Austin, TX-based SparkCognition Government Systems (SGS) announced on April 7 that it has been awarded a contract with The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) through its SBIR program. The SBIR program is highly competitive and encourages small businesses to engage in Federal Research/Research and Development with the potential for commercialization. Through this contract, SGS will leverage proven commercial technologies and AI expertise to explore the uses of machine learning (ML) technology to enhance aspects of readiness, including manpower planning and decision optimization.
“At SGS, we are committed to ensuring warfighter readiness, and we know the future lies in artificial intelligence,” said Logan Jones, general manager and president of SGS. “For the DoD, effective and efficient mission readiness and decision optimization is at the top of the list of priorities – with that in mind, we’re excited to work with the AFRL and AFWERX to advance the applications of AI in these areas.”
Vast amounts of data are available to decision makers in the DoD, and AI and ML technologies can assist in making timely, effective decisions. For a use case such as manpower planning, the current methodology is a labor-intensive process. ML takes a more data-driven approach, requires less manual recalibration, and ultimately produces an outcome with a higher confidence level than the current methodology provides. Through its contract in the SBIR program and drawing from its proven AI expertise and technology, SGS will explore the capabilities of AI/ML to create a tool to improve the effectiveness, efficiency, and scalability of manpower planning.
SGS offers next-generation AI-powered systems to address critical national security needs. Using technologies built in the United States, SGS evolves parent company SparkCognition’s innovative commercial systems and tailors them for the public sector. AFRL and AFWERX have partnered to streamline the SBIR process in an attempt to speed up the experience, broaden the pool of potential applicants, and decrease bureaucratic overhead. Beginning in SBIR 18.2, and now in 20.R, the United States Air Force has begun offering “special” SBIR topics that are faster, leaner, and open to a broader range of innovations. The contract SGS was awarded to advance readiness falls under this new category of SBIR topics.
Source: SparkCognition Government Systems
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