Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC)

The Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC) plays a pivotal role in the Department of Defense's research and innovation ecosystem by capturing, curating, and sharing research results. The primary objective is to enable new research efforts to build upon existing knowledge, thereby enhancing the pace of innovation and technical maturity. DTIC aims to leverage artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies to refine discovery models and encourage collaboration across the research community. This includes improving search relevance, summarizing research papers, and enhancing data quality to support the Research and Engineering community.

DTIC's Information Analysis Centers (IACs) are designed to provide rapid responses to technical inquiries and facilitate further research through task orders. The IACs collaborate with various defense entities, including the United States Air Force Cloud One environment, to integrate AI and ML technologies for innovative discovery tools. For FY 2025, DTIC focuses on enhancing discovery and analysis across all networks while streamlining submission processes using e-commerce best practices. This approach aims to improve submission quality and provide better tracking for submitters.

Modernization efforts at DTIC are informed by congressional interests and aim to transform distribution methods, enhance collection capabilities, and strengthen analytical tools for science and technology content. By utilizing on-demand compute resources and DevSecOps methodologies, DTIC seeks to deliver timely insights while reducing user interface development timelines. The goal is to provide users with comprehensive situational awareness through improved search capabilities that draw from a vast repository of nearly 5 million records.

The Department of Defense Information Analysis Centers serve as a crucial resource for providing timely information directly to users across various defense sectors. These centers focus on bridging the gap between warfighters and the acquisition/research community by offering essential technical analysis and data support. They partner with over 700 organizations to address technological gaps through analysis or primary research, contributing significantly to DoD's scientific knowledge base. Despite constraints since 2004, these centers continue to meet growing demands for their services, supporting numerous joint R&D projects in FY 2023.