FY2022 NDAA, Section 227 ("Modification of the joint common foundation program")

Enacted 2021-12-27 | Official source

Summary

Instructs the Secretary of Defense to modify the Joint Common Foundation Program. This is to ensure greater support to Department of Defense (DoD) components by increasing the number of AI companies eligible to provide support, and making it easier for DoD components to more easily contract with commercial AI companies.

Key facts

🏛️ This document has been enacted by the United States Congress. For authoritative text and metadata, visit the official source.

🎯 This document primarily applies to the government, rather than the private sector.

📜 This document's name is National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022, Section 227 ("Modification of the joint common foundation program"). AGORA also tracks this document under the name FY2022 NDAA, Section 227 ("Modification of the joint common foundation program"). It is part of FY2022 NDAA.

↳ This document is part of a longer one: FY2022 NDAA. Some AGORA documents are "split off" from longer documents that mix AI and non-AI content, such as omnibus authorization or appropriations laws in the United States Congress. Read more >>

Themes AI risks, applications, governance strategies, and other themes addressed in AGORA documents.

Risk factors (2)

Governance strategies (2)

AI application areas (1)

Government: other applications/unspecified

Full text

This is an unofficial copy. The document has been archived and reformatted in plaintext for AGORA. Footnotes, tables, and similar material may be omitted. For the official text, visit the original source.

SEC. 227. MODIFICATION OF THE JOINT COMMON FOUNDATION PROGRAM. (a) Modification of Joint Common Foundation.--The Secretary of Defense shall modify the Joint Common Foundation program conducted by the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center to ensure that Department of Defense components can more easily contract with leading commercial artificial intelligence companies to support the rapid and efficient development and deployment of applications and capabilities. (b) Qualifying Commercial Companies.--The Secretary of Defense shall take such actions as may be necessary to increase the number of commercial artificial intelligence companies eligible to provide support to Department of Defense components, including with respect to requirements for cybersecurity protections and processes, to achieve automatic authority to operate and provide continuous delivery, security clearances, data portability, and interoperability. (c) Use of FAR Part 12.--The Secretary of Defense shall ensure that, to the maximum extent practicable, commercial artificial intelligence companies are able to offer platforms, services, applications, and tools to Department of Defense components through processes and procedures under part 12 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation.

(d) Objectives of the Joint Common Foundation Program.--The objectives of the Joint Common Foundation program shall include the following: (1) Relieving Department of Defense components of the need to design or develop or independently contract for the computing and data hosting platforms and associated services on and through which the component at issue would apply its domain expertise to develop specific artificial intelligence applications. (2) Providing expert guidance to components in selecting commercial platforms, tools, and services to support the development of component artificial intelligence applications. (3) Ensuring that leading commercial artificial intelligence technologies and capabilities are easily and rapidly accessible to components through streamlined contracting processes. (4) Assisting components in designing, developing, accessing, or acquiring commercial or non-commercial capabilities that may be needed to support the operational use of artificial intelligence applications. (5) Enabling companies to develop software for artificial intelligence applications within secure software development environments that are controlled, sponsored, required, or specified by the Department of Defense, including PlatformOne of the Department of the Air Force (e) Briefing.--Not later than 120 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall provide to the congressional defense committees a briefing on actions taken to carry out this section.