Washington has no shortage of reform directives. However, every so often, an idea emerges that is both immediately practical and strategically transformative. Data-Centric Security (DCS)—a method of embedding encryption and access controls directly into data—is one of those ideas. It promises to save taxpayers tens of billions annually while simultaneously improving how our government fights wars, secures secrets, and responds to crises.
In recent months, the White House has leaned into the call for IT modernization and operational efficiency. The January 2025 Executive Order establishing the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is one pillar. Section 4 directs agencies to eliminate redundancy, promote interoperability, and enable secure data flow across networks. Other directives followed, emphasizing the use of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) solutions where proven effective and enforcing tighter cost controls on federal IT investments.
Nowhere is the need more urgent—or the opportunity more compelling—than in how we secure our data.
The Hidden Cost of Fragmentation
Today, the federal government, especially the Department of Defense and the intelligence community, operates within a patchwork of siloed networks, legacy systems, and costly workarounds. Each agency, often each sub-agency, maintains its own isolated IT enclaves—separate hardware, software, and staff—largely in the name of security. But the result is predictable: spiraling costs, slower operations, and less sharing of information.
Let the numbers speak:
- $6–10 billion per year could be saved by consolidating redundant networks through shared environments secured with DCS. 1
- $1.3 billion annually is spent by the Army alone maintaining parallel networks for overlapping missions. 2
- $8–12 billion vanishes annually in integration costs—contractors hired to stitch together systems that should have been interoperable by design. 3
- $3.5 billion or more is lost each year to overclassification, redundant infrastructure, and inefficient workflows for moving and sanitizing data. 4
With the adoption of open standards and data-centric security practices, the Federal government could drive $20 billion per year in savings — while simultaneously improving collaboration, innovation, and mission outcomes.
Security That Travels With the Data
Data-Centric Security is not a silver bullet—but it comes remarkably close. Rather than treating networks as walls to be fortified, DCS treats each data object as its own secure perimeter. A classified file carries with it the encryption and metadata necessary to enforce exactly who can open it, where, and when. Unauthorized users—whether hackers, insiders, or foreign actors—see only encrypted gibberish.
Even if a bad actor penetrates a system, they cannot access the underlying information without the correct keys and attributes. At the same time, DCS makes legitimate sharing faster and more precise, enabling collaboration across agencies, domains, and with international partners—without moving files across multiple segregated systems or networks.
Mission Partner Environment: A Force Multiplier
Programs like the Mission Partner Environment (MPE) represent the tip of the spear in modern military collaboration. These initiatives are designed to seamlessly share data with allied forces—such as those participating in AUKUS Pillar 2—using interoperable, secure frameworks like the Zero Trust Data Format (ZTDF) . This approach isn’t just about efficiency—it’s about deterrence.
When multiple partners can share information quickly and securely, they avoid duplicative capabilities, improve strategic alignment, and collectively lower their IT and security costs. Information sharing becomes a force multiplier: A single dollar spent on secure collaboration can yield exponential operational impact across allied networks.
Better Efficiency = Better Operations
As our military races to integrate AI and autonomous decision-making into operational workflows, DCS becomes even more critical. AI systems need real-time access to vast data streams—intelligence feeds, logistics updates, sensor data—but today’s networks still require manual downgrading and formatting. DCS unlocks data at machine speed, enabling the kind of rapid, secure access that modern command-and-control demands.
This sense of urgency is now being codified into policy. Recent directives from the Department of Defense—particularly the April 7 and April 10 DOD memos 2025—underscore a sweeping cultural and operational shift toward digital-first operations, aggressive cost efficiency, and an unambiguous focus on lethality, agility, and mission-aligned roles. The CIO is leading a 30-day sprint to ensure the Department pays no more for software than the private sector.
For technology providers, the message is clear: solutions must not only be secure and interoperable, but must also demonstrate measurable impacts on mission effectiveness, speed, and cost containment. Tools that enable cross-agency collaboration—especially in contested or disconnected environments—are being prioritized. Those that do not contribute directly to operational readiness or deterrence are being scrutinized, scaled back, or eliminated.
Data-Centric Security, in this environment, is not just a cybersecurity best practice—it’s a strategic enabler for the future force.
Building on Momentum: Project Olympus, Operation HIGHMAST, and Zero Trust
The best news? Momentum is accelerating.
For example, a major military exercise, Project Olympus, demonstrated the potential of DCS in a joint U.S.-ally environment. By encrypting files with embedded access policies using open standards like the Zero Trust Data Format (ZTDF), Olympus showed that security could be improved and information shared more freely. As one program lead put it, “We’re not sharing less because of stronger security—we’re sharing more because the system now knows who should see what.”
On April 22, Operation HIGHMAST, a UK-led carrier strike group, will begin transit across the world, with four U.S. combatant commands and over 20 different countries participating. This operation will have participants operating within a Zero Trust framework over the course of 9 months. In the same vein as Project Olympus, large exercises like Operation HIGHMAST and the Global Information Dominance Experiments (GIDE) services are a significant step on the journey to prove partner data interoperability at scale.
Meanwhile, the 2027 federal Zero Trust mandate is creating another healthy forcing function. It requires agencies to move away from perimeter defenses and enforce access controls at the user and data level. DCS is the clearest technical path to achieving that. The White House Cyber Strategy calls on agencies to ensure data confidentiality, integrity, and availability—precisely the core promise of a data-centric architecture.
A Smarter Future, Within Reach
We are at a crossroads. The current model—more networks, more silos, more spending—is broken. But the tools to fix it are already here. Data-Centric Security is a rare innovation that makes government operationally efficient, operationally effective, and more secure.
The reform directives are on the books. Open Standards are being adopted. The urgency is real. The question is how fast we act to fundamentally change the game - unlocking the power of data and driving massive efficiency - given the looming global threat environment.
It’s time to finish what’s been started.
Sources
- Joint Information Environment – Wikipedia; GAO, DoD IT Modernization Reports
- Breaking Defense, “Army Network Modernization,” 2023
- CBO briefing on integration overhead; Government Accountability Office
- Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing on overclassification, 2021
- White House Executive Order on Department of Government Efficiency (Section 4), Jan 20, 2025
- White House Fact Sheet: “President Donald J. Trump Enforces Requirement of Cost-Effective Commercial Solutions in Federal Contracts,” March 2025
- Government Executive, “Senators Take Another Crack at Solving Over-Classification,” 2024
- Virtru, “Data-Centric Security: The New Frontier in Cyber Defense,” 2023
- Center for Maritime Strategy, “Grading Goldwater-Nichols at Forty Years,” 2023
- Washington Technology, “26 Years After Clinger-Cohen, Government Still Struggles to Be a Smart Buyer,” 2022
