U.S. Army Chief Information Officer (CIO) Leo Garciga released a new policy earlier this month that aims to create a “chain of responsibility” around the service branch’s data to guide how the Army can manage it efficiently and effectively.
The new policy issued in an April 2 memo outlines the roles and responsibilities for data stewardship from the Army’s chief data and analytics officer to the Mission Area Leads.
The new responsibilities aim to address control and protection of data assets – including data products in transit and at rest – and ensure Army users handle these data assets properly and adhere to legal, Pentagon, and Army requirements and guidance.
Among the new requirements, the Army’s Mission Area Leads will nominate Mission Area Data Officers within 30 days from when the policy is established.
“These mission data officers will appoint data stewards, who will be responsible for evaluating functional mission and data products to ensure efficient management of data in their domain,” the memo states.
The Army Chief Data and Analytics Officer (CDAO) will review individuals nominated by the Mission Area Leads for the Mission Area Data Officers positions. If approved, the CDAO will appoint the Mission Area Data Officers individually within two weeks of nomination.
This new policy further advances the Army’s “vision for data management and analytics, incorporating elements of artificial intelligence” by establishing a culture of data-driven decision-making and leveraging data to drive business value while aligning with the Department of Defense Data, Analytics, and Artificial Intelligence Adoption Strategy.
“It supports the continuous improvement of Army data stewardship practices, processes, and technologies to support the CIO’s strategic objectives,” the memo reads.
For example, the policy directs the Army to update the “Army Data Plan and related policies to align [with] data mesh principles to enable data-centric interoperability in and between enterprise and tactical environments.” This update would help address challenges to becoming a data-driven force.
The Army is also adopting data mesh principles to standardize data management, orchestration, and analysis, thus improving the speed and precision of data utilization for mission success.
