| To support warfighters in today’s rapidly changing threat environment, the Department of Defense (DoD) is transforming itself towards net-centricity. The heart of the net-centric approach is information sharing: The ability to access information, use it, and collaborate it with others is the key to an agile DoD enterprise.
Amid all the net-centric activities and initiatives lies a key enabler to this vision: the Net-Centric Data Strategy (NCDS). As DoD Chief Information Officer (CIO) John Grimes said, “It is all about the data. To successfully implement a secure enterprise-level net-centric operations capability for the warfighter, we must move away from highly tailored programs that manipulate data and move to exposing the data in a timely fashion.”
In a fully operational net-centric enterprise, these seven data goals become reality so that the right data can get to the right people at the right time, in a secure fashion. There are several paradigm shifts in the data sharing philosophy:
 |
- From ownership to stewardship
- From need-to-know to right-to-know
- From systems to services
- From stovepipes to enterprise
- From programs to portfolios
From the technology perspective, the conceptual architecture reflects the major mechanisms / best practices for making data visible, accessible, understandable, and trusted:
- Tagging data with metadata for visibility
- Registries and catalogs that facilitate federated search across the enterprise
- Use of data schemas, vocabularies, and other Information Exchange Standards and Specifications (IESS) for data understandability and interoperability
- Designation of Authoritative Data Sources (ADS) to provide trusted data
- Need for enterprise infrastructure such as security, discovery, and management
|
Data Transformation in the Army means addressing not only the technical challenges of net-centricity, but also the governance and managerial aspects. Ensuring a successful migration to net-centric operations also means ensuring sound governance, data management, and data quality processes that reduce the risks associated with migrating data across systems and platforms. Consequently, the Army is developing a strategic Data Transformation Plan, overseen by the Army Chief Data Officer, supported by the Data Governance structure and made possible through a common Army Data Framework and specifications.
The Army will enhance warfighting capabilities through application of net-centric concepts, technologies and standards, institutionalized in a governance and technical framework, to enable net-centric data assets that are visible, accessible, understandable, trusted and interoperable to all users. Transforming to Army net-centricity will advance federated, enterprise-wide information sharing, enabling the ability to pull data from multiple authoritative sources to achieve Army-wide solutions (e.g., Executive Support System and Suicide Mitigation). Enterprise-wide data migration planning is part of the integrated architecture processes to increase data quality and trusted data assets through reducing redundant sources. This in turn will reduce operational costs as redundant sources are eliminated and formal data quality process increases.
Implementation timelines will be coordinated through the Army Data Council and Enterprise Guidance Board to ensure a harmonized approach across the Enterprise. The Army CIO/G-6 provides technical implementation guidance, vetting with the Army community through the Army Data Council and the Enterprise Guidance Board for implementation within the capability areas and across the Enterprise.
Data Management Practices and Implementation success will be monitored and measured through the use of Data Management Practice Assessments (DMPA) and various metrics associated with measuring net-centric implementation.
|
