DRIVE Consortium Launches


On November 18, 2022, the Ohio Aerospace Institute (OAI) announced a landmark achievement: securing a $49 million award from the U.S. Air Force to lead the DRIVE Consortium. This six-year project aims to revolutionize the digital transformation of the Air Force’s acquisition, operations, and sustainment processes.

Project Timeline


November 18, 2022:

Launch of DRIVE Consortium and opening of membership applications.


Ongoing:

Consortium activities include collaboration with industry and academic partners to drive digital transformation in Air Force processes over the next six years.

Our Impact

  • The DRIVE Consortium will enhance digital practices across the Air Force, mitigating transformation risks and fostering innovation.
  • "The consortium model is ideal. The Air Force's ability to execute projects to address risk reduction and to do it relatively quickly, along with industry's ability to engage with us, has proven to be exactly what the doctor ordered." — Brench Boden, Digital Enterprise Lead, Air Force Research Laboratory
  • "It’s a prestigious role to be in a such a group. It's pretty much the who's who of defense manufacturers. There are IT companies like Microsoft, IBM, Ansys, and there are small companies and universities. It's a very diverse, one-of-a-kind ecosystem." — Bob Dirgo, Senior Program Manager, Ohio Aerospace Institute
  • "We've gained access to a network of industry-leading experts and cutting-edge technologies that have helped accelerate our innovation." — Tony Hodgson, CEO, ETHAR, Inc.
  • "The DRIVE Consortium gave critical lifeblood to allow the technology that we're looking to develop with the Air Force to even have a chance to exist. One thing we could never do is replicate the sort of introductions into the ecosystem. Those relationships are critical to be able to take an idea and see if there's merit, and then work with other organizations that have some very promising technologies of their own." — Michael Morford, Chairman & CEO, Knudsen Institute
  • "It all comes back to strong collaboration and partnership for a mutual alignment and synergy among consortium members." — Agata Brickey, Senior Program Manager, SparkCognition Government Systems
  • "Innovation is key for any industry, and to really innovate, you have to be able to bring together people with diverse backgrounds. It's noteworthy that many of these companies are also competitors, and it's a pretty notable achievement to bring them all into a safe space where they can explore common problems and come up with unique solutions to their challenges." — Paul Parazzoli, Ph.D., IBM Quantum

Core Capabilities

  • OAI manages the DRIVE Consortium, focusing on digital transformation through collaboration among the Air Force, OEMs, technology providers, academia, and government agencies.
  • Leveraging extensive experience in managing consortia and partnerships to support transformative digital initiatives for the Air Force.
  • Addressing challenges in digital practices and driving modernization efforts within the Air Force’s acquisition and sustainment processes.


Key Contributors