The Air Force has released strategies for data and artificial intelligence use across the department, focusing on accelerating decision-making capabilities.

“In today’s complex global security environment, data and artificial intelligence are no longer support functions -- they are the foundation of our strategic overmatch,” said Susan Davenport, the service’s chief data and AI officer. “Execution of these strategies ensure the Department of the Air Force remains agile and decisively ahead of pacing threats.”

The data strategy calls for a “decentralized approach to data management” to increase data transparency, interoperability, decision advantage and AI readiness at all classification levels across the Air and Space Forces.

Through this approach, data will be managed in various domains by subject-matter experts.

The data strategy also calls for better systems to tag and categorize data to make it more accessible to verified users, interoperable systems to transfer and access data across platforms, and increased use of data in all decision-making processes.

To reach this goal, the service needs to enforce policies and governance for the data architecture, consider data a strategic asset akin to personnel and materiel, employ a mesh environment to effectively catalog and distribute data, and develop courses and online resources to create and support a data-centric workforce, according to the data strategy.

The department also seeks to use artificial intelligence across all mission areas -- from decision superiority in operations to training and education -- according to the AI strategy.

“This strategy is fundamentally about securing AI dominance in the Air and Space domains,” said Air Force Secretary Troy Meink in the AI Strategy’s forward. “By becoming an AI-first force, we will empower our warfighters to out-think, out-maneuver, and out-pace any adversary.”

The AI strategy lists five strategic imperatives:

• “Unlease the power of data” by establishing a robust and agile data ecosystem.
• “Accelerate an AI-first culture” by implementing an AI-competency framework, providing training tools and fostering collaboration among airmen and guardians.
• “Build the enterprise AI ecosystem” by establishing an enterprise-wide AI “backbone” for AI development.
• “Drive agile adoption and process reform” by streamlining processes for continuous deployment of AI tools.
• “Modernize assurance for an AI-paced world” by developing cybersecurity and validation processes that can keep up with threats and AI needs.

To meet these imperatives, the strategy calls for building data, technology and infrastructure; talent and workforce; partnerships and ecosystems; change management and process re-engineering; AI governance and oversight strategies.