Although it is not as glamorous as smart weapons or miniaturized sensors, data storage is emerging as an increasingly important issue in the U.S. military. As the services continue to move toward a networked force, U.S. Defense Department leaders are beginning to pay close attention to how and where to store the data and images that sophisticated technologies are gathering in enormous quantities. After all, it not only has to be kept somewhere, but it also must be readily accessible to be valuable.
Data storage is a complicated subject.
It touches upon the issues of interoperability and information assurance. In addition, although several de facto standards exist, a single standard has not yet been established. Agencies throughout the government recognize that they must determine how to store the information they have and continue to collect, and be sure that as storage technologies mature this data can be moved to newer devices. According to Defense Department officials, one of the key elements in their planning process is to determine the benefits that stored data can deliver. While companies have already discovered that the insights that stored data provide increase their bottom line, the military has yet to ascertain and explain exactly how stored data can serve the forces.