The 448th Supply Chain Management Wing commemorated its first-ever academic partnership Friday Sept. 9 with a signing ceremony held at the Stephenson Research and Technology Center on the University of Oklahoma campus. The project was awarded to the University of Oklahoma on July 29, 2022.
The agreement, established using the 448th’s Other Transaction Authority Consortium, will advance wholesale supply chain risk management analytics by teaming with OU and applying OU’s Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning capabilities. Illuminating supply chains and identifying vulnerabilities proactively gives the Department of Defense and the 448th SCMW unprecedented visibility and therefore, the ability to intercede along timelines to resolve or mitigate a strategic vulnerability.
“Understanding where vulnerabilities are in the supply chain and then knowing in advance is critical, which is why this partnership is so important to us,” said Stephen Gray, 448th SCMW director. “Being able to take advantage of artificial intelligence machine learning capabilities and matching that up to our vast amounts of data on supply chain risk, we think is a big step in getting to that point of being able to predict.”