What DoD Leaders Are Saying About their Network of the Future, Part 2

In this ongoing series, I discuss public comments from current and former defense and technology leaders advocating for the kind of next-generation technology that will help the military execute missions and stay as safe as possible in the process. Read Part 1.

Father of the internet, Dr. Vint Cerf on the network of the future:

"By 2025, you will not be able to avoid being connected."

Vint Cerf, who started his career at the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), knows a bit about the future of technology. Along with his partner Bob Kahn, Cerf developed the Department of Defense’s (DoD) Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol in the late ‘70s—now the modern internet.

This is a great example of DoD’s rich history of developing the technology that shaped our future. For decades, the federal government has been the driver of innovation, from the Harvard Mark II computer built and programmed in 1947 by the U.S. Navy to the creation of the Global Positioning System (GPS) in 1978.

But as tech has proliferated beyond what we could have ever imagined, with devices completely changing the way our world operates, private sector investments have become essential to staying ahead.

Cerf’s assertion of complete connectivity should be taken seriously, both for the gains to be had by a world saturated with Internet of Things (IoT) devices and for the challenges the military will face as a result of those connections.

IoT is already improving military readiness by providing better situational awareness and transforming communications. Beyond that, the private innovation that has driven smart cities has made connected smart bases a reality—another case of DoD leveraging private sector innovation.

AT&T successfully demonstrated how IoT network-connected sensors can enhance military operations through smart perimeters, gate monitoring, notifications, fleet management and more. 

We invest in smart city technology that delivers benefits in citizen satisfaction, safety, economic development and sustainability. And we’ve seen results through collaboration with some of the country’s largest metropolitan areas, including Atlanta, Dallas, Chicago and Portland.

That same tech can be utilized to optimize military bases that function like small cities and face a lot of similar challenges. DoD has already made big strides, but like any new technology, the speed of innovation means the department needs to consider not only current challenges but also what could be lurking on the horizon.

For any connected network, especially one on which the U.S. Armed Forces rely security is critical. It may have held back adoption in the past, but agile and responsive solutions such as AT&T’s Network of the Future can break from those restrictions, without compromising security or integrity.

In fact, our “always on” network is more secure because all elements can be continuously updated or patched to address vulnerabilities, while network data is constantly analyzed to proactively combat threats. With virtualization, workloads can be separated, which allows networks to be secured independently and quickly spun up and torn down as needed.

Beyond that, AT&T provides a next-gen platform for IoT devices with 5G capabilities just around the corner. 5G is about more than just faster speeds. It will power a whole new class of software-defined applications that put cutting-edge technology like AI and machine learning in the hands of users. This is a boon for the military that need these capabilities to combat an ever-changing threat landscape.

There’s no reason why DoD can’t have the fastest, most efficient and flexible communications in the world, without giving up the airtight security service leaders demand. IoT will continue to drive advancements that the department can leverage on the battlefield and beyond to propel mission success.