Thomas Kenney, chief data officer of U.S. Special Operations Command, said military branches should develop standards to manage system interoperability and data access as the Department of Defense works to complete its joint all domain command and control strategy.
“If we’re going to democratize the data and democratize our systems, having a common way to secure that data, where systems talk in like ways to each other, will really accelerate our ability to have interoperability,” Kenney told C4ISRNET during a webcast.
The Pentagon’s JADC2 concept envisions a single network linking military sensors and processing information meant to help commanders make decisions in a cloud-like platform. Kenney said DOD should also explore tools to manage digital identities and credentials across the military.
SOCOM aims to incorporate application programming interfaces into a data fabric to help special operations forces communicate with personnel from another military service.
Lt. Gen. Dennis Crall, chief information officer of the Joint Staff and 2021 Wash100 Award recipient, indicated at a virtual conference in April that the JADC2 strategy was nearing completion.
A Congressional Research Service report noted that DOD is managing different communications platforms that use various radio frequencies and standards, posing a threat to the interoperability under the JADC2 plan.