The ever-increasing complexity of information technology, including data integration pipelines, challenges the U.S. military services to keep place with potential adversaries. Decision-making, particularly from the national command authority to the tactical edge, demands technology that will enable commanders and their warfighters to make decisions more rapidly and accurately.
One company working on this challenge is Sev1Tech, a provider of IT modernization, cybersecurity and cloud services. Sev1Tech’s work for the Department of the Navy largely came with its acquisition of Geosent in October 2021, said Joseph Re, general manager of Sev1Tech’s Maritime Division, in an interview with Seapower.
Re, a retired Coast Guard captain, said Sev1Tech is “now a full-stack company,” noting the acquisition of Geocent enhanced Sev1Tech’s expertise in DevSecOps, the seamless integration of cyber security in software not only while in development but throughout the entire operational lifecycle of the software.
Re also said that there is a “cultural shift in the way we approach data management in governments. Previous architecture focused a lot on centralization — monolithic warehouses to store data. Now there is more of a shift to a decentralized approach. … It’s probably more a way of thinking about how we manage the data and use the data than specific systems. It’s more of rethinking the approach to a hybrid approach, kind of a decentralized approach with centralized services for the data at various layers.”
He said this hybrid approach would help naval commanders make real-time decisions. “The Coast Guard identified the Minerva construct, it calls the seven rights to guide their actions: the right information to the right user at the right classification at the right time via the right route for the right reason — and this is important, too — on the right device, especially when we’re talking about getting information at the edge.”
Re noted “the value of data is determined by its ability to influence effective warfighting.”
The value of data can be enhanced by achieving data maneuverability, “making sure that data is accessible to the users as needed,” he said.
He noted artificial intelligence has advantages not just in tactical and operational decision making, but also in such domains as personnel maintenance and logistics — a real-time parts inventory, for one example, knowing when spares are running low.
Sev1Tech, headquartered in Woodbridge, Virginia, has built several software factories to develop its products. One of its data management projects supported the Navy Oceanographic and Meteorology Command. The company also supports logistics systems, integrating data across logistics domains through a software pipeline.
Re, who is vice president of the National Capital Council for the Navy League of the United States, is coordinating all the international delegations attending the Sea-Air-Space Expo.
