The defense industrial base is a critical partner in advancing the DOW’s national defense priorities. To accelerate industry participation, the DOW has launched the Golden Dome Hub as a practical digital entry point for organizations that want to contribute to the Golden Dome Initiative.

Over the last few years, AI has been the hot topic of conversation in SLED IT. We’ve seen AI move from theoretical to actual implementation. SLED agencies are now deploying AI across a wide range of use cases including citizen services, workforce productivity, document processing, case management, fraud detection, and analytics and decision support, among others.

Kirsten Baesler, Assistant Secretary for the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, made clear in an August 2026 Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) that technology certainly plays an important role in education. At the same time, vendors and partners need to increase transparency and shoulder accountability with schools regarding student success and outcomes.

In FY27, state and local governments are navigating a complex technology environment amid changes in policy, the accelerated adoption of emerging tech, and the rapid growth of digital services and citizen expectations. Cloud adoption continues to impact technology consumption; AI is introducing challenges around data, security, governance and contracting; and agencies are facing mounting pressures to modernize aging systems while becoming more efficient and generating measurable long-term ROI.

The Defense Health Agency (DHA) recently hosted the 2026 Defense Health Information Technology Symposium (DHITS) in New Orleans, bringing together more than 2,200 attendees to discuss the future of military health IT.  The clear message throughout the event was that technology, data, and digital capabilities are increasingly viewed as a combat support capability directly tied to warfighter readiness. 

Send the right data to the right person at the right time, in a secure, discoverable, interoperable and actionable environment. 

Whether or not you attended DoDIIS this year, that was arguably the defining takeaway from the event's senior leaders and conference sessions.

This year, the DOW has made official its priority to advance its AI dominance across all branch services by “becoming an AI-First warfighting force.” AI technologies such as machine learning, natural language processing, and computer AI-vision are being integrated into military operations to improve decision-making, enhance efficiency, and increase autonomous capabilities. Most revealing, however, are the DoW’s budget requests for AI investment, setting the trend for implementation.

The Pentagon CIO Kirsten Davies issued a new directive in late July 2026, establishing a department-wide approach to IT category management (ITCM) at the direction of a new DOW Enterprise Software Initiative (ESI) Working Group and ITCM Cross Functional Board (CFB). According to the directive, the ITCM CFB, chaired by the Pentagon’s deputy CIO for the information enterprise, will act as the senior executive decision body, and the ESI Working Group will be the lead agent for implementing the department’s strategy.

Federal quantum policy is shifting from long-term research planning to implementation and readiness. There have been several recent actions taken, including executive orders, strategy updates and new initiatives, to strengthen U.S. leadership in quantum technologies and post-quantum cyber resilience. Quantum is becoming a priority in federal IT modernization, cybersecurity, procurement and national security. 

Earlier this month, the Trump administration released a new executive order titled “Securing the Nation Against Advanced Cryptographic Attacks,” in efforts to accelerate the shift to post-quantum cryptography (PQC). While the new EO is directed at federal agencies, the downstream effects on SLED will be impactful, particularly through funding alignments, vendor requirements and shared infrastructure.