Communities of Interest (COI)

Underpinning the science and technology (S&T) ExCom leadership is an ecosystem of technical groups known as Communities of Interest (COI). These groups cover 17 technical areas that span the cross-cutting science and technology in the Department. The scope of each of these COIs and their associated technical sub-groups is shown in the the Reliance 21 document.

The collection of COIs serve as an enduring structure to integrate technology efforts throughout the DoD S&T enterprise. While they cover the majority of the DoD’s S&T investment, some Service specific investments are not included in these groups.

COIs were established in 2009 as a mechanism to encourage multi-agency coordination and collaboration in cross-cutting technology focus areas with broad multiple-Component investment. COIs provide a forum for coordinating S&T strategies across the Department, sharing new ideas, technical directions and technology opportunities, jointly planning programs, measuring technical progress, and reporting on the general state of health for specific technology areas.