What “Network-Centric to Data-Centric” Really Means

Although the change from “network-centric” to “data-centric” command-and-control networks has been cited as the critical enabler of Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2), the concept is commonly misunderstood.

Stakeholders often think network-centric to data-centric means:

1. New and more capable common data standards are the answer. With this method, more data can be normalized and processed by the network.
2. A universal data cloud is the answer. Data is more available and accessible by everyone everywhere.
3. Nothing, really—it’s just the latest sound bite to emphasize the need to use data from all sources: commercial, defense, intelligence, etc. This doesn’t suggest a solution path at all, but rather just restates the problem.

While all these interpretations may sound reasonable, each one risks undermining the switch from network-centric to data-centric:

1. Widespread adoption of new data standards is a big undertaking, since it requires making old data and networks compliant. Yet new standards will inevitably become inadequate, and the cycle continues.
2. A universal cloud will allow better access to more data, but addressing just the access problem fails to highlight or improve the value of that data. And this is a problem because in many cases it’s not the lack of data that’s the issue, but rather too much of it. The needle-in-the-haystack problem persists.
3. Chalking up network-centric to data-centric as just another JADC2 sound bite detracts from actually solving the problem.  

These misunderstandings stem from applying traditional thinking and conventional technologies. Network-centric to data-centric is actually a new approach that requires the latest technologies to realize. Here’s a more accurate and useful interpretation: Network-centric to data-centric means the network must accommodate the data rather than the data needing to accommodate the network.

To achieve the switch from network-centric to data-centric, the network makes use of all the data, rather than requiring the data be in specific standards or formats. The onus now falls on the technology within the network itself to take in, process, and use of all the data regardless of origin, type, or classification.

This is a radical departure from the way the Department of Defense (DOD) has designed and built past networks, where each platform, sensor, or weapon system had its own custom networks passing tailored data that adhered to custom standards. This makes any integration of a new data source or weapon to be a massive and complicated effort.

A data-centric network would realize the full potential of more data, whether it comes from a cloud or any other source, because it will make sense of the data and pass it to the right recipient accordingly. Such a network is possible today—but only if the DOD uses new technologies such as artificial intelligence, advanced multi-level security (MLS), intelligent network routing, data fusion, and edge processing to move JADC2 forward.