THE ARMY’S VANTAGE POINT
VANTAGE AT WORK
Army Vantage uses data from a wide array of sources to create a robust Soldier profile. This image gives just a hint of why the program has Army leaders excited. (Image courtesy of PEO EIS)
To illustrate that final point, “I find it surprisingly easy to use,” said Col. Kyle Jette, the platform’s lead data scientist. “One of my jokes is that the data analyt- ics tool in the platform is ‘colonel friendly.’ If I can use it, then most people—who are more technically savvy that I am— are in great shape. It’s intuitive and easy to use, and we’re doing things on our team to make it even more approachable.”
Markowitz agreed, and said he has seen data analysts eager to explore the platform. “What has surprised me has been the analyst layer, which is this kind of middle- tier user who wants to do data analytics and push the edge,” he said. “Tey just run with it. Tat layer has just appeared, kind of out of nowhere.” He credits the intuitive interface and data management tools with this ease of adoption. “Te barrier to entry is much lower than your traditional kind of data platform,” Markowitz explained. “I think it’s rapidly building a skill set and a community within the Army to bring about the chief ’s vision of an information- age Army.”
WHAT’S UNDER THE HOOD? Army leaders at all echelons have been enthusiastic about providing their data to the platform’s data capture teams and have embraced Vantage as a way to solve problems within their own organi- zations. However, Jette thinks they have just begun to scratch the surface. “Tere is a continuum of complexity of use or complexity of problems you could address with this platform,” he said. “To be honest, we’re all thinking kind of small right now.”
Automating ad hoc reports and routine work can save the Army a lot of time, but that’s only a small portion of the platform’s capability. “Tere are many higher orders of thinking and analysis, and this plat- form has yet to rev up the RPMs,” Jette explained. “There’s modeling, there’s predictive analysis and other things this tool can do, but right now, we’re all just kind of ‘oohing and aahing’ over some of the smaller, less complex things.” It’s a facet of human psychology that car sales- men know well: No matter how much horsepower is under the hood, most people
start by checking out the sunroof and the leather seats. Kicking the tires, so to speak.
Markowitz agrees that more advanced data analysis will be done in due time, and he also sees the potential for data integration and sharing. Among those more complex tasks are artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). “All the artificial intelligence and machine learning tools are based upon a larger reservoir of data for those tools to learn, and Vantage provides that,” he said. “Vantage has the capacity to host some of those AI and ML tools, but probably more importantly, has the ability to integrate the data and pass it to those who need it, where that type of learning can be done.”
THE ROAD AHEAD “I think the data EXORD [Executive Order 009-20, Army Data Plan Imple- mentation] has processes identifying the need for institutional change,” Markowitz said. “I would not call institutional iner- tia a roadblock, but it’s a lot of work the Army needs to get done. As we’re starting
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Army AL&T Magazine
Summer 2020
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