DOD Releases Digital Modernization Strategy
The Defense Department on July 15 announced the rollout of its “Digital Modernization Strategy,” designed to guide the Pentagon’s IT modernization process for the foreseeable future.
The 72-page document has four key goals: innovate for competitive advantage, optimize for efficiencies and improved capability, evolve cybersecurity for an agile and resilient defense posture, and cultivate talent for a ready workforce.
“Through four strategic initiatives, this strategy outlines how the department will increase agility and remain competitive within a constantly evolving digital global threat landscape,” DOD CIO Dana Deasy said in a news release. “The National Defense Strategy makes clear that the character of warfare is changing. Our ultimate goal is to ensure our men and women in uniform maintain strategic advantage on the battlefield.”
Notably, the strategy emphasizes four clear priorities for the DOD CIO: cybersecurity; artificial Intelligence; cloud; and command, control and communications. “Cloud and cognitive computing will significantly alter warfighting and defense business operations,” the strategy notes.
Standing up the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center is a key strategy that the DOD said will help integrate AI deployment. The JAIC is the DOD’s new AI hub that partners across sectors to research and develop military applications for the department.
“Cloud is the foundation upon which DoD will build and scale more effective cybersecurity, advanced analytical capabilities, better command and control, and future enabling technologies,” the strategy adds. “This foundation will enable the Department to organize massive amounts of data and support rapid access to information for improved decision-making, preserving and extending our military advantage.”
