Dave Spirk: Data Strategy Reinforces DoD's Priority Focus Areas

The Department of Defense released a new strategy to help DoD transform into a data-centric organization that considers data as a strategic asset critical to building and maintaining operational advantage on the battlefield.

The Data Strategy seeks to advance the National Defense and Digital Modernization Strategies and has eight guiding principles, including data ethics, collective data stewardship, data for artificial intelligence training and data as a strategic asset, the Pentagon said in an Oct. 8 news release.

Dave Spirk, chief data officer at DoD, will work with Joint Staff and service department CDOs to operationalize the strategy’s seven goals such as making data secure, interoperable and visible.

Spirk said he received clear guidance from Dana Deasy, chief information officer at DoD and a 2020 Wash100 Award winner, to focus early initiatives on data for joint warfighting.

“The Strategy’s emphasis will allow us to concentrate on that. It reinforces DOD’s priority focus areas of joint warfighting, senior leader decision support and data analytics,” Spirk added.

Spirk announced in September at a summit that DoD will use a “hub-and-spoke” model to support the data strategy and recognize data literacy throughout the department.

Sponsor