By David Vergun
The mission of the Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office is to accelerate the adoption of artificial intelligence, data and analytics across the Department of Defense to modernize the force.
Bill Streilein, its CTO, spoke Wednesday at Defense One’s virtual event, “Genius Machines: Understanding the AI Threat Landscape.”
One of the main challenges is data sharing between industry and foreign partners who might have a lot to contribute. However, data classification remains a barrier to sharing, he said.
“It’s not so much a technical challenge, because the ability to share data has been around for a while. It’s more of a political challenge, to be honest. But to get there, it takes a lot of discussion, a lot of mutual understanding about what data needs to be shared,” he said.
There have been recent discussions about allowing DOD to streamline the sharing of a comprehensive data set and which parts need to be specially protected and which parts can be shared as is, he said.
The crises in Ukraine and Israel have intensified these discussions, because information sharing is essential for these battle spaces, he said.
Streilein also spoke about the importance of talent management and training candidates for AI and other digital technology positions within the department.
A number of courses have recently launched, including at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Johns Hopkins University and the Naval Postgraduate School, where senior leaders can immerse themselves in data analytics and AI, he said.
These courses help take away the mystery surrounding these skills and understand why they are important, he said, adding that “the more leaders know about these skills…the more they can make better decisions about how to benefit the department.”
