Kristen Smith 
Amazon Web Services has extended its Global Security and Compliance Acceleration partner program to include AWS Secret Cloud and AWS Top Secret Cloud, a move aimed at reducing the time it takes to deploy commercial artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies into classified environments.
What Is the Goal of the GSCA Expansion?
In a blog post published Tuesday, AWS said the expansion will help accelerate the transition of technology into warfighter capability by overcoming delays caused by complex security framework compliance challenges. The integration of the GSCA program with classified cloud frameworks streamlines the certification process, allowing AI and other mission-critical tools to reach operational use within months instead of more than a year, AWS added.
Which Partners Are Involved in the GSCA Expansion?
AWS is designating six initial GSCA partners — Kratos, Fortreum, SMX, CACI, Strategic Business Systems and Second Front Systems — specializing in classified systems and cybersecurity. These companies will provide consulting, system integration and technology support, including automated compliance and assessment tools, tailored for secret and top-secret cloud authorizations.
Through the collaboration, the GSCA partners will help customers meet Department of Defense and intelligence community requirements under frameworks such as the DOD Cloud Computing Security Requirements Guide Impact Level 6, the Intelligence Community Directive 503 and the Joint Special Access Program Implementation Guide.
“Our AWS GSCA partners have demonstrated the ability to reduce the classified compliance preparation timeline for commercial AI companies, from over a year to just a few months,” said Amy Belcher, director of worldwide public sector independent software vendor sales and go-to-market strategy at AWS. “This means mission-critical solutions can be deployed in classified environments while they still represent a technological advantage for the country.”
How Does the Expansion Benefit Commercial and Government Users?
For technology companies, the expanded GSCA program provides a structured road map to build compliant applications in the AWS Secret Cloud and AWS Top Secret Cloud for classified use, reducing documentation workloads and providing guidance that translates Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program controls to classified requirements.
For authorization officials and mission owners within the defense and intelligence communities, leveraging the program could help cut procurement-to-deployment timelines by up to 60 percent for critical AI/ML capabilities using pre-vetted architectural patterns.
Why Does the Expansion Matter for National Security?
AWS said its Secret and Top Secret Cloud regions already provide the infrastructure for secure and scalable classified workloads. By extending GSCA to those environments, the company aims to create a bridge between commercial innovation and national security operations, enabling the adoption of new technologies while maintaining compliance and operational security.
