Charting the Future of Defense

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The National Defense Strategy (NDS) sets the strategic direction for our military to meet the security threats of tomorrow. Overall, the Defense Strategy focuses on China and Russia as the primary adversaries, but it also emphasizes the importance of global cooperation among allies as well as adversaries to meet threats that are bigger than any one country including climate change, food insecurity, and pandemics. The defense strategy lays out three primary tactics for advancing U.S. and global security.

Integrated Deterrence

The practice of integrated deterrence involves working closely across all branches of the military, warfighting domains, and even across other federal entities to ensure national security. It expands responsibility for deterring adversaries beyond the Department of Defense (DoD), involving the intelligence community, health agencies, environmental agencies, and more. Continue reading →

Learning to Love Machine Learning in Government

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Machine Learning (ML) and other aspects of Artificial Intelligence (AI) are becoming a critical part of government modernization plans. The fear that "machines will replace people" has largely disappeared. In fact, people see the benefit that ML provides for human workers. ML technology allows machines to do what they are best at - fast computation of large data sets - freeing up humans to do what they do best - analyzing and making sense of the data produced.

The new reality is that while machines will not replace people, those that refuse to adopt and adapt to AI-enabled tools may in fact find themselves replaced by other people that do. The proof is in the pudding. ML tools are helping government teams meet critical challenges of unemployment fraud, natural disasters, racial equity, and healthcare. Continue reading →

Big Data in Government: Doing More With More

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In an era where we're often asked to "do more with less," government is finding the need to do more with more when it comes to data. There is no lack of data within government systems. The challenge has always been getting the right access to it and then making it usable. Data can go a long way in helping meet key government-wide goals of better customer experience and increased equity in government service. There are a number of interesting applications of Big Data solutions across government to illustrate the power of data to make a difference.

Mapping Climate Impact

The Climate Mapping for Resilience and Adaptation portal provides real-time information about extreme weather threats. It integrates data from across the Federal government to show viewers their current exposure to climate-related hazards such as flooding, wildfires, and extreme heat. It also shares projections for future weather threats, allowing users to zoom into specific counties, towns, or census tracts to see what hazards may impact life there in the coming years.

This information not only informs the public, but allows local governments and community organizations to plan response, mitigation, and resiliency programs. It also includes information on Federal grant funds available for financing programs so that those organizations can more efficiently begin their planning. Continue reading →

Agile Becomes a Core Competency of Government

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Agile is not a technology but rather an approach. As such, the barriers to adoption are not technical, they are cultural. Moving to Agile requires a complete shift in thinking from waterfall development. No longer is it feasible to set requirements at the beginning of the project and then design to those specifications, not launching until the whole system is complete. Rather, Agile works more in line with the pace of today, emphasizing constant communication to introduce change into the development process and encouraging small elements of the end solution to be released throughout the project lifecycle. Use of Agile in government has come a long way, but there is still room for improvement in how agencies meet digital goals and expectations. Continue reading →

AI Reporting for Duty

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Artificial Intelligence (AI) is becoming a key tool in the arsenal of the U.S. military. In 2022, the Department of Defense (DoD) launched the Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office (CDAO) to become the "go-to place for talent and technical expertise." It was formed by merging several DoD offices to create a single, coordinated effort to advance AI technology and policy. Specifically, the CDAO is charged to:

  • Lead the Department's strategy and policy on data, analytics, and AI adoption, as well as govern and oversee efforts across the Department.
  • Empower the development of digital and AI-enabled solutions across the Department, while also selectively scaling proven solutions for enterprise and joint use cases.
  • Provide a sophisticated cadre of technical experts that serve as a de facto data and digital response force able to address urgent crises and emerging challenges with state-of-the-art digital solutions.

A key focus of the CDAO will be how to use AI to better coordinate forces in support of the DoD's Joint All-Domain Command Control (JADC2) efforts. Initial tactical goals include:

  • Review the Department's policy, strategy, data governance, analytics, and AI to create an integrated Data, Analytics, and AI strategy.
  • Provide the enterprise-level infrastructure and services that enable efforts to advance adoption of data, analytics, and AI.
  • Solve and scale enterprise and joint use cases in support of the National Defense Strategy and the Advancing Data and AI (ADA) initiative.

Continue reading →