Hello from DoDIIS in Omaha, Nebraska! TDSYNNEX Public Sector is once again attending, so if you didn’t make it out to the city that invented the Reuben sandwich, we’ve got you covered. The conference kicked off with a heavy focus on several prevailing themes, notably: cybersecurity, deterrence, interoperability, and data centricity. If you read that list and thought AI was missing – fear not – it was included in discussions, but primarily as a vehicle for aiding in the intelligence community’s (IC) top priorities.

For the United States Navy, data has become a cornerstone of its operations, guiding the course of missions, and ensuring the safety of personnel. Every facet of maritime endeavors, from intelligence gathering, to navigation and logistics, relies on a steady stream of accurate and timely data. Harnessing and making the best use of that data, though, comes with its own challenges. These can include limited bandwidth, stringent security protocols, and the sheer volume of information generated across a host of platforms.

2020 was a transformative year for public sector IT. Accelerated by necessity, agencies rapidly scaled and secured their digital ecosystems to accommodate a newly remote workforce. Against this backdrop, significant cybersecurity hacks revealed continued vulnerabilities in the federal supply chain and state and local IT infrastructures.

Looking forward there is much work to be done. A new administration, new regulations and continued reliance on the cloud will shape public sector IT through 2021.

This month, DLT Chief Data Scientist Sherry Bennett sat down with Informatica Cheif Strategist for the Public Sector, Mike Anderson to discuss his views on the future of big data in the public sector. Read the exclusive interview below to hear directly from one of the industry's top big data leaders.

As the world continues to fight the spread of the deadly coronavirus, data scientists are helping them stay one step ahead. Indeed, predictive analytics, artificial intelligence (AI), and big data have emerged as a powerful tool to predict, respond to, and combat pandemic outbreaks.

Data scientists predicted the coronavirus outbreak

Since the release of the final Federal Data Strategy Action Plan (henceforth FDSAP) the end of last year, much has been written about the Federal Data Strategy. However, little has been written to connect the important role it can play in enabling the adoption of AI within the federal public sector.

Is data the new bacon? The world’s most valuable resource? That fuel that powers the digital enterprise?

The most successful companies in the world – Google, Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, etc. – use data to drive business strategies. Being insight-driven isn’t just the domain of consumer tech. Government agencies rely on data to make informed and quick decision making, enhance productivity, improve transparency and build trust with citizens, eliminate fraud and abuse, reduce crime and security threats, and more.

The end of the federal fiscal year is a great time for public sector decision-makers to consider how their respective organizations can get a head start on supporting the Federal Data Strategy Action Plan. The current draft of the plan, which is scheduled to be finalized by September, contains several recommendations required to be completed within a 3-, 6- or 12-month timeframe.

Machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) could very well be the next major technological advancements that change the way federal IT pros work. These technologies can provide substantial benefits to any IT shop, particularly when it comes to security, network, and application performance.

2019 is off to a great start for anyone in the business of working with data in the public sector.  President Trump signed the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act on January 14th, and with it, the OPEN Government Data Act has finally become law.[1]