2019 I/ITSEC

Sessions Speakers Exhibitors Products Press Releases Show Specials Floor Plan Buzz

Signature Event 6: The Impact of Data and Simulations for 21st Century Warfare (Room 310AB)

Our troops have more data available than ever before. Just think of the vast quantity of imagery, terrain data, and intelligence data — whether collected traditionally or through harvesting open sources like social media. Data Outruns our Capabilities! While Velocity, Volume, Variety and Veracity (the 4 “magical” V’s) of data are growing faster and faster, our capabilities to handle the data and — more importantly — to leverage data for our operational purposes are not growing nearly as fast. Ultimately, todays Warfighters and Commanders can’t leverage available data (e.g., for improved decision-making) as much as it is desired and required to dominate complex theaters. Data Needs Our Attention! The most successful businesses around the globe have realized that data is the fuel of the 21st century economy. It is no longer enough to simply store data or to produce standardized reports — fully exploiting data and generating real value requires more effort. Businesses must truly understand their data, they must investigate their data, and they must be able to instantaneously transform their data into insights that can be readily used. Data is regularly a lot more expensive than the simulator or command & control system using the data — yet defense organizations around the world focus their operations and maintenance efforts on the systems, not on the data. Data Requires Our Care! We need to change our way of working! We need to treat data as a critical resource — a resource that requires constant attention and care. Without institutionalizing key aspects like data ownership and data portfolio management (very much like you manage your financial portfolio), our ability to benefit from data is limited, no matter how much data we have available, and the costs of dealing with data at scale are out of control. Data – What You Should Know About It! Data and information systems (including simulators and C2 systems) impact all aspects of 21st century defense from acquisition and training to operations and missions. This event gives every warfighter, commander, system engineer, project manager, and leadership a true view on the value of data, and what each and every one of you can do to really leverage data.