,” said FedLearn Founder and CEO Keith Dunbar, in the statement. “Via this pilot, we look forward to showcasing our unique AI-enabled, learning solution to demonstrate how the platform can help accelerate the department’s adoption of AI cost effectively and in a scalable manner in support of mission success.”
If the the pilot project is deemed to be successful, the office can award FedLearn a follow-on transaction, according to the Alexandria, Virginia-based service-disabled veteran-owned small business.
CDAO, reached full operations June 1, some six months after Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks announced it and laid out a timeline for ramping up. The office achieved initial operating capability at the start of February.
CDAO is billed as an overseer, an expeditor and an enabler of AI, subsuming what were the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center, the Defense Digital Service, the Advana data-and-systems integration platform and the chief data officer. The office steers the Department of Defense’s strategy and policy development for AI, data and analytics, as well as flesh out infrastructure the department requires to take full advantage of critical technologies at a time of heated international competition.
Craig Martell, who previously led machine learning at ride-share company Lyft, was in late April named the chief digital and AI officer.
