GOVERNMENT BUSINESS
Kodiak Robotics | December 07, 2022
Kodiak Robotics, Inc., a leading self-driving trucking company, today announced it has been awarded a $49.9 million, 24-month United States Department of Defense (DoD) agreement to help automate future U.S. Army ground vehicles led by the Army's Robotic Combat Vehicle (RCV) program. This effort will be in support of vehicles designed for reconnaissance, surveillance, and other high-risk missions.
Through this award, which started in October 2022 and was awarded by DoD's Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) on behalf of the Army's RCV program office, Kodiak will leverage its commercial self-driving software to develop, test and deploy autonomous capabilities for driverless vehicles that further strengthen national security. Kodiak will develop autonomous vehicle technology for the Army to navigate complex terrain, diverse operational conditions and GPS-challenged environments, while also providing the Army the ability to remotely operate vehicles when necessary.
Wartime is extraordinarily complex with high-risk challenges that often result in troops operating near or behind enemy lines. Deploying autonomous vehicles to perform such critical and dangerous tasks has the potential to significantly reduce the risk to troops, while giving them greater access to the information they need in the field. Additionally, the remote driving capabilities Kodiak will develop for the Army will increase the flexibility of these autonomous vehicles, while further reducing risk for soldiers. The project will also provide a technical pipeline that will enable the rapid development and deployment of new autonomous vehicle technologies as they become commercially available.
"I started Kodiak because I believe autonomous technology can save lives, and helping the U.S. Army develop driverless vehicles for the most challenging operating environments fits perfectly with that goal, We are proud to have the opportunity to leverage our cutting-edge self-driving technology for defense applications, and believe our work with DIU and the U.S. Army will both help strengthen national security and hasten our path to commercial deployment. We owe a debt of gratitude to the servicemen and women who step into harm's way to keep us safe; keeping them safe in return is an honor we take seriously."
-Don Burnette, founder and CEO, Kodiak Robotics.
Kodiak Robotics was the only autonomous vehicle company initially selected for this award out of 33 submissions, thanks to its proven leadership in autonomous systems development and commercialization, as well as its intense focus on safety.
In the first year of this effort, Kodiak will build upon its core competency by applying its robust autonomous software stack for Army specific use cases, including future Army vehicles. In year two, the company will implement its autonomous driving system on off-road vehicles capable of traversing complex terrain and operating remotely in unpredictable and austere conditions.
DIU focuses exclusively on adopting and scaling technologies developed by commercial partners to help strengthen U.S. national security by solving critical field challenges faced by the U.S. military. DIU works to identify innovations in six key technology areas where the commercial sector is operating at the leading edge: artificial intelligence, autonomy, cyber, energy, human systems, and space.
While Kodiak Robotics will continue to focus on its core business of building autonomous trucks for use in commercial applications, this project serves as an important extension that helps to propel its innovations forward. This project shows that Kodiak's core technology has multiple use cases, laying the groundwork for future expansion beyond long-haul trucking.
About Kodiak Robotics, Inc:
Kodiak Robotics, Inc. was founded in 2018 to develop autonomous technology that carries freight forward — so people, partners, and the planet thrive. The company is developing an industry-leading technology stack purpose-built specifically for long-haul trucks, making the freight industry safer and more efficient. Kodiak's unique modular hardware approach integrates sensors into a streamlined sensor-pod structure that optimizes for perception, scalability, and maintainability. The company delivers freight daily for its customers across the South, operating autonomously on the highway portions of the routes.
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EMERGING TECHNOLOGY
Sayari | December 05, 2022
Sayari, a commercial risk intelligence company, has recently been selected by the United Kingdom Crown Commercial Service (CCS) as a supplier for the G-Cloud 13 Framework, an agreement between the government and suppliers who provide cloud-based services.
The partnership enables departments like the National Crime Agency (NCA), Ministry of Defence (MOD), HM Revenue & Customs, Serious Fraud Office, HM Treasury and other agencies to accelerate deployment of Sayari’s commercial risk intelligence platform. Teams of government analysts and investigators will have instant access to the hard-to-find connections analysts and investigators need to eliminate information gaps.
“Ensuring that law enforcement, regulators and regulated industry are able to effectively collaborate is our goal at Sayari. This recognition from CCS lays the groundwork for scaled adoption and mission impact, We are proud of the relationships we’ve built with UK government agencies and enterprise companies over the past seven years, and we’re committed to building out our local presence to drive the best outcomes for our partners.”
-Farley Mesko, co-founder and CEO Sayari.
In May, the company formally launched its European operations, based in London. Sayari’s partnership with the UK government is an important component in supporting the increasingly complex economic crime, trade compliance and third-party risk landscape emerging in the UK and European Union.
About Sayari:
Sayari empowers government and industry to protect finance, trade and security systems by illuminating the global commercial networks through connected public data and documents. Providing commercial intelligence data from over 250 jurisdictions worldwide, Sayari delivers the entity network visualizations and intuitive risk identifications that decision makers need to stay proactively informed and power safer global commerce. Since its founding in 2015, Sayari has earned the trust of top financial institutions, Fortune 100 corporations and government agencies, securing a $40M Series C in 2021. Sayari is headquartered in Washington, D.C., and its solutions are used by more than 3,000 frontline analysts in 35 countries.
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EMERGING TECHNOLOGY
Sapia.ai | December 02, 2022
Sapia.ai, creator of the world's first smart interviewer, are proud to announce that they have been accepted onto the UK government's Crown Commercial Service (CCS) procurement framework G-Cloud 13.Organisations can now find and purchase Sapia.ai's tools, including its AI-empowered smart chat which has shown to help companies deliver on their Diversity KPI's when hiring, from the government's digital marketplace. The G-cloud framework launched in 2012, with the aim of easing the procurement process for the UK government and other public sector bodies. Sapia.ai has joined over 5000 suppliers to offer its solutions within the framework.
Public sector organisations are now able to access, review, and purchase Sapia.ai's automated and bias-free hiring solution easily through the marketplace, knowing that it has been vetted by the G-cloud framework. Sapia.ai is truly unique in that it allows candidates to apply for a job through a simple text chat - negating the need for CVs which have been shown to be full of bias - even when anonymised. Instead, using Sapia.ai's AI-driven technology and its bias-free database of interview responses, Sapia.ai can create an accurate and independent profile of a candidate matching their skills with their ability to do the job within seconds. Every candidate also receives personalized feedback that they can use to improve in areas for future job searches, as well as helping them understand where their strengths lie.
"We are delighted to have been included in the G-Cloud 13 framework. When our technology can simultaneously lead to customers seeing accelerated diversity after just 3 months of use, as in the case of our customer Woodies, you know you have built game changing technology,We cannot wait for it to do the same in the public sector that we have for so many companies. "
-Barb Hyman,CEO Sapia.ai.
By using Sapia.ai public sector customers can now deliver:
An interview for every candidate that applies without any need for CVs.
A fast and human-focussed automated hiring system that fits into current HR processes.
A time-efficient shortlisting process, while every candidate receives personalized feedback.
More diverse hires with highly accurate job matching.
An immediate impact on D&I KPIs.
Huge cost and time savings on recruitment.
About Sapia:
Sapia's mission is to help companies unlock and engage talent at scale. With its blind, automated chat interview and comprehensive DEI analytics platform, Sapia's technology is the first solution of its kind to disrupt biases that affects traditional recruitment processes – resulting in fair outcomes for candidates and companies.
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