The Royal Navy has outlined eight desired outcomes and five key enablers to meet a vision of being data and evidence driven in its strategic and tactical decision making.
It has published a new Digital and Data Plan 2022-25 that it says provides a structure to overcome its relevant challenges and build its capabilities to move towards the vision for 2030.
This largely focuses on key concepts, with the eight outcomes covering: cohered, curated and assured data from HQ to the tactical edge; smarter decision making at all levels of command; efficient business processes that drive force readiness and sustainability; improved cyber security and resilience; integrated effects from the maritime domain; adaptable and resilient command and control systems; faster integration of capabilities to the frontline; and a digitally empowered workforce ready to create and collaborate.
The enablers to realising these include digitally upskilling the workforce, developing outcome focused projects enabled by enterprise architectures and standards, using data-as-a-service for the integration and curation of data and decision support tools, system integration and exploiting new and existing technologies, and an ethos focused on delivering to end users and closing the digital divide. The latter will involve exploiting Ministry of Defence options where possible.
Tech tools
Specifics include aiming to provide users with access to low/no code data analytics tools, using a common technology architecture, rationalising the technology used, re-using before buying or building and taking a cloud first approach.
A Navy Digital Board has been set up to oversee delivery, informed by three-month sprints of activity.
Writing in the plan’s foreword, Second Sea Lord Martin Connell and Fleet Commander Andrew Burns say: “We will not be able to deliver these outcomes or develop our digital and data capabilities by working alone. Collective action and co-creation with our wider defence colleagues, PAG, academia, industry and our allies will be vitally important.
“We will need to continue to adopt agile practices to make best use of finite resources and embrace a system of systems philosophy if we are to deliver, at pace, the required operational, availability and cost benefits that we seek.”
