Maj. Gen. Garrett Yee, acting deputy chief information officer of the U.S. Army, has said the service branch looks to collaborate with companies and academic institutions to facilitate interoperability in its workflow processes with technology, MeriTalk reported Thursday.

Yee told an Avaya-hosted webinar Thursday that the Army should automate its system to manage workflows and adopt artificial intelligence tools.

The branch seeks to modernize operations in areas such as information technology, contracting, logistics, human resources, test and evaluation and financial management, the report noted.

He added the service should balance innovation programs with cybersecurity and warfighter safety efforts.

Fred Ruonavar, mission assurance and critical infrastructure protection branch chief at the Defense Information Systems Agency, has said DISA’s mission assurance branch works to evaluate the Defense Department’s operational and contingency plans through the adoption of an aggressive approach.

“Mission assurance is critical,” Ruonavar said in a statement published Wednesday.

“We have to determine what the DOD is able to do, determine appropriate support plans, determine where information falls in the three-phase process and determine what assets are required,” he added.

The mission assurance branch teams up with combatant commands and implements a synchronized approach to examine critical asset requirements and help DoD address risks to its command, control, communications, computers and intelligence systems, including the Defense Information Systems Network.

Ruonavar cited the importance of mission assurance planning to service personnel deployment and how the branch provides a view of the Pentagon’s mission assurance strategy through courses on critical information infrastructure protection.

Sean Heritage, acting managing partner at the Defense Innovation Unit, has said DIU is in a “period of thoughtful reflection” as it contemplates on recent experiences as a “learning organization,” Federal News Radio reported Wednesday.

“And as we continue to experiment there’s going to be hiccups and things we learn along the way and it’s important that we are modifying our processes and ways of doing business as a result,” he told the station.

DIU removed the “experimental” from its name, a move which Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan said seeks to emphasize the organization’s permanence within the Defense Department.

Heritage provided updates on DIU’s progress with its projects and use of the Commercial Solutions Opening approach that aims to encourage nontraditional defense firms to work with the Pentagon.

“Yes, the number of CSOs have slowed down and yes it’s rather deliberate as we begin to focus more and more on choosing the most impactful projects and problems to solve and ensuring we are executing our processes in a defensible way,” he added.

Carlen Capenos, former chief of the acquisition resources division at the Defense Information Systems Agency, has been appointed as director of DISA’s Office of Small Business Programs.

The 22-year contracting officer said in a statement published Thursday that she will coordinate with public and private entities to boost contracting procedures with small businesses at prime contract and subcontract levels to support warfighters and national-level leaders.

“Small businesses have innovative ideas, strong work ethics and they want to do well,” she added.

As chief of DISA’s acquisition resources branch, Capenos led contracting operations for various customers throughout the agency and the Defense Department.

She also previously held several contracting roles in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for seven years and the U.S. Air Force for two years.