The U.S. Department of Defense has awarded a contract to Parallel Works, a software company spun out of Argonne National Laboratory, to create a platform that connects military supercomputers with secure commercial cloud infrastructure. This initiative, part of the High Performance Computing Modernization Program, aims to facilitate faster access to on-premises and cloud-based computing resources for defense personnel and enhance the capacity for artificial intelligence workloads. The ACTIVATE High Security Platform has received Impact Level 5 approval, allowing it to handle sensitive data while linking Defense Supercomputing Resource Centers with cloud services from providers like Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure. It is currently being implemented by the Naval Research Laboratory to improve automated weather forecasting efforts.

Parallel Works: Parallel Works is an Illinois-based software company spun out of Argonne National Laboratory that develops secure computing platforms. Its ACTIVATE High Security Platform serves as a control plane connecting on-premises defense supercomputers with major cloud providers. The company received a DoD contract to enable secure workload movement and testing of emerging cloud infrastructure for military use.
Matthew Shaxted: Matthew Shaxted is the Chief Executive Officer of Parallel Works. He leads the company’s development of secure platforms for hybrid defense and cloud computing environments. Shaxted noted that the HPCMP contract enables broad support for mission-critical HPC and AI workloads across DoD teams.
Keith Obenschain: Keith Obenschain is the Chief Technology Officer at the High Performance Computing Modernization Program. He oversees efforts to modernize defense computing resources amid rising demands from AI and simulation workloads. Obenschain highlighted the need for greater model-sharing options beyond legacy systems in comments on the new contract.
U.S. Department of Defense: The U.S. Department of Defense oversees military operations and research for the United States. It manages the High Performance Computing Modernization Program to modernize defense computing capabilities. The department awarded Parallel Works a contract to integrate military supercomputing centers with commercial clouds for HPC and AI workloads.

Cloud Integration: The platform supports on-demand access to commercial cloud resources from Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, and Oracle Cloud alongside defense supercomputing centers.
Operational Deployment: The Naval Research Laboratory has implemented the platform to automate and secure weather forecasting workflows across defense and cloud environments.
Security Certification: The ACTIVATE High Security Platform has received Impact Level 5 approval for handling sensitive non-classified DoD data including ITAR and CUI workloads.