Technology industry executives are urging the Department of Defense (DOD) to increase the adoption of commercial technologies to maintain its military advantage over Russia, China and other near-peer competitors, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.
“The government is not prepared,” Eric Schmidt, chair of the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence (NSCAI) and former CEO of Google, said in an interview. “There are so many examples where digital technology would completely change the way the systems work.”
In March, the commission issued a 756-page report citing the need to further advance public-private partnerships and offering several recommendations, such as purchasing commercial software and software and accelerating tech-focused recruitment, training and research efforts.
DOD also needs to overcome hurdles with regard to procurement processes and bureaucracy and Schmidt said he believes such challenges could be addressed.
“What I’ve observed about the government bureaucracy is you go in, and you push—and if you push really hard, you can really make something happen," said Schmidt.
