Data-Enabled Approaches for Enhancing the Air Force Transformational Capability Pipeline

Abstract

The Air Force 2030 Science and Technology (S and T) Strategy calls for enhanced investment in transformational technologies to enable new warfighting concepts with leap-ahead capabilities(Department of the Air Force [DAF], 2019). In response, the DAF has dedicated a portion of the S and T budget to the transformational component of the portfolio and has created the Transformational Capabilities Office (TCO) within the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) to manage these activities. The mission of the TCO is to foster transformational capabilities across a range of programs. A key question in this regard is how to identify and evaluate the most promising concepts, and how to do so in a data-enhanced manner. To this end, the TCO asked RAND Project AIR FORCE (PAF) to develop data-enhanced approaches to identify, select, and promote the most promising concepts to feed into the transformational capability pipeline. In this report, we propose a human-centered, data-enhanced (HCDE) decisionmaking process. The process is intended to answer the question of which technologies to develop to meet the needs of the current and future force. The process is especially relevant to the TCO given the TCOs mandate to broadly consider capability gaps and technology solutions, yet elements of the process can be adopted by organizations with different responsibilities. The process leverages a prototype data science tool, the Semantic Clustering Analysis and Thematic Exploration Tool, for extracting information from free-text data sources. The process also leverages a collection of future-focused techniques, called foresight methods, that allow human experts to combine information from data sources, along with domain knowledge and creativity, to arrive at potential solutions. We demonstrate the HCDE process in three case studies involving (1) high-speed vertical takeoff and landing, (2) Joint All-Domain Command and Control, and (3) human capital management.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 24, 2023
Accession Number
AD1196749

Entities

People

  • Christine K. Lacoste
  • Eder Sousa
  • Eric Hastings
  • Jonathan L. Brosmer
  • Julie George
  • Lance Menthe
  • Matthew E. Walsh
  • Sherrill Lingel

Organizations

  • RAND Corporation

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • C4I
  • Cyber
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Engineered Resilient Systems
  • Human Systems
  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Artificial Intelligence Software
  • Big Data
  • Business Administration
  • Computational Science
  • Computer Languages
  • Data Analysis
  • Data Mining
  • Data Science
  • Delphi Method
  • Dimensionality Reduction
  • Information Processing
  • Information Science
  • Information Systems
  • Machine Learning
  • Military Science
  • National Security
  • Natural Language Processing
  • Supervised Machine Learning
  • Unmanned Systems
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Enterprise Information Systems Architecture and Joint Command Capability Interoperability Support.
  • Military Science and Technology Research and Modernization.
  • Systems Analysis and Design

Technology Areas

  • AI & ML
  • AI & ML - DoD AI Strategy
  • Fully Networked C3
  • Fully Networked C3 - Command and Control