The Department of Defense (DoD) Chief Data and AI Office (CDAO) has launched a new series of experiments aimed at improving data integration and ensuring operators can fully leverage advanced command-and-control (C2) capabilities, according to a senior Pentagon tech official.
Lindsey Sheppard, director of the CDAO’s Advanced Command and Control Accelerator, said the office is launching a new series of focused exercises called GIDE X. These experiments are a spin-off of the larger Global Information Dominance Experiment (GIDE), which is a recurring 90-day event designed to test capabilities that connect forces across multiple domains in real-world operational settings.
GIDE X will address integration challenges that can prevent operators from fully leveraging the advanced capabilities developed through the larger GIDE events.
“We are working with the combatant commands and with the Armed Services, helping them advance their [C2] capabilities,” Sheppard said during a Hudson Institute event on March 31.
She explained that the GIDE X experiments focus on addressing more discrete technical or systems integration issues that must be resolved before conducting larger experiments.
“It’s putting capability in the hands of the users who are actually going to use it,” Sheppard said.
“If I kind of map out those smaller integrations that have to occur between the larger GIDE, I can then use the GIDE to really focus on, ‘How do I get the leave-behind capability for the users,’” Sheppard said.
She emphasized the importance of working closely with the people who will use these workflows and tools in their daily jobs, ensuring that the pace of development mirrors the speed of commercial software. Operators are also directly involved in testing updates on the same live networks they regularly use, which is a key factor in ensuring that new capabilities are field-ready.
“By operating on live networks, on live data, we ensure that capability will stay behind with the users,” Sheppard added.
While the larger GIDE events serve as operational test demonstrations, GIDE X events allow the team to tackle specific challenges that could hinder the effectiveness of those broader experiments.
“It has been incredibly exciting to watch the initial work that has been done over the last couple of years to really accelerate the way the department was thinking about experimenting with both C2 concepts and technologies and now being able to scale that and drive the progress we’ve made,” Sheppard said.