Select Big Data Requirements in the Draft 2023 National Defense Authorization Act

Members of the House of Representatives are currently creating a unified National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year 2023. Passed by the House on July 14, 2022, bill number H.R. 7900 is being reconciled with Senate NDAA bill number S. 4543. The reconciliation process usually takes a very long time and this year’s version is no exception. In addition to having to reconcile the original text of both bills, House members have submitted a whopping total of 963 amendments to H.R. 7900 so far.

Both the Senate and House versions of the FY 2023 NDAA contain a number of provisions dealing with “big data” related technologies, including advanced analytics and machine learning. This post provides details on those provisions in case they are of interest to members of industry whose companies provide these types of solutions. There is, of course, no guarantee that these provisions will make it into the final version of the bill which gets signed into law.

Provisions in S. 4543

Sec. 843 Demonstration Exercise of Enhanced Planning for Industrial Mobilization and Supply Chain Management

Requires the Secretary of Defense to pilot industrial mobilization and supply chain management planning capabilities for an operational use case. The exercise shall use analytical tools and processes to monitor and assess the health of the industrial base and use near real-time data and visualization capabilities in making production and distribution decisions, with an emphasis on commercially available tools.

Sec. 914 Strategic Management Dashboard Demonstration

The Secretary of Defense shall demonstrate a strategic management dashboard to automate the data collection and visualization of the management goals of the Department of Defense (DOD). The dashboard shall include real-time monitoring, an integrated analytics capability, and the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning tools to improve decision making and assessment.

Sec. 1247 Enhanced Indications and Warning for Deterrence and Dissuasion

Directs the Secretary of Defense to develop an early warning system that identifies potential aggression by adversary nation states. The system shall use advanced analytics and artificial intelligence to discern deviations from normal patterns of behavior that may indicate preparations for military action.

Provisions in H.R. 7900

Sec. 206 Pilot Project for Enhancing Coast Guard Cutter Readiness through Condition-Based Maintenance

Requires the U.S. Coast Guard to run a pilot project for enhancing cutter readiness through the deployment of artificial intelligence and prognostic-based integrated maintenance planning.

Sec. 1099A Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Mitigation Actions and Results Dashboard

Calls for the Secretary of Defense to establish a web-based dashboard to make publicly available information on investments in non-GHG technologies, the number of technology demonstrations completed. The dashboard should be similar to the ADVANA dashboard in use at the Defense Information Systems Agency.

Sec. 1504 Cyber Threat Information Collaboration Environment Program

Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security, acting through the Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, to develop an information collaboration environment that houses a portal through which malicious cyber activity can be reported and which employs advanced analytics for analysis of that activity.