With the reemergence of global jihadist threats, the rise of China, and constant cyber attacks, the world is in a perpetual state of volatility. Dealing with these threats and challenges requires a coalition of many and a fully activated warfighter.

This was the key theme of the second morning DI2E Plugfest 2015 keynote by Thomas E. Matthews, Director, Combatant Command Intelligence Support, Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Warfighter Support.

Matthews discussed how the Department of Defense (DoD) is continually partnering with other nations by conducting global operations and leveraging resources for other countries to better share information.

He also said that our nation has made tremendous strides in enhancing data collection capabilities in response to the rising tide of data sources that increases every day.

“All of this data needs to be mined, collated and shared in an environment where collection capabilities grow daily,” said Matthews. “This increases the need to get the right, timely information to the warfighter conducting an operation.”

According to Matthews, enhancing intelligence integration through expanded partnerships will help in providing the tools and information to empower the warfighter.

“We have new partners who are dealing with various conditions around their geographies and threat landscapes,” added Matthews. “As such, the demand to share intelligence and information is huge … especially as we move to enable new partners to prosecute their operations against rising threats.”

Matthews closed his keynote address by applauding everything that industry partners do to help realize true information sharing that supports the warfighter.

In today’s volatile global environment, it is clear that a coalition of many – including defense, industry, government and academia across many nations – is needed to help gain the actionable information to achieve for mission success.

Stay tuned for more coverage from the DI2E Plugfest 2015 throughout the day from the Thermopylae blog.