Vice Admiral Thomas Daum, Inspector for Cyber and Information Space, has currently rejected the use of Palantir within the German armed forces. Speaking to the “Handelsblatt”, Daum stated that he does not view the solution favorably at present time. According to Daum, the company fails to meet certain prerequisites mandated by the Bundeswehr. While acknowledging Palantir’s superior functional capabilities for managing internal datasets, he stressed that allowing industry employees external access to the nation’s sensitive data is currently simply unfeasible.
The software company, Palantir, expressed its disappointment following the inquiry, noting that its clients are able to install and operate the software without requiring the physical presence of its personnel on site.
Meanwhile, the “Handelsblatt” reported that the Bundeswehr has shortlisted multiple competitors, including two German and one French provider. These companies are Almato from Stuttgart, a subsidiary of the German IT firm Datagroup; Orcrist, a Berlin-based startup; and Chapsvision from Paris, which is occasionally referred to as the “French Palantir”. The software from these providers is scheduled for evaluation this summer, with the intention of awarding a contract by the end of the year. This selection is part of a major initiative by the Bundeswehr: developing its own secure, protected private cloud for advanced data processing and artificial intelligence applications over the coming years. A crucial component of this future system is the development of software that can consolidate information sourced from multiple different databases.
