The future of the digital Army is here, and it is being driven by data and data analytics. As outlined in the 2022 Army Digital Transformation plan, the Army’s goal is to “converge current digital initiatives that support readiness and modernization into a single integrated plan, enable these initiatives at the enterprise-level so they are available to the total Army from the tactical edge to the enterprise, and establish standardized service delivery processes, methods and tools, all fully leveraging cloud as an enabler. This effort will enable an Army that seamlessly shares data and information for timely insights to Warfighter, Commands, and enterprise functions, in direct support of Army readiness and modernization.”
From fueling our tanks and fine-tuning our financial management systems to fostering our logistics operations, data is the catalyst that is igniting our path forward and building the Army of 2030 that will use new equipment, technology and concepts to fight and maintain superiority over any potential adversary.
At the helm of this mission is the Army’s Business Mission Area (BMA). Responsible for overseeing the Army's business functions and providing a balanced strategy for making decisions and recommendations based on enterprise strategic planning, integrated architectures, and outcome-based performance measures, BMA’s utilization of effective data management is crucial in supporting these functions and helping Army leadership make informed decisions. By systematically processing, storing, organizing, maintaining and exploiting all data for business functions, the Office of Enterprise Management (OEM) is assisting the BMA in implementing a unified approach to mitigating data silos, addressing security risks, and fully utilizing data to drive decisions and advance readiness.
Army Business Functions
- Financial Management
- Logistics
- Human Resources
- Acquisition
- Facilities Management
- Training and Education
- Medical Management
- Information Management
- Cybersecurity
- Strategic Planning and Resource Management
According to Bakari Dale, who was recently appointed as the Army’s Business Mission Area Data Officer (MADO) and is the Office of Enterprise Management’s Senior Advisor for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (AI), the need for data management improvement is now. In this time of increasing demand for data, data science, and AI expertise across all sectors, the BMA focus will be on several readiness drivers, including:
- Data quality improvement
- Innovation with intelligent automation
- Expansion of data management roles
- Data integration
- Data product registration in the Army’s Enterprise Data Service Catalogue (EDSC)
- Data-driven analytics supporting the Army's Performance Improvement Officer (PIO) and the Chief Data and Analytics Officer (CDAO)
“Enhanced data management will enable the Army to exploit higher-order, data-enriched, analytical capabilities to make quantitatively-based, qualitatively-better, and faster decisions Army-wide,” said Dale. “Deliberate focus in these areas will enable the Army’s ability to provide readiness at best value to the Nation and at the point of need for our Soldiers.”
For more information about the BMA, visit www.OBTPortal.army.mil.
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