Teecht. Dod It Efforts Focus On Warfighter, Competitive Edge, Cio Says

By Lisa Ferdinando, DoD News, Defense Media Activity

ARLINGTON, Va. -- The Defense Department’s information applied scientific discipline efforts are focused on maintaining the warfighters’ border too supporting national defence priorities, DoD’s main information officeholder said hither today.

“Today's safety surroundings is affected yesteryear rapid technological advancements too the changing grapheme of war,” Dana Deasy said inwards a keynote address at a conference hosted yesteryear Defense Systems. “The warfighter needs access to news too communication to enable quick decision-making too hold a competitive edge.”

DoD is inwards a “period of unified purpose, intellectual rigor, too unwavering dedication” to the National Defense Strategy's iii lines of endeavor – increasing lethality, strengthening alliances too reforming draw of piece of occupation organisation practices, he said.

Deasy identified 4 strategic areas inwards the department’s digital modernization inwards back upwardly of the National Defense Strategy, listing them inwards social club of integration: cloud; artificial intelligence; command, command too communications; too cyber.

Cyber, Deasy said, is key to everything the subdivision does.

“We must dominate inwards cyber,” he said. “The complexity too interdependencies of our digital modernization too adversary utilisation of cyber agency it is to a greater extent than critical each solar daytime that nosotros house cyber safety first.”

The department, he said, is countering cybersecurity threats amongst a broad hit of tools too policies, every bit it industrial plant closely amongst U.S. Cyber Command, federal agencies, mission partners too industry.

Enterprise Cloud System Supports Warfighter

Deasy, who is leading the department’s cloud initiative, said the subdivision needs an corporation cloud arrangement that allows flexibility inwards deciding where to house workloads, every bit good every bit ensuring the continuity of those workloads.

“Enterprise cloud volition lay the foundation for thus many hereafter warfighter capabilities,” he said.

He outlined the ask for consistent infrastructure for managing both classified too unclassified data. The platform must encourage an “enterprise approach to developing cloud-aware applications,” he said.

Over time, the Defense Department volition fully leverage the benefits of a multicloud, multivendor environment, he said. The subdivision currently operates amongst multiple clouds, but that capability is “disparate too disjointed,” he said. He added that DoD lacks “true corporation capability that volition deliver the efficiencies too the scale that the subdivision needs.”

The CIO pointed out in that place is a “full, top-down, bottom-up review” of the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure, JEDI, effort, which is seeking an enterprisewide cloud infrastructure to ensure warfighters accept access to real-time, mission-critical data.

Technology Solutions for Warfighters

On artificial intelligence, Deasy highlighted the creation of the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center. He described it every bit merely about other meaning endeavor for the department, maxim it volition aid DoD advance its mightiness to organize for AI capability delivery too to acquire every bit an enterprise.

“When I retrieve well-nigh cloud, too AI, too all of the advanced capabilities nosotros desire to convey to the warfighter, I retrieve well-nigh making certain the warfighter has the correct comms too the correct information at the correct time,” he said. “And the same goes for our mission partners.”

On command too control, Deasy explained the department’s digital modernization volition ensure updates to the nuclear triad are matched amongst modern too secure command too command systems. “I accept directed my staff to remain inwards lockstep amongst U.S. Strategic Command every bit nosotros become frontwards on this,” he stated.

Deasy, who has been inwards the chore for 2 months, serves every bit the principal staff assistant too senior advisor to the secretarial assistant of defence too deputy secretarial assistant of defence for information technology.