Eileen Vidrine
CDO, Department of the Air Force
Eileen Vidrine’s team recently released the Department of the Air Force’s implementation plan of Pentagon data strategy as well as the first-ever data governance certification initiative.
In addition, her team launched a quarterly datathon series and monthly Innovation Connect series, scaled the VAULT Data Platform for increased telework when the pandemic hit and introduced Project Brown Heron/Envision, a data pipeline connection for COVID-19 tracing, which automated a very labor-intensive process.
“It is about empowering our airmen and guardians to solve their own problems, and they are optimizing performance with every iteration,” Vidrine says. “I think that is part of the real data story.”
Her team is deeply involved in the launch of the data catalog, which is all about visible, accessible and actionable data to drive decision-making and accelerating change at the speed of relevancy.
Additional priority projects include DAF Data Fabric, which ensures the Department of the Air Force has interoperable data across military services. Also, responsible artificial intelligence addresses legal and ethical needs of using AI while maintaining the “integrity of intent.” This includes creating best practices, being culturally diverse and having transparent design and decision-making around AI.
The team’s other mandates include democratizing data by smart, cost-effective purchasing, optimizing ROI, being good stewards of taxpayer dollars and focusing on smart/agile acquisitions.
“I like to say data is a team sport, and we can’t do this without our partners out in the field,” Vidrine says. “We need our functional experts to be part of the conversation. So not only did we build a self-service platform in the cloud, but we also established a small enterprise-focused data lab based out of Andrews Air Force Base, where any airman or guardian can make a recommendation to look at a data opportunity that has an enterprise focus.”