The Defense Department has partnered with a network of U.S. research universities to establish an accelerator program that aims to promote civil-military technology collaboration to support national security efforts.DoD said Friday the MD5 National Security Technology Accelerator was launched at a hackathon wherein technologists worked with military and civilian first responders to address humanitarian assistance and disaster relief challenges in urban environments.
“Our mission is to develop the people and human-centered networks necessary to compete and win in the rapidly changing technology and national security environments,” said MD5 Director Adam Jay Harrison.
The first MD5 hackathon challenged multiple teams of researchers, entrepreneurs, first responders and military personnel to create prototype systems that incorporate augmented reality, sensor fusion, crowdsourcing, data analytics and robotics technologies to address disaster relief mission challenges.
DoD partnered with the New York University, Columbia University, West Virginia University, University of Southern Mississippi, GE, One Defense, Bunker Labs and the Partnership for New York City to facilitate the hackathon.
MD5 is part of the manufacturing and industrial base policy division within the office of the under secretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics.
The accelerator aims to assist the development of national security personnel who test and update legacy processes; as well as support the creation of human-centered networks and form ventures that can develop, commercialize or apply relevant technology, DoD noted.
MD5 plans to introduce its education, collaboration and acceleration initiatives in the coming months.
