Leaders at the U.S. Department of Defense have been looking for a way to centralize their Joint All Domain Command and Control endeavor. Under this ideal state, communications and data sharing would be interlocked in a seamless mesh network that includes all six military branches and is functional at the edge: wherever a warfighter is active.
Though JADC2’s purpose is interoperability, the Army, the Navy and Air Force each have their own program to help execute and make it a reality: Project Convergence, Project Overmatch and the Advanced Battle Management System, respectively. Prominent DOD officials like Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks and Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall have identified that Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Officer Craig Martell might be the person to provide a way forward to align and coordinate JADC2 across all defense components. (Kendall and Hicks are both multiple Wash100 Award winners.)
“I think it’s going to be led by the new Chief [Digital] and AI Officer, Craig Martell, who comes to us from industry and has a very good technical background. Hopefully he’ll be able to help pull it together. But there’s a definite need to do that,” commented Kendall last year.
The CDAO’s role in the DOD’s efforts to combine and strengthen its data and technologies will be a central topic at the Potomac Officers Club’s Aug. 10 event, the Integrating for Mission Success Forum, hosted at Falls Church, Virginia’s 2941 Restaurant. Deputy CDAO for Enterprise Capabilities Greg Little will be delivering the keynote address. You won’t want to miss this, so register here now.
“At the CDAO, I think we have a real opportunity to be able to support our warfighters in crises and we’re really uniquely positioned to do that. We have the ability to connect data dots across the department, whether that’s looking at logistics, financials, personnel operations or intelligence,” Little said.
One of the things that the CDAO is doing to connect these data dots and make strides in the JADC2 realm is the reignition of the Global Information Dominance Experiments. The internationally aimed trials are reportedly the first time the DOD has conducted a large-scale experiment centered on and powered by data, analytics and AI.
GIDE V was carried out in January and the sixth, seventh and eighth editions of the experimentation are expected to all occur in 2023. Intended to directly inform JADC2, Martell said that they’re meant to both identify blockages and stumbling blocks for joint force data-sharing related to policy, security, connectivity, user-interface and more.
Additionally, the GIDEs will demonstrate how data, analytics and AI could “improve Joint workflows in a variety of missions from global integrated deterrence through targeting and fires,” per Martell.
By all accounts, Deputy Secretary Hicks is personally responsible for recruiting Martell to the DOD from the private sector and she has faith he will be able to help take JADC2 to the next level.
To hear more about JADC2’s future and the CDAO’s role in shaping it, be sure to register for the Potomac Officers Club’s Integrating for Mission Success Forum, to be held on Aug. 10 at 2941 Restaurant. A delicious breakfast will be served as you enjoy speeches and dialogues from and between top government and commercial leaders, and there will be ample opportunities for networking.
