"The Department of Defense's (DoD) mission is to provide the military forces needed to deter war and ensure our nation's security. The DoD now recognizes that data is a strategic asset that must be operationalized in order to provide a lethal and effective Joint Force that, combined with our network of allies and partners, sustains American influence and advances shared security and prosperity. Improving data management will enhance the Department's ability to fight and win wars in an era of great power competition, and it will enable operators and military decision-makers to harness data to capitalize on strategic and tactical opportunities that are currently unavailable. We have a responsibility to gain full value from DoD capabilities and investments, thereby earning the trust of the operational warfighter, the U.S. Congress, and the American people. Embracing new data driven concepts and leveraging commercial-sector innovations will improve military operations and increase lethality. To enable this change, the Department is adopting new technologies as part of its Digital Modernization program - from automation to Artificial Intelligence (Al) to 5G-enabled edge devices. However, the success of these efforts depends upon fueling this digital infrastructure in a secure manner with the vast flows of data available from external sources, DoD systems, and connected sensors and platforms. Adversaries are also racing to amass data superiority, and whichever side can better leverage data will gain military advantage. Our ability to fight and win wars requires that we become world leaders in operationalizing and protecting our data resources at speed and scale. The DoD Data Strategy supports Digital Modernization by providing the overarching vision, guiding principles, essential capabilities, goals, and objectives necessary to navigate this transition and transform into a data-centric enterprise. While opportunities to improve proficiency and efficiency are everywhere, this strategy focuses efforts on Joint Warfighting, Senior Leader Decision Support, and Business Analytics. Success cannot be taken for granted. The responsibility of all DoD leaders is to treat data as a weapon system and manage, secure, and use data for operational effect. The warfighter is counting on us to ensure that the U.S. military remains the most potent and effective fighting force in the world."--Forward