Ep. 75 Digital Transformation Culture at the Defense Logistics Agency

Our interview is with Steve Forster, a data scientist from the DLA.

Steve started in the warehouse and through years of struggle and hard work managed to rise to the position of Senior Data Strategist. This parallels the transformation that the DLA is undergoing.

The DLA was formed in 1961 and has over 25,000 people supporting the Department of Defense worldwide.

To reduce costs and improve service to the military, the DLA is undergoing a transition from an outdated COBOL warehouse system to a modern system.

Much of the warehouse has sensitive military equipment and as a result, the data that controls them must be secure. When it comes to keeping data safe, Steve draws an analogy to owning a firearm. During the interview, he said, “And just like any gun, you keep in a locked cabinet inside your house, data has to be treated the same way.”

Effectively handling data in a large organization allows everyone to be on the same page.  You need to have a common construct so everyone can have the same level of understanding of that information. 

Steve had attended several sessions at the Qlik Public Sector World conference – a few highlighted the ability of Chat GPT to assist in data management.  From a high-level perspective, Steve thinks AI will cut down his learning time for new technologies.  From a practical, down-to-earth view, Steve has seen demonstrations where technologies like Chat GPT can help in classifying unstructured data to make it usable for leaders in much less time.

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