Six top takeaways from data panel at AFCEA NOVA Army IT Days

On day two of AFCEA NOVA’s Army IT Days — held virtually from Jan. 21-22 — PEO EIS program executive officer Ross Guckert took part in the Army Data Environments panel with Dr. David Markowitz, chief data officer, U.S. Army CIO; Dovarius Peoples, director of corporate information, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE); and Robin Swan, director of the Office of Business Transformation, Office of the Secretary of the Army.

Panelists discussed the Army’s emerging data strategy, related challenges, opportunities and how industry can help support upcoming initiatives and future needs. Following are six of the chief takeaways from the panel discussion:

1. The emerging data strategy requires culture change. Noting that it’s “quite a change for the Army,” Markowitz said Army professionals have to figure out how to obtain data, secure it, transmit it to the right person, make a decision based on the data, and know when to keep or toss it. 

2. To ensure that data meets mission needs and requirements, it’s important to get input from commanders and users, said Guckert. He added that it’s essential to standardize and clean the data, identify authoritative sources and present data in a format that commanders can use to quickly make informed decisions.

3. One overarching question is how to measure progress toward achieving what data analytics should do, according to Swan. He noted the need to create objective criteria to determine “if you met the marker.” Swan cited Army Vantage, PEO EIS’s enterprise data analytics platform, as a program that’s “begun to pay huge dividends.”

4. To establish the data fabric — a unified platform for data integration and management — between the enterprise and tactical elements, Peoples said USACE is looking at it from a shared services perspective. “We’re trying to figure out how to allow for mission sharing from tactical and operational perspectives,” he said.

5. PEO EIS is increasingly looking at artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning software to aid data visualization and analysis, said Guckert, noting that EIS is working with the Small Business Innovation Research office on potential initiatives in the AI domain. “I see much broader use of such tools in the future,” he said.

6. Industry can help support the Army’s data priority by focusing on innovation and keeping an eye on upcoming business opportunities. Guckert pointed to the procurement forecast on PEO EIS’s website, and Peoples mentioned an upcoming Army Corps of Engineers request for information on automating business systems.