Defense Leads Prioritize Data Governance Over Emerging Tech

The Defense Department is targeting data literacy, governance, operationalization and secure sharing to enhance decision-making and efficiency, military leaders said Tuesday at AWS re:Invent in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Army Operationalizes Data

Army CIO Leonel Garciga said the service is focused on operationalizing existing data then integrating it across different functional areas while developing a data-literate workforce and data governance strategy.

“We definitely don’t have a technology problem. We have more technology than we know what to do with,” said Garciga. “What we really have right now is the hard work. That’s where we’re spending so much time [is] good governance on data. That’s really driving this idea of building the right requirement to solve the right problem.”

The Army is shifting its mindset with the concept of “echelonment of data,” distinguishing between enterprise data, to deliver the right information at the right time to make the right decisions.

Navy Measures Data Success

Department of the Navy Acting CTO Justin Fanelli emphasized that how DOD measures and communicates improvements made by data operationalization, especially to non-technical stakeholders, will determine future success.

“Where we show that data has provided us more operational resilience or more adaptability … that’s where we need your help, [so] that you can say we’re not 10% better — that’s industrial grade improvement — we are 200% better. We are 700% better. Data is allowing us to do that,” Fanelli said.

Fanelli also stressed the need for strong data governance and security, as well as the willingness to collaborate across service branches to create and share best practices.

“We’re going to be interdependent. We have to,” Fanelli said.

DLA Eyes APIs to Share Data

Defense Logistics Agency CIO Adarryl Roberts emphasized data’s potential to impact deterrence.

“We’re really looking at data as strategic asset because we don’t want to go to conflict. How do we use that make it more operational … to be a stronger deterrent in this world? We focus on data literacy.”

Roberts said creating an “API library” is part of DLA’s new mission to improve standards and data sharing, coupled with internal and external collaboration.

Roberts highlighted the importance of data sharing between DLA and industry to improve decision-making, emphasizing the need for the department’s new Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) program.

“It’s a necessary evil. That’s our zero-trust model for our commercial partners,” Roberts said. “Data is vital for us to ensure our warfighters have everything they need before they even come in.”

Air Force Pushes for Infrastructure Design Patterns

Michael Medgyessy, CIO and CDO of the Air Force Intelligence Community, discussed how he is measuring success in data practices.

“It’s not really about the [data] volume. It’s about how many people care that you have it? Is it usable, and how in demand is that? … Am I making it an accessible format that’s secure but able to be used when needed, where needed? Then the technology solutions and the mindsets shift, so that the motivations of the various programs that have this data are now being rewarded by measuring how much to sharing it,” Medgyessy explained.

Medgyessy emphasized the importance of identifying infrastructure design patterns that allow the Air Force to move faster, rather than building custom solutions.

He pointed out that air-gapped classified networks do not offer the same capabilities as commercial networks and that infrastructure standards are crucial for success, saying, “a shared responsibility model has to be embraced.”