NEXTECH SOLUTIONS LLC — Department of Defense SBIR Phase II: SOCOM213-D009

Description

As the focus of SOF MDO shifts from direct action missions in low-density environments to dense urban environments, a capability gap has emerged. SOF teams are primarily oriented toward effectiveness in the land/ground domains, with years of training and specialized equipment designed to eliminate adversaries and regain lost advantages. The current DA skillset is not suited to operating in urban environments where all other domains are either contested or denied, and the ground domain is highly populated with noncombatants. The cyberspace domain of smart cities is powerful, but vulnerable. Operators adept in tactically navigating the IoT and cyberspace domain for both offense and defense will be maximally effective. We propose to develop a prototype platform-as-a-service hybrid lab environment that will give operators access to subject matter experts, COTS IoT devices, test environments, compute and storage assets, hybridized networks, AI/ML tools, and baseline knowledge of IoT systems and cybersecurity. The platform will facilitate interaction between users and SMEs through knowledge sharing and test/data documentation, and will be maximally flexible to integrate any novel IoT technologies that may come on the COTS market in the future. The IoT skillsets and datasets gained through this platform would give operators the tools and skills needed to introduce new smart city TTPs for future operations.