DOD to embed data experts within combatant commands
The Department of Defense is launching a new Artificial Intelligence and Data Accelerator initiative (AIDA) that will embed teams of data experts within combatant commands, Deputy Secretary Kathleen Hicks said Tuesday.
Under the scheme, two types of teams will be embedded: operational data teams, which are focused on creating new tools and policies, and “flyaway teams” that are parachuted in to assist on specific problem sets.
The initiative is part of the DOD’s work to implement its Joint All Domain Command and Control (JADC2) strategy, which outlines a vision in which a military internet of things and data become central to the theater of war.
Hicks said the new data teams will bring “top tier talent and technology” to modernize the data and IT infrastructure combatant commands rely on and the policies that dictate data usage. They will start with a 90-day window to make improvements.
Artificial intelligence is to be used to sift through the large amounts of data being generated as part of the JADC2 strategy. AI systems in command centers will have the power to communicate directly with each other.
The strategy for how JADC2 could modernize military operations was signed by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in May, giving the department the approval to move ahead on new initiatives like AIDA.
The technology that is intended to drive JADC2 has largely yet to materialize. That’s one of the problems the new operational and flyaway teams will work on, building out the data platforms and AI infrastructure that will form the basis of the strategy.
