Traditionally, that meant collecting and sending data back to command facilities in Hawaii or the continental U.S. for analysis and response. But in fast-changing operational environments, that approach is quickly becoming outmoded and unreliable.

This scenario highlights both the challenge commanders face and the strategic shift underway across the military. The decisive advantage no longer rests solely on the movement of troops and materiel—but on the ability to move and process information faster, more securely, and with greater operational relevance than adversaries.

Achieving that kind of information advantage means being able to deliver real-time insights to warfighters in the field—especially in environments where communications are disconnected, disrupted, intermittent, or limited (DDIL). This isn’t just a technical upgrade; it’s a strategic imperative.

Underlying this shift is the growing expectation that actionable intelligence will reach those on the front lines faster than it reaches our adversaries. That expectation is driven in no small part by the commercial experience most consumers have become accustomed to – e.g., the ability to track deliveries en route and notifications when they arrive.  

Conflict planning and logistics in contested DDIL environments are obviously more complicated, which is all the more reason why the advantage lies with those who have an information advantage. That requires assessing, processing, and disseminating vast amounts of data quickly at the edge.

Gaining the data edge

“In many regards, data is the five-five-six round of the next war,” said John Sahlin, vice president for defense cyber solutions at General Dynamics Information Technology (GDIT), referring to the standardized rifle cartridge used by NATO forces. “It has become the lynchpin to enhance the decision-making process for advantage.”

That advantage depends on more than just collecting data. It requires turning it into usable intelligence faster than adversaries can react.

“The core problem is latency,” explained Matt Ashton, partner customer engineer at Google Public Sector. “Until recently, the immense volume of data from sensors, drones, and logistical trackers required the processing power and AI available primarily in distant cloud computing centers.”

“Our DOD customers struggle with the current status quo at the edge because they can’t run true AI,” said Ashton. “So data has to get sent back to the mother ship to crunch the data and get a resolution. The massive differentiator now is our ability to provide AI at the edge.”

According to both industry experts, the solution lies in a combination of powerful, ruggedized edge computing platforms and AI models specifically engineered for defense use that can operate independently, even when completely disconnected from high-capacity networks.

Google, for example, provides this capability through its Google Distributed Cloud (GDC), a platform designed to bring data center capabilities to the field.

“GDC was built to run so it never has to ‘call home.’ It can sit on the Moon or a ship. It doesn’t have to get updates,” Ashton said. “It’s a family of solutions that includes a global network, but also features an air-gapped GDC box that connects to the Wide Area Network and other on-prem servers not on the internet.”

This allows commanders on submarines, at remote bases, or in forward-deployed positions to run AI and analytics locally and process vast sensor data streams in-theater without waiting on external links.

Why mission-specific AI models matter

However, raw computing power is only part of the equation. Commercial AI models often lack a nuanced understanding of military operations. This is where operationally relevant AI models developed by GDIT that translate raw data into relevant, actionable intelligence are crucial.

Sahlin compared the role of mission-specific AI models to a speedometer in a car. “What it measures is the revolutions per minute of the axle. What it reports is how fast you’re going in miles per hour,” he explained. “That’s the kind of insight that only comes from real-world familiarity with military operations.”

“A clear grasp of operational objectives is key to developing models that are tuned to real-world demands of each mission,” said Sahlin. “So that may mean multiple mini-models to translate data into relevant insights.”

Sahlin also explained why applications built on an open data architecture model are crucial to adaptability at the edge.

“The real value of an open data architecture, particularly in the defense industry, is that it’s a very decentralized platform. Logistics is a classic example of commercial, local, last-mile delivery providers working with many sources. In the military, you won’t have a single source or model. This is where open architecture is critical.”

Security remains foundational to all of this. Sahlin noted that while the military can benefit from commercial innovation, it still needs to ensure higher levels of security than commercial operators. So it’s also essential that the military’s AI development partners have a deep understanding of the Defense Department’s zero trust security practices and requirements, which apply to the broader base of defense suppliers in the DOD’s supply chain.

“GDIT’s value lies in its longstanding experience supporting defense missions,” Sahlin said. “We work with clients to gather the right data, build tailored models, and deliver intelligence to the edge, even in DDIL conditions where units may be disconnected or intentionally silent.”

Looking ahead

By combining a platform like GDC with mission-specific AI models from GDIT, military logistics teams can move from reactive support to proactive planning, anticipating needs, reallocating resources, and outmaneuvering adversaries.

As operational demands grow more complex and communications become more contested, defense leaders say gaining an information advantage at the edge isn’t just important, it’s essential for mission success.

Learn more about how GDIT and Google Distributed Cloud can help your organization deliver at the edge more proactively.

This article was sponsored by GDIT and Google Cloud.

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Joseph Larson, III, deputy chief digital and AI officer for the DOD Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office, delivered his pitch to government and industry leaders for their participation in addressing these challenges alongside the DOD during Google Cloud NEXT session Supercharging the public sector with AI.

Generative AI is a “technology that leaked from the laboratory, and the department needs to move fast to be prepared for a future where it is a part of the way we do work today,” he stressed.

The rapid adoption of generative AI is a major disruptor of the DOD’s long-established practice of research, validation, testing and deployment when adopting new technology.

Larson explained that the task force was born out of a “concern about both the enormous risks of the technology being misapplied, misused and misunderstood in terms of our workflows, but at the same time the potential, but unrealized and unproved, benefits to a massive enterprise that has the need to leverage AI to solve a number of its problems.”

Task Force Lima is only a few weeks old, but the team seeks involvement from industry to help the DOD understand the rapidly evolving technology.

Larson cited a number of goals the task force is focused on, such as how to measure the performance of models, better understand the metrics and frameworks towards responsible AI, define the strategy and guidance around these frameworks, build out the infrastructure needed to manage data and to identify use cases where the technology would be most valuable.

“This problem of generative AI is taking up a lot of our bandwidth right now, and it’s an area of enormous challenge where we’re going to need the integrated insights of the technology community to advise and assist the department not just in terms of your products, but in terms of the ramifications at a broad level of how this technology manifests in our department,” he said.

“Supercharging the public sector with AI is an objective that can accelerate the public sectors’ missions overall and fulfill the promise of bridging the gap between what constituencies are worried about and how public servants can respond,” shared Katharyn White, director of marketing for public sector at Google.

Watch the full panel discussion, “Supercharging the Public Sector with AI,” and hear more from our government leaders on their AI and security initiatives.

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Mike Barretta is the senior manager of solution architecture for the US public sector at Elastic. He brings over two decades of industry experience in software development, data science, system administration and technical consulting.

Open software has long been recognized by federal civilian, defense and intelligence agencies for providing lower starting costs, faster development processes and community-driven support compared to proprietary software. But agencies often fail to capitalize on the full potential of open software.

One way they can realize greater value, save time and money, and deliver mission objectives faster is by asking a couple of critical questions: Is there a company affiliated with this software? And do they provide features or support that would help our efforts and reduce risk?

By answering these critical questions, mission leaders can make more informed decisions, improve operational capabilities, and ultimately reduce wasted spending.

A common scenario at many agencies occurs when users or developers download and adopt a free tool without taking the time to understand its origin or the additional features available with a license. As a result, agencies typically end up using as little as ten percent of the software’s full potential.

Build vs. Buy

Another key consideration relates to the “build versus buy” dilemma. Open products provide developers tremendous flexibility but usually require additional customization. This is a good thing: open software products are meant to be adapted to fit users’ specific needs, and that is one reason they are so important. All too often, however, developers opt to re-build existing features and solutions instead of considering licensed solutions already available in the product. These customizations can be brittle, poorly supported, and tightly coupled to a specific version of the product as compared to the features built by product engineers. The unfortunate outcome is a system unable to take advantage of the new features, optimizations, and security patches present in newer versions without substantial redevelopment costs. For instance, Elastic consistently rolls out new features and functions every six to eight weeks, ensuring the software remains cutting-edge and an effective fit for evolving missions. This is a challenging pace to match.

The advantages of partnering with open software companies

Working directly with open software companies like Elastic and engaging with their community offers several advantages. Agencies can tap into the expertise of those responsible for the software’s development, ensuring timely updates and influence on new features. Moreover, direct engagement streamlines the integration process, allowing mission leaders to maximize the benefits of open software while minimizing associated costs and time constraints. Additionally, as regular updates can be swiftly implemented, so is the process of safeguarding systems against emerging threats.

Commercially supported open software significantly reduces supply chain risks. Modern and secure development practices, audited release artifacts, and legal liability help open software companies to ensure the products they release are as free from vulnerabilities as any closed software product. Further, since the source code is available to the world, commercially supported open software is often more secure than closed since there are a great number of eyes looking for and reporting vulnerabilities. At Elastic, we have a bug bounty program through HackerOne that pays researchers, hackers, and others to find what we might miss. This proactive approach not only encourages the identification of security flaws but also shows a commitment to continuous security improvement.

The benefits of open software are increasingly evident as public sector and mission leaders face challenges in managing the volume of data they collect. According to new research, 45% of public sector organizations need help managing data volume. In addition, 31% of public sector leaders say they’re not utilizing data optimally across departments because data sits in siloed databases, or teams lack a single source of data truth for collaboration, analytics and data sharing.

Elastic is a prominent example of an open software company making a significant impact in the intelligence community. IC agencies can enhance mission delivery and citizen services by using Elastic to search massive amounts of data and derive insights. Through its innovative solutions, IC agencies can enhance mission delivery and improve citizen services by harnessing Elastic’s capabilities to search and extract insights.

Empowering the intelligence community with an open ecosystem of technologies

We believe that building a robust community requires collaboration, resource sharing, and sharing expertise. This collaboration leads to more effective use of software and tools. We also promote an open ecosystem, encouraging users to freely adopt and integrate their tools. As a company, we are agnostic about how their tools are used and support users’ freedom to experiment with different approaches.

Openness also extends to sharing. We encourage open standards as they enable sharing, reuse, and the easy adoption of best practices by others. We are active contributors to other open software projects, recently donating our data schema, ECS, to OpenTelemetry, a member of the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) with a widely used set of open standards and tools for Observability.  Furthermore, these efforts benefit customers by fostering a collaborative environment and ensuring seamless integration into existing systems.

Decision-making is also a collaborative, data-driven activity as described in the IC data strategy. The new strategy presents four areas that agencies can act on over the next few years, including data interoperability: a core feature of open software like Elastic. As highlighted in a recent blog post, Elastic gives agencies the freedom to share code and architecture with other projects and systems when needed. Unlike the walled gardens of some closed systems, data is stored in non-proprietary formats, meaning both data and analytic methods are transferable within an enterprise architecture or to cross-agency initiatives. 

Elastic is a firm believer in the power of open software to power and grow our national security advantage.

 Learn more about how Elastic can help enhance mission delivery with open source.

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What often gets lost in the spotlight is the hard but essential work of integrating these breakthrough developments into the fabric of existing technologies — and reimagining entirely new ways of creating and delivering value for the federal government and businesses.

We’ve seen that firsthand with 5G. There are many reasons why the commercial release of 5G represents a significant breakthrough over the wireless protocols that came before it.  5G made it possible to deliver data faster, with higher bandwidth and lower latency between devices and servers for edge computing services. Such breakthroughs enable next-generation technologies such as smart mobility, autonomous vehicles, and AR/VR training to the advancement of operations for smart manufacturing, facilities, military bases, ports, the continual growth of the Internet of Things (IoT) and more.

While 5G is now familiar to most of us, its promise, as some people see it, is still taking shape. It was easy to explain how 5G would allow users to download their favorite movie in seconds — or up to 100 times faster than 4G. What’s been harder to appreciate is not only the massive infrastructure investment required to make 5G a reality but also the fact that the 5G device ecosystem is continually evolving and being developed. The same is true for applications that must be developed and integrated with existing systems before 5G becomes genuinely transformational.

The real value of 5G isn’t just about high-capacity data downloads, though that’s a great benefit. Instead, it’s in the power and potential of real-time remote data capture, analysis and decision-making that organizations are on the threshold of achieving that wasn’t possible before 5G.

Among the many organizations that understand that, and are investing accordingly, is the Department of Defense. Thomas Rondeau, the principal director for FutureG and 5G in the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, articulated better than most what 5G represents at a recent Defense Talks summit, where he said:

“One thing we want to make clear when it comes to 5G — and everything that’s going to be based off of where we are with 5G — is that it’s not just another transport layer,” he told an audience of government and defense IT leaders. “It is that edge computing. It’s the local compute. It’s computing through the network. It’s not just tying things together; it’s part of the entire compute fabric.”

Rondeau made two critical points in that regard: One was recognizing the need to integrate 5G into DOD’s existing infrastructure. 5G isn’t simply about having a more efficient pipeline for delivering data. It’s about what 5G can accomplish by expanding the capabilities of the military’s many existing systems.

The other point was, “How do we actually bring our infrastructure to the field?” And the key to that objective is taking advantage of software-defined Radio Access Network (RAN) technology and software-defined networking in ways that can ultimately create interoperable connections among 5G networking components.

Consider the data streaming to command-and-control centers from sensors and surveillance devices worn by warfighters moving toward a target or from transponders attached to materials and parts moving through supply lines. DOD sees 5G and the power of mobile edge computing (MEC) as the glue that can hold — and link — its communications networking and situational awareness together. That capability, and the ability to communicate across all domains and with allied partners, is central to DOD’s Combined Joint All-Domain Command and Control (CJADC2) strategy.

There are still a lot of questions and development work that need to be considered as DOD looks at harnessing 5G and future-G technologies: Questions like, how do we enable innovation by leveraging existing infrastructures and radio spectrum? And how do we do it securely in CONUS and across the globe?

We’re working diligently with DOD and other federal agencies, as well as all of the standards bodies and other vendors, to address these critical questions, not only to support DOD’s mission but to protect consumers as well.

So yes, the promise of 5G is on a continual growth path from when it became part of the mainstream conversation, but the promise is unfolding in ways that are already revolutionizing enterprises as large as the Department of Defense.

Learn more about how Verizon can help the DOD capitalize on the power of 5G and mobile edge computing.

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The Department of Defense (DOD) has a diverse user population like no other organization in the world. The scope of DOD personas includes active-duty U.S. military personnel, reservists and recruits, their DOD civilian counterparts, veterans, students, and military families who all need to be able to access information in a timely and secure manner.

While identity management is often spoken about as a technology capability, we cannot overlook that we are ultimately discussing the right to security for individual users. Military personnel and their families are constantly on the move and users shouldn’t be concerned about the risks of emailing family or communicating across the globe with their comrades at arms.

DoD technology leaders need to ensure user access to trusted applications and services, and shouldn’t have their focus drawn away from the mission to solve their organizations’ identity needs. That is why Okta is a proud DOD partner, working on identity solutions for a myriad of unique use cases that can help withstand the relentless efforts by cyber threat actors to steal credentials and mount their attacks.

Tactics like phishing campaigns continue to rank high on cybersecurity reports as well-used attack methods. Recently, the security industry also began tracking a rise in credential stuffing — the use of stolen passwords from past breaches across other sites — as a trending identity attack method to steal both work and personal-use identities.

But Okta’s identity-first approach to security is an effective strategy for organizations as large and complex as the DOD to build a central line of defense in their ever-expanding IT and cloud environments.

Modernizing identity and access management across the DOD

At Okta, we continue to make great strides in how we work with our DOD partners to improve identity security. Last year Okta reached an important milestone in our DOD Impact Level 4 (IL4) conditional Provisional Authorization (PA) which verifies that Okta for US Military meets the stringent security requirements necessary for controlled unclassified information (CUI). Okta then made additional investments to host the environment on a .mil domain and restrict its use only to DOD-approved entities, an important step in our ongoing commitment to the Department.

Okta for US Military centralizes digital trust policies so both common access card (CAC) and non-CAC communities can securely access relevant resources across different platforms and devices.

We are uniquely positioned to help modernize identity security with our modern single sign-on (SSO) and multi-factor authentication (MFA) capabilities on a vendor-neutral platform that has over 7,500 integrations to support the infrastructure already implemented across DOD organizations.

Our experts work continuously on our solutions and refine these technologies so they don’t introduce more friction to the end user. And we work with our partners to select those products that will integrate with other tools already in their environment, have good connectivity, and are quick and easy to implement so we don’t risk any downtime.

Future-looking identity strategies

Identity plays a critical role in securing IT infrastructure against immediate threat concerns and future attack vectors. According to both the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Zero Trust Model and the DOD Zero Trust Strategy, identity and users are key pillars of zero-trust alignment.

Okta is here to support our DOD partners with a powerful suite of products and integrations that create a secure and frictionless identity environment for the end user and support their zero-trust journey. Our suite of tools enables quick integration of capabilities like SSO and MFA which exponentially increase an organization’s ability to reduce and mitigate identity-related attacks that prey on poor password management.

As a former service member of the Navy — and having witnessed the emergence and modernization of many of the application technologies our service members use today — I have personally seen how identity allows for seamless transition of users from recruit, to active duty, to veteran. These modern user experiences weren’t available to me when I was in the military, but I am excited to work on these initiatives with our DOD partners to enable these secure and seamless experiences for the next generation.

I applaud the work that DOD and government agencies are doing today, but there is still a lot that needs to be done to protect the lifecycle of identities at scale across the diverse DOD user base, and we are here to lend our expertise to that cause.

Learn more about how Okta can help your organization with their Okta for US Military.

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“When we look at our strategic plan…the first two lines of effort we are focused on is prioritizing command and control and driving force readiness through innovation,” said Greenwell, director of the Enterprise Integration and Innovation Center and CIO at the DefenseTalks conference in Washington, D.C. on September 19.  

Greenwell cited DISA’s recent reorganization to “formalize data as one of our key lines of effort” to leverage “data as the center of gravity” to enable speed of capability to the warfighter. He also highlighted moves to promote joint warfighting cloud capabilities and modernizing DevSecOps as additional areas where DISA is positioning itself to add cloud capabilities across the DOD.

Speaking alongside Greenwell, Josh Marcuse, head of strategy and innovation for Google Cloud, Public Sector advocated for an approach that first looks at mission outcomes and the warfighter’s needs when considering cloud capabilities. Once those outcomes are determined, Marcuse said it would be more valuable to work backwards and answer questions around how to integrate AI and ML capabilities to solve those challenges.

Marcuse noted that in his time working alongside DOD partners he has seen how a majority of their budget and work is improving their data hygiene. However, “not all problems can be solved with AI,” he said.

“AI [and ML] is not like salt and pepper that you sprinkle on any program. You have to be really good at understanding what problem lends itself to a machine learning approach,” he explained. “We look for where there is a data set and a mission outcome, where we can use mature techniques that are secure and proven, to use that data to achieve a result that the warfighter needs.”

Greenwell added how data is key to DISA’s and the DOD’s mission. He shared that last October, DISA reorganized its leadership structure to establish its first chief data officer as part of its modernized data strategy goals. One of the agency’s key roles in cyber-defense and cybersecurity requires them to understand the mountains of data they are gathering from their wide variety of capabilities.

“Data is central to what we are doing,” he said, “and we can’t do it without AI and machine learning. We have to evolve.”

Finally, Greenwell and Marcuse both stressed the importance of public-private partnerships to move forward some of these big ideas.

“From my perspective it is a lot about partnerships,” said Greenwell, “…and DISA is one entity within the department and can’t do it alone.”

Marcuse noted that there exist pockets of innovation everywhere in DOD and DISA, however they are not evenly distributed across the organizations because of cultural barriers that lead to isolation. Innovation in DOD becomes more about overcoming those cultural barriers.

“There is no organization on the planet that has both mission and [technology] capabilities at such scale. So, when the DOD finds these gems, and then is able to mass produce them, that is when you see historic contributions to the frontiers of technology,” explained Marcuse.

Watch the full discussion on the DefenseTalks On-Demand page.

You can also register for the upcoming Google Government Summit on November 15 in Washington D.C. to hear more from government leaders on how they are using cloud to achieve their mission outcomes.

This article was produced by Scoop News Group for DefenseScoop and underwritten by Google Cloud.

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