University of Maryland, College Park: Artificial Intelligence, Automation, and Augmentation Program (AAA Testbed) — a federal contract (USAspending)

The "AAA Testbed" at the heart of this contract refers to an experimental platform for trying out three A's together. AI is software technology for making judgments and predictions; Automation means handing repetitive, routine tasks once done by people over to machines; and Augmentation is the idea of having AI reinforce and support human judgment and work. A testbed is an experimental environment for safely trying out such new technologies—before they are put into real operations—to confirm what works and where the challenges lie.

This program matters because it sits at the "pre-adoption verification" stage of bringing AI into government operations. Rather than embedding new technology directly into the workplace, the work is first demonstrated in a university research setting to determine where it helps and where problems arise. That sequencing forms the foundation for carefully introducing AI into administrative decision-making and clerical processing. The fact that the buyer is a management arm of the Department of Defense suggests the scope of verification can reach not only combat domains but the modernization of organizational operations themselves.

Viewed across the wider landscape, this contract is one example of primary data recording how public institutions demonstrate and procure AI, complete with a concrete dollar figure and recipient. It represents an industry-academia partnership in which a university takes on the verification of advanced technology under a federal award, offering a clue for tracking the role of research institutions and how much funding the government allocates to AI-related work. Note that the original record does not describe what specific results this program achieved.