By Shawn Nesaw | Public Affairs Specialist, PEO IEW&S
U.S. Army Intelligence units around the world are receiving the Army Intelligence Data Platform (AIDP), enabling intelligence soldiers the ability to gather, analyze and distribute information to units faster and more accurately than ever before.
The Army deployed and operationalized AIDP rapidly to units in all priority theaters in under 12 months, showing just how important this new and improved intel tool is to Soldiers and DoD.
“24 months ago, we were testing AIDP with intel units stateside trying to stress the system and fine tune the system to meet the needs of intel soldiers,” Brig. Gen. Ed Barker, the Program Executive Officer for Intelligence, Electronic Warfare, and Sensors said. “Thanks to early adopter units and user feedback, AIDP transformed into the intel system the Army needs to increase our effectiveness in multi-domain operations.”
AIDP is a powerful tool for any intelligence unit supporting strategic and tactical operations due to its many features and ease of use. Major capabilities include data ingress, processing, egress, persistence, integrity, and discovery (query); and improved security and system administration. AIDP sets the foundation for future technology integration such as big data analytics, artificial intelligence & machine learning.
“AIDP acts as a high-tech detective that can not only find all the clues but also piece them together to show the big picture,” Col. Chris Anderson, Project Manager Intelligence Systems and Analytics (PM (IS&A) said. “The platform analyzes the collected data to uncover patterns and insights, then presents them to leaders on the battlefield in a way that’s easy to understand, like charts or maps.”
Multiple Army Military Intelligence Brigades played important roles in the iterative process with the goal of making the system not only better overall but into the tool they knew their fellow soldiers wanted and needed.
“We worked through iteration after iteration of AIDP, providing constant user feedback to the PM and Contractor thanks to an in-app user feedback tool, and our industry partner was great about making the changes quickly,” Capt. Ryan Lesane, Bravo Company Commander, 297th Military Intelligence Battalion said.
AIDP’s automation capabilities help maintain a comprehensive operational picture and allows for better, more responsive handling of information during multi-domain operations because it is always gathering and processing data. As a cloud-based intel solution, multiple users, from multiple different regions of the world, can access AIDP simultaneously, a unique feature of the system. Additionally, AIDP is the first DoD program to fully deploy in a military intelligence cloud environment.
As of this writing, PM IS&A is executing the AIDP New Equipment Training (NET) and delivery program for echelons division and above. The pilot focuses on functionality and critical task training through a series of intelligence analyst workflows across the steps of the military decision-making process.
Soldiers will learn how to employ the tools in the AIDP system to execute mission analysis and all source intelligence support to multi-domain operations.
“We’re extremely pleased with the speed and effectiveness our trainers have rolled out AIDP to units,” Lt. Col. Jeffrey Timmons, Product Manager Data & Analytics, said. “This entire process has been a unity of effort, from the early adopters to the latest unit trained. As more soldiers receive training, even more useful user feedback is available to continue to push updates and make AIDP better.”