Just as physical fitness prepares warfighters for the demands of operations, data literacy prepares the workforce for the demands of modern command and decision-making.

The Australian Army is operating in an environment where the volume, velocity, and variety of data continues to grow. From sensors and autonomous systems to logistics, personnel, and intelligence – data increasingly underpins how we operate. As Army continues to modernise, success will depend not only on collecting more data, but on ensuring our people across all ranks can use it effectively.

The future battlefield will be highly congested and contested across the electromagnetic spectrum, which impacts how machines and digital systems operate. This showcases the need for officers and soldiers at every rank in the chain of command to think critically about the data their systems provide and understand how to read, analyse, and communicate that data appropriately, often at high tempo. (Brito, 2025)

This introduces an important shift in thinking. Data literacy is often viewed as a strictly technical competency for analysts, intelligence specialists, or data professionals. In reality, it is becoming a core military capability. Every officer and soldier who contributes to planning, capability development or operations must be able to understand, question, and apply data to make better decisions.

While technology can accelerate decision-making, data-literate decision makers create the decision advantage required to maintain an edge over modern-day adversaries.

Data Literacy is a Military Capability

It has long been recognised that capability is generated through the deliberate integration of people, training, doctrine, organisation, and technology. As data-enabled capabilities become embedded across the force, data literacy should be considered a fundamental enabler of capability. With data now recognised as a Fundamental Input to Capability, uplifting data literacy is listed as a strategic initiative throughout the Defence Data Strategy 2.0 (Department of Defence 2024).

Data literacy is not about producing data scientists. It is about equipping the workforce, regardless of rank, to ask better questions, understand the strengths and limitations of available information, interpret evidence appropriately, and communicate insights that improve outcomes of the integrated force.

This capability becomes increasingly important when members of the Future Integrated Force are presented with information from multiple systems in the context of compressed decision-making timeframes, where the ability to rapidly observe, orient, decide, and act is critical to operational effectiveness.

Without data literacy embedded as a fundamental workforce skill, there is a risk that data becomes either overwhelming or underutilised. A data-literate workforce is better able to distinguish between applicable and superfluous data, identify mission-relevant information, challenge assumptions, and apply professional military judgement with greater confidence based on the data available to them.

Data Enables Decision Advantage

The intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and targeting (ISRT) mission set will be of critical importance to the success of future littoral operations, providing surveillance and targeting data in any or all domains.

An example is the ISRT missions conducted by the Special Air Service Regiment (SASR) operations in Afghanistan in 2001–2002. Deployed over three separate rotations, the almost entirely self-sufficient task force would deploy patrols for weeks at a time, tasked with long-range reconnaissance throughout the southern, western, eastern and north-eastern regions of the country. They were an invaluable presence in areas that had not been visited by any coalition forces to date, providing US and coalition partners with vital ISR data. In the case of Operation Anaconda, SASR patrols were crucial to the targeting of enemy forces throughout the two-week battle.

Turning back to the context of littoral operations, any land-based force will need (as a minimum) ISR capabilities within the immediate area and in all domains. The situational awareness requirements of such a land force will be significant.

- Australian Army Research Centre 2026

Situational awareness and decision advantage are a central objective for modern land forces to seize the initiative and will only increase in importance. Whether operating in competition, crisis, or conflict; the force that can understand the environment, synthesise information, and make sound decisions faster than its adversary gains a significant operational advantage. Achieving this requires more than sophisticated technology.

Artificial intelligence, predictive analytics, and digital command-and-control systems can provide valuable insights, but they cannot replace the judgement of commanders and staff. Instead, assistive and enabling technologies enhance human decision-making only when users understand how to interpret outputs, recognise uncertainty, and appreciate the context in which data has been generated.

Data literacy enables the workforce to critically evaluate information; recognise the quality, bias, and limitations of available data; integrate quantitative evidence with operational experience and professional judgement; communicate evidence-based recommendations clearly; and build trust in data-informed decision-making.

Ultimately, situational awareness and decision advantage is not created by data itself. It is created by people who know how to use data effectively.

A Leader’s Role in Building a Data-Literate Land Force

The initial stages of developing data literacy are fundamentally a leadership challenge.

Data literacy develops through culture, practice, and experience rather than classroom instruction alone. Leaders set the conditions by demonstrating that data-based evidence is valued, questioning assumptions is allowed, and informed debate is encouraged.

Practical approaches include embedding data into routine planning activities, using operational problems as learning opportunities, and ensuring personnel have opportunities to work with real Defence data rather than hypothetical examples.

Incorrect assumptions and inappropriate assessment of data can contribute to poor decisions with long-lasting impacts.

One military example is the 2020-2021 U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. In a challenging and complex situation, officials made decisions based on data that may not have adequately measured the real capability and sustainability of Afghan security forces, contributing to an inaccurate assessment of their readiness. The After-Action Review (US Department of State 2024) notes the challenges involved in using predictive assessments and recommends the importance of challenging underlying assumptions based on available data.

Similarly, before the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack, Israeli forces failed to turn available warning information into an accurate operational picture, with later reviews finding that important real-time information was available but was not effectively incorporated into military decision-making (Barnea 2024).

Importantly, leaders should create psychologically safe environments where individuals feel comfortable asking questions about data, challenging interpretations, and acknowledging uncertainty. This strengthens decision-making rather than slowing it.

Equally important is recognising that data literacy is not confined to headquarters. It is relevant wherever decisions are made – from tactical planning through to capability management, logistics, workforce planning, and sustainment. Every level of command benefits when personnel are confident using data to inform judgement. A data literate workforce supports mission command by enabling subordinates to interpret information confidently, exercise initiative, and make informed decisions when communications are degraded, contested, or denied.

Lessons from Delivering Data-Enabled Capability

Experience implementing data-enabled capability across Defence consistently demonstrates that technology is only one part of successful transformation. The greatest challenge is rarely building the system: the biggest challenge is enabling people to adopt new ways of working.

Data initiatives succeed when they solve real operational or business problems. Personnel engage more readily when they understand how improved use of data directly supports readiness, force preparedness, or operational effectiveness.

Capability grows through incremental success. Small, practical improvements that demonstrate value often generate greater momentum than large-scale transformation programs that attempt to change everything at once.

Leadership sponsorship across all levels remains essential. When commanders routinely ask for evidence, use data during decision-making, and demonstrate curiosity, these behaviours become embedded across the organisation.

Finally, multidisciplinary teams consistently produce better outcomes. Bringing together operators, planners, capability managers, and data professionals ensures analytical solutions remain grounded in operational reality while leveraging technical expertise.

These lessons reinforce an enduring principle: data-enabled capability is ultimately a people capability.

Looking Forward

As Army prepares for an increasingly contested and information-rich operating environment, data literacy should be viewed alongside leadership, critical thinking, and professional mastery as a foundational capability.

Building a data-literate workforce is not about creating more analysts. It is about creating better decision makers.

By investing in people as deliberately as we invest in technology, Army can strengthen its ability to generate decision advantage, accelerate capability adoption, and ensure data becomes a trusted enabler of mission success rather than simply another source of information.

The future Land Force will not be defined solely by the sophistication of its technology, but by the confidence and competence of its people to transform data into timely, informed, and operationally relevant decisions.