The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) was awarded over $28 million to modernize its technology infrastructure for emergency response, the Technology Modernization Fund said on its investment page.
The Technology Modernization Fund, which provided the award, was created in 2017 to provide civilian government agencies with funding for tech modernization projects. The TMF’s authority expired Dec. 12, so Congress acted just before the lapse in authorization.
The fund’s website said the investment will be used to renovate the cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) system, as the current system has vulnerabilities that “hamper data aggregation, slow emergency response, and leave gaps in the agency’s ability to assess evolving technological risks” and limited AI development infrastructure that “prevents rapid evaluation of models for nuclear security threats.”
“It’s exciting to have another set of projects funded by the Technology Modernization Fund,” NNSA Chief Information Officer James Wolff said in a LinkedIn post last week. “TMF has given us the chance to accelerate mission critical work while also improving the technology infrastructure for the Genesis Mission.”
The Genesis Mission refers to a Nov. 24 executive order by President Donald Trump calling for a national effort to integrate AI into national security missions. A week after the executive order was mandated, NNSA issued a request for information from interested entities on ways to use AI in the agency’s critical operations.