DIU seeks data mesh solution to unify distribution across DOD networks

The Defense Innovation Unit is looking for a commercial data mesh solution to bolster the distribution of information across the Department of Defense’s complex, global web of networks.

In a new commercial solutions offering solicitation, DIU specifically asks for industry to pitch a capability that “can reliably and efficiently distribute data across multiple, geographically-dispersed network enclaves that can communicate with each other using routing protocols and devices.” The solution should also “allow for data sharing between different classification levels and prevent unauthorized access to data,” the solicitation says.

The DOD operates a complex information network environment comprised of more than 15,000 unclassified and classified networked and cloud environments around the globe, managed in a federated way by a host of different combatant commands, services, agencies and field activities.

That can lead to “surges, latency, and geographic dependence,” among other challenges, for the department when distributing data across networks, DIU explains.

“Furthermore, given the nature of operating in Denied, Disrupted, Intermittent and Limited Impact (DDIL) bandwidth areas, these issues are compounded and flood the network with retries when disconnected and re-transmissions of messages when connectivity is restored. This lack of control and management of data distribution results in inefficient usage of network resources and decreased performance for high priority mission data,” the solicitation reads.

To account for that, DIU wants an industry partner that can help prototype a data distribution capability called LightCycle “that will manage the transport and caching of data across a globally-distributed infrastructure using an asynchronous publisher-subscriber (Pub/Sub) messaging system.”

The unit lists a variety of requirements for what it envisions the prototype doing, including using government authentication methods and infrastructure, promoting data sharing across different classification levels, ensuring proper access controls to prevent unauthorized access to data, supporting integration with enterprise data meshes and/or API gateways to improve interoperability between systems, and monitoring network health and dynamically routing traffic to optimize performance, among other things. The organization also gives more specific requirements for network performance, data servicing, message brokering, caching, security and policy creation.

Vendor proposals are due Sept. 17.

While the solicitation doesn’t mention it, the Pentagon’s Combined Joint All-Domain Command and Control warfighting construct needs such data-mesh capabilities. Last fall, the department’s Chief Digital and AI Office issued a request for information on industry capabilities that could support CJADC2’s “data integration layer” and help the Pentagon achieve its vision for connecting the various sensors, shooters and information streams of the U.S. military services, allies and partners under a unified network.