DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FORCE
all of it to really optimise decision making and drive insights . The change we ’ ve really been driving over the last year has a holistic enterprise focus that is driving meaningful change , which is really exciting .”
Data , Vidrine says regarding the key to smart working . “ Is there still , as the saying used to go , no such thing as too much data ? “ There are some datasets that have higher opportunities for return on investment ,” she counters . “ There are some datasets that we use in the majority of use cases . So getting those datasets into visible , accessible , actionable , and really high quality data is really the starting point . And one of the other big efforts we ’ re making is focused on visible data analytics .”
Indeed , visible and accessible data forms a central platform of the Department of Defence ’ s combined data strategy . Other strands of that strategy include data that is understandable , linked , trustworthy , interoperable and secure . The last word is close to Vidrine ’ s heart . “ It ’ s all about zero trust , but it ’ s also about partnerships . Secure data is something we have to get right .”
Data management Data management is changing , not least because machine learning can do so much of the heavy lifting when it comes to data mining and analysis . The Department of the Air Force has an AI accelerator based at MIT , where researchers work alongside airmen and guardians to refine and develop the AI required to process data at mission speed . “ Having that data at the point of the decision making opportunity is critical ,” Vidrine explains . “ I don ’ t think that ’ s about one technology or the other – you have to have the right capability for the right purpose at the right time .”
None of this – the overarching software architecture , the data capture and analysis – is done in isolation . A web of partnerships must be coordinated to deliver the tools that will enable the digital transformation of the Department of the Air Force . As well as ‘ defence prime ’ ( the top tier of defence contractors , including names such as Raytheon and Lockheed ), there is a vast array of smaller , equally vital , partners . For Dunlap , this forms a triangle between the primes , the wider
182 November 2021