Army to pilot secure, cloud environment for small businesses in the defense industrial base

WASHINGTON - Under Secretary of the Army Gabe Camarillo announced a new pilot called Next-Gen Commercial Operations in Defended Enclaves that will help small businesses improve cybersecurity. Worked in association with the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology, N-CODE will combine commercial cloud technology with enhanced security features to provide a secure environment for small businesses to process, store and communicate sensitive data. The announcement was made during the annual meeting of the Association of the United States Army on Oct. 15, 2024.

Protecting both acquisition data and intellectual property is a shared responsibility between the Army and industry. Small businesses are the hub of innovation, and they are a critical component of Army modernization. Over time, the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification will help drive improvements across the defense industrial base to protect against determined competitors and adversaries. However, small businesses may find that individually implementing these controls and then demonstrating CMMC compliance is cost-prohibitive. As such, small businesses that opt into the N-CODE pilot can leverage an initial set of productivity tools within a secure environment that will meet a majority of the CMMC controls. This will provide an affordable path to secure data while maximizing participation in the defense industrial base.

This pilot was built on an initial proof of concept demonstrated in fiscal 2024, with support from across the Army. In the coming months, N-CODE will be available for small businesses that have, or are a part of, DoD contracts. During this initial phase, the Army intends to provide low- to no-cost options for participation. The initial capability set will grow from office productivity to development, digital engineering and other tools as the pilot progresses.

For more information about N-CODE, please visit https://www.army.mil/dasades#org-work-with-us.

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