DOD opens new “Tatooine” cybersecurity facility in Georgia

The U.S. Department of Defense’s Defense Digital Service (DDS) is opening a new cybersecurity workspace in Augusta, Ga., called Tatooine, named after the fictional Star Wars planet.

Tatooine is designed to house tech teams – including cyber soldiers and civilian technologists — cultivate talent, and promote innovative ways to build cyber capabilities.

“Technology has become the new domain for warfare. It has never been more important for the U.S. military to rapidly evolve technical capabilities to outpace adversarial threats,” DDS Director Chris Lynch said. “Recruiting, supporting, and retaining technical talent in the military can present unique challenges from training to compensation, to ensuring opportunities for growth and engagement in a quickly evolving field.”

The DDS is made up of private sector tech talent — includes top technologists, engineers, designers, and other experts with private sector expertise. It is charged with transforming the way the DOD approaches technology.

“Tatooine will be a beacon for technical talent across the military-a place to write code and solve problems of impact,” Lynch said. “Through this partnership, we are setting our best technical warfighters against our toughest problems with support and training from our DDS software engineers and experts. Together, men and women in uniform and tech nerds are finding new ways to rapidly solve high-impact challenges.”

The Tatooine workspace is housed in the Georgia Cyber Center, a state-owned facility designed to promote modernization in cybersecurity technology among government, industry, and educational institutions. This facility will enable the top technical talent from within the ranks to hone their skills. The U.S. Army Cyber Command (ARCYBER) will provide the technical soldiers to staff teams, while the Cyber Center of Excellence (CCOE) and the Army Cyber Institute will provide senior officers to oversee day-to-day operations at Tatooine.

In honor of the opening of the facility last week, the State of Georgia today issued a proclamation recognizing Oct. 25, 2018, as “Defense Digital Service Day.”