Milestone accelerates digital transformation for Army test and evaluation
ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. — The U.S. Army Test and Evaluation Command (ATEC) has achieved a major milestone in its digital transformation journey: obtaining an authority to operate at Department of Defense (DoD) Impact Level (IL) 6 for its ATEC Data Mesh environment in February 2025. This critical achievement, coordinated in collaboration with the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) and other Army and DoD partners, enables ATEC to store, process, analyze and visualize classified secret-level data within its modernized digital infrastructure.
The ATEC Data Mesh is a key enabler of ATEC’s digital transformation, integrating test data from across the Army’s test, evaluation and experimentation enterprise in a cloud environment. Achieving IL6 compliance underscores ATEC’s commitment to leveraging cutting-edge technology while maintaining the strictest cybersecurity standards mandated by the DoD. Since November 2023, the command has held an authority to operate the ATEC Data Mesh at IL5, which is limited to controlled unclassified information. IL6 authorization permits handling of classified national security data, vastly expanding the range of operationally relevant information available for analysis.
"Achieving IL6 authorization represents a foundational leap forward for ATEC," said Brian Kelly, ATEC chief data and analytics officer. "This will allow us to greatly expand the types of data we can leverage within the Data Mesh — now at the secret level — unlocking new opportunities to provide rapid, risk-informed insights to Army senior leaders. The ATEC G-6 cybersecurity division was instrumental in this step to ensure we remain agile and ready to meet the demands of Army modernization."
With this authorization, ATEC can now incorporate sensitive operational data, classified intelligence feeds and exercise data from field units directly into its analytics ecosystem. This dramatically strengthens ATEC’s ability to provide continuous feedback to Army decision-makers, particularly during test events, rapid prototyping and experimentation efforts supporting emerging operational concepts.
The rigorous IL6 accreditation process required comprehensive technical validation to ensure the Data Mesh met the most stringent cybersecurity and operational resilience standards. The effort involved deep coordination across ATEC’s office of the command chief data and analytics officer, ATEC headquarters G-6 and subordinate organizations, Army cybersecurity organizations and DISA.
By securely integrating classified and unclassified data streams, ATEC is positioning itself to deliver faster, more comprehensive evaluations of emerging Army technologies. As the Army focuses on delivering capabilities at the speed of relevance, ATEC’s IL6-certified Data Mesh will play a critical role in advancing operational effectiveness, accelerating continuous transformation and strengthening the Army’s competitive edge.
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