• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Excelitas Qioptiq banner

BATTLESPACE Updates

   +44 (0)77689 54766
   

  • Home
  • Features
  • News Updates
  • Defence Engage
  • Company Directory
  • About
  • Subscribe
  • Contact
  • Media Pack 2023

NEW TECHNOLOGIES

April 7, 2017 by

Web Page sponsor Oxley Developments

www.oxleygroup.com
————————————————————————
06 Apr 17. The US Defense Innovation Board, a group put together by former Secretary of Defense Ash Carter and headed by Google chairman Eric Schmidt, is weighing the possibility of creating a central repository for the massive amounts of data collected by the military. Changing how the Pentagon collects, maintains and uses data is going to be vital for the U.S. to maintain its technological edge going forward, the board members concluded at an April 4 hearing at the Pentagon. At the same time, the advisers acknowleded that the project comes loaded with thorny security and cultural questions. When the group held its first public meeting in October, it laid out a collection of suggestions, including the creation of a chief innovation officer, new software testing rules, and a focus on machine learning. But after six months of research and visits to military bases, the group has zeroed in on the issue of data management as one that impacts every other idea on innovation. The exploitation of data is central to any attempt by the Pentagon to employ artificial intelligence or machine learning, with Schmidt noting in his opening remarks this week that “the military, as a general statement, has data everywhere and nowhere as a result. … It’s clear that without doing that a lot of the things the military would like to achieve are not going to happen.” Right now, there is no common database for all the data collected, with hundreds of different databases stored all over the department, the majority of which do not have common coding that would allow interfacing.
Speaking in March, William Roper, the head of the Pentagon’s Strategic Capabilities Office, said the department focuses “on data in a 1990s-era way — data for us is like something that you use to go into the fight and win, and after that fight, the purpose of the data, its raison d’etre, is over.
“And that is not the way that the commercial world, especially the big companies that are trying to work analytics and deep learning machinery — to them, that data is truly gold. Probably better, it’s probably closer to oil,” Roper said. “It’s a commodity, it’s a wealth, it’s also a fuel, and you’re data keeps working for you even after you’ve used it.”
But getting to the point where the Pentagon can use data like the commercial sector won’t be easy, with a good example of the data problem facing the Pentagon laid out during an exchange with Lt. Gen. Jack Shanahan, director for defense intelligence at the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence, who said the Pentagon collects 22 terabytes of data every day, roughly the equivalent of 5.5 seasons worth of video for the National Football League.
“You cannot exploit 22 terabytes worth of data the way we are doing things today,” Shanahan said.
But in 2012, Facebook said it was handling more than 500 terabytes of data a day, a number which will only have expanded in the five years since – and that data is all processed, stored and used to impact how a Facebook user interacts with the website, including creating targeted content relevant to their interests.
In other words, what Shanahan called a “tsunami” of data is something the commercial sector could handle five years ago.
Schmidt himself cited that 22 terabyte figure and noted that “within the business world, this is not overwhelming. Those kind of numbers are easily dealt with, with modern computing. So there is an example of a big gap between the commercial and defense worlds.”
In addition, all involved agreed that getting all the data in one place is another thing – figuring out how to make the various databases talk to each other, and knowing how to mine them, remains a major challenge given the number of older systems involved.
Culture and Security Concerns
During the hearing, six witnesses from inside the Pe

Primary Sidebar

Advertisers

  • qioptiq.com
  • Exensor
  • TCI
  • Visit the Oxley website
  • Visit the Viasat website
  • Blighter
  • SPECTRA
  • Britbots logo
  • Faun Trackway
  • Systematic
  • CISION logo
  • ProTEK logo
  • businesswire logo
  • ProTEK logo
  • ssafa logo
  • Atkins
  • IEE
  • EXFOR logo
  • DSEi
  • sibylline logo
  • Team Thunder logo
  • Commando Spirit - Blended Scoth Whisy
  • Comtech logo
  • GoExporting logo
  • Supercat logo
  • Galvion logo
Hilux Military Raceday Novemeber 2023 Chepstow SOF Week 2023

Contact Us

BATTLESPACE Publications
Old Charlock
Abthorpe Road
Silverstone
Towcester NN12 8TW

+44 (0)77689 54766

BATTLESPACE Technologies

An international defence electronics news service providing our readers with up to date developments in the defence electronics industry.

Recent News

  • PARLIAMENTARY QUESTIONS

    June 2, 2023
    Read more
  • EXHIBITIONS AND CONFERENCES

    June 2, 2023
    Read more
  • MANAGEMENT ON THE MOVE

    June 2, 2023
    Read more

Copyright BATTLESPACE Publications © 2002–2023.

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. If you continue to use the website, we'll assume you're ok with this.   Read More  Accept
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT