MG Crider To Roll Out New AFSPC Data Strategy

WASHINGTON: Air Force Space Command will unveil its Enterprise Data Strategy and Roadmap and provide industry a run-down on tools and technologies required to implement it at the end of July.

Maj. Gen. Kim Crider, Air Force Space Command’s (AFSPC) data integration guru, will host a “Data Innovation Summit” at the end of the month to introduce it.

The agenda for the secret-level summit, to be held at Peterson AFB in Colorado on July 30-31, has two themes: “The Art of the Possible-Data Innovations Enhance Space Mission;” and “AFSPC’s Journey from Data Strategy to Data-Driven Multi-Domain Operations,” according to the Air Force notice.

AFSPC did not return an email asking for further details about the Enterprise Data Strategy and Roadmap.

But we can fill in some of the blank space since such strategies are all the rage in the private sector. Geoffrey Malafsky, chief data scientist of the Bloor Group, describes them as “the data centric companion to an organization’s business strategy, technology roadmap, security plan, and other high priority facets of operating a modern business.” In an article in Inside Analysis, he explains: “Data as a separate entity has risen in importance deserving its own corporate plan due to the impact of several factors. One is Big Data technology providing powerful computing systems at low-cost enabling storage and processing of the full range of organizational data. Another is the growth in market value of data for targeted marketing, customer experience management, higher efficiency operations” and many other uses.

Crider’s formal title is special assistant for mobilization to AFSPC Commander Gen. John Raymond. Previously she served as the first-ever Air Force Chief Data Officer. One of her major efforts at AFSPC is building the Unified Data Library (UDL) that Air Force leaders (including acquisition chief Will Roper) one day hope will be able to mesh data from all types of sensors to provide space situational awareness (SSA) and command and control (C2) for most Air Force military missions. The still-experimental UDL is also being transferred to the Department of Commerce as the possible foundation for its future civil SSA data sharing system.

The summit “will aim to provide examples of new technology and tools that would benefit AFSPC by enhancing the Space Mission and introduce the new Enterprise Data Strategy and Roadmap detailing the next steps for AFSPC in the execution of the strategy,” according to the notice to industry. The goal is to discuss “current, on-going and future initiatives that can benefit AFSPC mission operations,” and “outline the next steps for AFSPC as they transition to the new Enterprise Data Strategy.”

Along with senior AFSPC leaders, attendees will include representatives of the 14th Air Force, Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC), Air Force Life Cycle Management Center (AFLCMC), AFSPC Wings, Pacific Air Forces (PACAF), Combined Space Operations Center (CSpOC), National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), Joint Force Space Component Commander (JFSCC), North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD)/U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM), Department of State (DoS), Department of Commerce (DoC), and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

Interestingly, while the notice stresses that both small and large businesses are invited, because of the small size of the venue, only 26 people can attend (a maximum of two from each company). So, get your tickets now.