Takeaways from DX23—Data Is the Future of War

Admiral Stavridis summarized the myriad challenges the U.S. and its allies face—Russia, China, insurgent groups, cyber criminals. He drew a parallel between the history-changing Battle of Agincourt and today’s fundamental technical change of connecting weapon systems. “Data will become the fuel of security,” he said, adding that it’s critical to achieve data dominance before “quantum hits with AI.”

Observing that 2023 marks the 50th anniversary of the internet’s founding, Vint declared that connectivity is “the fundamental design decision in the internet.” He said protections need to be created to ensure freedom from harm without fragmenting the connectivity that gives the internet its value. As for the overall approach, he says today’s advances—for example, placing computing power at the edge to empower warfighters—show the efficacy of decentralization.

Using the analogy of streaming music versus downloading it, Ki discussed how a decentralized approach to data coupled with ubiquitous internet can accelerate the evolution from a digital to a cognitive age. He spoke of human-machine partnerships yielding game-changers such as dynamically generated recommendations for command and control, weapon-to-target parenting, and resilient logistics.

Recounting an in-flight incident where she had to overcome an intermittent data problem to prevent a collision, the nation’s first African-American female naval flight officer stressed that easing the warfighter’s cognitive load is essential. Drawing on her experience as head of the Secretary of Defense’s Office of Industrial and Manufacturing-Based Policy, she gave three imperatives: simplify, provide, and adapt data for the mission.

Getting data to the warfighter in a digestible format was the opening theme, with Garrett recounting how, as a Marine, he was tasked to conduct a raid in Afghanistan—only to discover his geographic intel was inaccurate. Nick mentioned that context is critical for data quality: “If I’m dropping a bomb with a 10-mile blast radius, 5 feet left or right [as a margin of error is] probably not the most critical thing I should be worrying about.” Regarding DOD policy, Howard noted that it’s important to replace the “need to know with a need to share” culture.