“[On] common data standards, we’re trying to find the right balance there, [because] there was a lot of pushback,” Parker said today. “So we’re looking for a minimum required when necessary and really continue to focus on federated [standards].” “We will have a mission partner federated data fabric out there,” he said, “[but] we acknowledge the services, combatant commands, other agencies are going to have their own fabrics that we need to be able to connect with and interoperate with.” In layman’s terms: The Defense Department will let its subordinate organizations develop their own data standards, but they’ll need to be compatible enough that the Joint Staff can then knit them together (“federate” them”).