Pentagon moves to slash staffing at Defense Technical Information Center as part of efficiency push

The Defense of Defense announced a major shake-up at the Defense Technical Information Center, promising to streamline its operations and significantly reduce its staff.

Emil Michael, under secretary of defense for research and engineering, noted Monday in a memo the importance of sharing and leveraging technical knowledge gained from U.S.-funded research and development projects through the DTIC. But the center’s outdated information platform and structure limit its ability to keep pace with U.S. allies and enemies, he wrote.

“Its unfocused organizational model and legacy information platform are not suited to keep pace with global R&D, take advantage of Artificial Intelligence (AI), or integrate with other data and intelligence systems that support strategic deterrence-impacting R&D investment decisions by the Department of Defense,” the memo reads.