University of Maryland, College Park supports the Pentagon's Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office (CDAO) — a federal contract (USAspending)
A federal contract of about $2.12 million in which Washington Headquarters Services at the Department of Defense ordered "support services for the Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office (CDAO)" from the University of Maryland, College Park.
Contract key facts
- RecipientUNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND, COLLEGE PARK
- Contract value$2,124,058 (≈$2.1M)
- Awarding agencyDepartment of Defense
- Awarding sub-agencyWashington Headquarters Services
- Award typeDELIVERY ORDER
- Period of performance2023-06-02 〜 2024-09-01
- Contract ID (PIID)HQ003423F0294
Contract scope (original)
CHIEF DIGITAL AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE OFFICE'S SUPPORT SERVICES
Key points
- A federal contract awarded by the Department of Defense's Washington Headquarters Services to the University of Maryland, College Park.
- It covers support services for the Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office (CDAO), the central organization overseeing the Pentagon's AI and data strategy.
- The contract value is $2,124,058, running from June 2, 2023 to September 1, 2024.
- The type is a delivery order (an individual order placed under an existing contract framework).
- The specific scope of work is not stated in the source data.
Behind this contract is the Department of Defense's effort to advance AI and data use across the department under a single command center. The CDAO named in the source summary, the Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office, is a central organization created to bring together AI- and data-related functions that had previously been spread across the department. The ordering office, Washington Headquarters Services, is a support agency that handles administrative and procurement work for the Pentagon's headquarters and that procures services needed by headquarters-level offices. A notable feature of this contract is that the recipient is the University of Maryland, College Park, a public research university.
What makes this contract worth attention is that it reflects a central government organization contracting part of its specialized work out to a university for support. The delivery order type refers to placing individual tasks within the scope of a broader, pre-established contract, and is used when an agency wants to arrange needed services flexibly. The scale, about $2.12 million over roughly fifteen months, indicates ongoing support services over a period rather than a one-off purchase of goods. However, exactly what tasks that support involved is not stated in the source data, so we do not speculate here.
Viewed more broadly, this contract is one example of how different actors, a government organization and a university, are connected through public funding. Federal contract data recorded in USAspending lets anyone trace which agency paid which organization, how much, and for what purpose. Looking at basic details such as the ordering agency, recipient, amount, period, and type side by side provides a way to understand the flow of government spending and which organizations are involved in a particular policy theme, here the advancement of AI and data strategy.
Why it matters
The fact that a university won a contract to support the CDAO, a central government organization, is instructive as an example of collaboration between government bodies and research universities. Tracing USAspending contract data across awards offers a way to see which organizations are involved in advancing AI and data strategy and how much public funding is in motion.
FAQ
What is the Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office (CDAO)?
What kind of contract is a delivery order?
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Sources (primary)
This article is an independent organization based on the U.S. official spending data below. Verify the exact, latest details with the official source.
- USAspending (award details)
- Contract ID (PIID)：HQ003423F0294