| Managing Change Military Logistics Forum The United States military has sought to match changes in warfighting conditions with new concepts in the supply and maintenance of materiel and equipment. The expeditionary nature of military operations and the increased speed and mobility of forces have led officials to experiment with a system for replenishing parts and supplies to warfighters, known as the Sense-and-Respond Logistics Concept. The military sees sense-and-respond logistics as part and parcel of its transformation to information-intensive, network-centric operations. But network-centricity, by its nature, emphasizes technology implementations and data sharing rather than organizational changes. Sense-and-respond logistics, as it is being implemented, has also revolved around technology. But this emphasis has missed the mark when it comes to the important organizational aspects of the concept. Technology may have improved the military’s ability to “sense” logistics needs but not necessarily to more effectively “respond.” Data gold for homeland protection Military Geosptial Technology Born in the months following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the Homeland Security Infrastructure Protection (HSIP) program plays a key role in defending the nation by providing a common geospatial data set for use by government entities at all levels, from federal agencies to local first responders in case of a national emergency.
Despite its name, the program is not currently housed in the Department of Homeland Security, which was not formally established until a few months after HSIP got under way. Instead, it is under National Geospatial- Intelligence Agency (NGA), which was appointed the lead agency for HSIP and tasked to develop a comprehensive set of geospatial data on the country’s critical infrastructure that could be used for multiple homeland security purposes. HSIP began in the summer of 2002 as a collaborative project between NGA and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). A joint team set out to identify and prioritize potential terrorist targets and to identify the minimum geospatial data requirements to meet the needs of the evolving homeland security community. This inquiry resulted in a list of 103 data sets that NGA and USGS continue to use as the baseline geospatial requirements for HSIP. DHS eventually joined HSIP as a key federal participant. Together with NGA and USGS, the HSIP team began acquiring what today totals over 340 data sets from government agencies at all levels as well as from commercial vendors in an effort to map the country’s critical infrastructures in 15 sectors. These include information and communications, banking and finance, water supply, emergency services, energy, public health, law enforcement and chemical manufacturing. DOD struggles with incompatible data Federal Computer Week Despite its efforts, the Defense Department is finding it difficult to share data. The multiagency Cross-Domain Semantic Interoperability Working Group concluded that DOD must address the problem with technologies that aren't yet available. The group released a report stating that DOD's data strategy is inimical to achieving broad interoperability. The technologies necessary to reach that goal haven't sufficiently matured, according to the report. DOD’s strategy is to establish communities of interest (COIs) that will develop standard data models. That approach is problematic, the report states, because it will result in a proliferation of COIs and competition among them. “The Army may end up with 100 or more data models, even with strong governance to limit the number," the report states. Dot disconnected Defense Technology International The Department of Defense issued its proposed fiscal year 2008 budget in February, and it included some interesting implications for the future of network centricity. Perhaps most striking, the proposed budget terminated a program called Land Warrior, a ten-year, $2 billion project which had been touted as extending network centricity to the dismounted soldier. It shouldn’t come as a surprise, at a time when the military is fighting a multi-front war on terror, and in which major funding has become necessary for equipment resets and troop increases, that some transformational programs should have been cut. But the demise of Land Warrior is both ironic and paradoxical.
Navy rethinks approach to collecting, sharing data Federal Computer Week As it patrols Persian Gulf waters, the U.S. Navy is finding information collection and sharing among its main challenges. There are multiple wrinkles to these challenges. One involves the sheer level of information being retrieved from the boarding of suspicious vessels. “We’re changed our approach,” said Rear Adm. Peter Daly, deputy chief of naval operations. “Boarding parties used to be armed to the teeth and behaved like it was a police shakedown.” Instead, the Navy has been taking a friendlier, more conversational approach. Consequently, the amount of information retrieved from boarding has increased exponentially, from an average of 14K per boarding to 76M. Net-centric changes on the horizon? Government Computer News The political landscape in Washington has changed since the Defense Department issued its Quadrennial Defense Report a year ago, with Democrats taking control of Congress and a new Defense secretary at the Pentagon. One of the most significant changes came Jan. 11, when new Defense secretary Robert Gates recommended increasing the size of Army and Marine Corps ground forces by 92,000 over five years, scrapping predecessor Donald Rumsfeld’s notions of a light, lean military. But adding tens of thousands of new troops also will cost money—as much as $100 billion through 2013—which could affect the Pentagon’s planned modernization programs. DOD works transformation issues Federal Computer Week Communications among people, not technology, is the key to the successful transformation of Defense Department’s business systems. “The challenge is that we have multiple systems being developed in parallel,” said Prashant Gaur, director of enterprise integration at the Defense Business Transformation Agency (BTA). “How do we move them together?”
NetCents failures jeopardize classified info Federal Computer Week Information assurance failures in a major Air Force procurement program could let foreign governments access classified Defense Department information. Federal Computer Week With registered users approaching 1.9 million, Army Knowledge Online is reaching the limits of its scalability. AKO, now in the process of migrating to Defense Knowledge Online, a department-wide portal, can accommodate two million users. But budgetary processes and constraints are making it difficult for services and agencies outside of the Army to begin contributing their share to DKO. Can you hear me? Defense Technology International Could the Joint Tactical Radio System be on the road to recovery? There are some signs that the much-maligned JTRS is on a better track to deliver wireless networking radios to warfighters. But these signs come only after a series of glitches, cutbacks, and reorganizations transformed the program itself and significantly revised its goals. Air Force to invest in radio-over-IP Washington Technology Providing tactical communications to U.S. warfighters in Iraq has emerged as a major priority of the Air Force’s chief information officer. The service has deployed a radio-over-IP network along key convoy routes in Iraq, said Lt. Gen. Michael Peterson, the Air Force’s chief of warfighting integration and CIO. Smashing stovepipesDefense Technology International The Pentagon has made official an important change of direction in the way that it wants software designers to build the Defense Dept.’s information systems and support its move towards network-centric military operations. A technical document called the Dept. of Defense Architecture Framework (DoDAF), in its newly released 1.5 version, pushes developers towards the use of “service-oriented architectures” (SOAs). The use of the SOA concept represents a clean break with version 1.0 of DoDAF. That document reflected the traditional military approach: developing different, incompatible systems for specific uses, described by information developers as “stovepipes.” In a stovepipe system the application elements are tightly coupled to one another, making them difficult to share with another system. In a SOA, the capabilities needed by the user are developed by integrating loosely coupled, reusable elements of data, tools and applications. Developers and users can then draw upon those elements or modules, creating packages that represent new capabilities.
Search and deliver Military Information Technology The essential assumption behind the concept of network-centric warfare is that superior and more timely information will help warfighters more successfully find, track and hit enemy targets. For that to work, access to information stored across thousands of defense domains is essential.
The Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) is in the process of developing a portfolio of capabilities, under the heading of Network Centric Enterprise Services (NCES), that will aid in the cross-functional posting and utilization of data. DISA’s content discovery and delivery capability, a contract for which is expected to be awarded this year, is designed to enable warfighters to search and discover data relevant to their work across the defense enterprise. Crowded spectrum Military Information Technology When Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel Stephen Sklenka commanded a combat service support unit in Iraq, he often confronted the potential for casualties from improvised explosive devices. Sklenka’s unit was equipped with electronic jamming devices that prevented radio signals from reaching their intended targets. But the successful jamming of the IED triggering device had an unwelcome side effect.
Air Force opens up to non-proprietary software Federal Computer Week
The Air Force has embarked on a software acquisition and development program aimed at increasing efficiency and reducing lifecycle costs by enabling the reuse of applications’ components. Charles Riechers, the Air Force’s principal deputy assistant secretary for acquisition, said the program's strategy is to “encourage the use of open standards, open data interfaces and best-of-breed open source software solutions. We are not mandating either open or proprietary solutions. But if you’re not using open standards, you have to tell me that and there better be a damn good reason why not." Human barriers still holding back full info sharing Federal Computer Week Human factors, not technology, continue to be the major impediments to information sharing among Defense and intelligence agencies, a former intelligence analyst said. “The technology solution is relatively easy but the cultural, bureaucratic and psychological factors are more difficult,” said Mark Kagan, a former National Security Agency and Defense Intelligence Agency analyst.
Congress fine-tunes military health IT funding (Gov't Health IT) Budget shortages said leading to more DOD collaboration (FCW) DOD leaning more heavily on data standards (FCW) Army CIO thinks strategically about integrated networking (FCW) DISA needs help to clean up its books (Washington Technology)
Navy tries a new tack with EA (FCW)
Army considering cyberspace as tactical domain (Federal Computer Week)All for one, but not one for all (Government Computer News) How to read signs of safe software (Government Computer News) Air Force Explores the Next Frontier (Government Computer News) Navy Marine Corps Intranet expands classified functions (GCN) Technology seen limiting data interoperability (GCN) Lawmakers press State, Commerce on cyber break-ins (FCW) Congress takes it easy on DOD budget (GCN) Netcentricity aims for the tactical edge (Government Computer News) Whatever happened to JSIMS? (Defense Technology International) Detection Is the Best Prevention (Military Medical Technology) The picture of health (Military Medical Technology) | | Web of tomorrow Military Information Technology A set of interactive and collaborative Internet technologies that is already making a mark on American political and popular culture is also beginning to play an important role in the military and intelligence technology constellation. Collectively known as Web 2.0, these Websites and technologies provide richer user experiences, allow for the combination of information from different sources displayed in various formats, and facilitate interaction, collaboration and information sharing. Discovery channels Defense Technology International Before September 11, 2001, the United States intelligence community was deliberately organized as a series of self-contained islands. Officially, intelligence was shared on a need-to-know basis. Practically, a culture of competition and paranoia made sharing a rarity. The U.S. government took a u-turn on intelligence sharing after the terror attacks of six years ago. Intelligence and law enforcement agencies possessed information suggesting an impending terror attack. If only they had connected the dots, so the reasoning went, the attack might have been averted. Lighting up the battlespace Military Geospatial Technology Ongoing improvements in computing power and software are increasing the value of Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) technology for battlespace awareness. U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan seeking information on field elevations, obstructions and lines of sight have had access to geospatial data provided by LIDAR since 2005. The military has been using the same technology for several years to identify and map training grounds and to create flight training simulators for airborne missions. LIDAR is not exactly new, with the first LIDAR sensors being developed in the early 1990s. But advances in computing are new, allowing for the processing of LIDAR’s large data sets, as are software tools that facilitate the visualization and exploitation of that data by military commanders and planners. Experts predict LIDAR technology will grow in use by the military, especially to map the urban terrains that have become more common sites of operations. India link Defense Technology International Lockheed Martin is betting that the U.S. military, and other defense organizations around the world, will want to squeeze as much mileage out of their existing platforms while equipping them with technologies that make the systems compatible with the information-intensive nature of modern warfare. That is the idea behind a joint venture between the world’s largest defense contractor and the Indian information technology company Wipro Technologies. The two announced in August they opened a Network Centric Operations Center (NCOC) in Gurgaon, India, known as Ambar Jyoti. The lab will, according to a Lockheed Martin announcement, “develop, demonstrate, and experiment with emerging network-enabled capabilities and applications.” Navy raising CANES in system migration Government Computer Week The Navy is moving to a new information technology environment called the Consolidated Afloat Networks and Enterprise Services, or CANES. CANES is inspired by the service-oriented architectures being implemented by the military and private industry. But the Navy intends to accept a greater level of risk while migrating to its new environment. SOAs deploy loosely coupled, reusable application components to create new IT capabilities. This replaces traditional integration architectures, which require point-to-point interfaces between networks and systems. CANES seeks to solve the same problem. The migration to CANES will differ from the typical SOA deployment in that the Navy will be relying less on its older capabilities while making the transition. Instead, it will seek to rapidly insert new capabilities while it is implementing its new architecture. Air Force 'shocked' by Chinese actions in space Federal Computer Week The prospect of war in space has led to some strategic thinking at the Defense Department about the future of U.S. satellites. The galvanizing event came in January when China destroyed one of its weather satellites by launching a ground-based ballistic missile. Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne, speaking in Washington Sept. 19, called the incident an egregious act and added that the Chinese were sending a message to the U.S. military that China now views space as a battlefield. "We were not surprised; we were shocked," Wynne said, at the symposium sponsored by the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, a defense policy think tank in Washington. "What was shocking about it was the denial." Data crucial to Army's situational awareness Federal Computer Week Technology has a single major role to play to support business transformation in an increasingly expeditionary Army: to provide warfighters with greater situational awareness. “Situational awareness is an attempt to reduce uncertainty in decision-making,” said Army chief information officer-designate Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Sorenson. Key to the Army CIO’s role in this area is to pursue an enterprise data strategy. WIN-T’s new tactics Military Information Technology In the years to come, the U.S. military will find itself in a state of persistent conflict. With land forces being called upon to field forces in a variety of different scenarios and geographies, the Army needs to be able to provide ready bandwidth for those forces wherever they may be and whenever they need it. This, in a nutshell, is the current vision for the Army’s Warfighter Information Network-Tactical (WIN-T). The program, conceived of as the Army’s “tactical intranet,” was recently restructured by incorporating the Joint Network Node-Network (JNN-N) into the program as Increment One of WIN-T. With Increment One already up and running, WIN-T is already providing a communications and information infrastructure to U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. Mixed signals Defense Technology International “In theater, spectrum is king.” So declared Robert Carey, CIO of the U.S. Department of the Navy at a recent industry gathering in Washington. Carey’s remarks hinted at both the opportunities and the pitfalls that military organizations face with their increased reliance on the radios, radar systems, and wireless computers that use electromagnetic wave frequencies. The opportunity involves extending the military communications network so that more and better information can flow from planners, analysts, and commanders to shooters. The problem is being able to make radio-wave frequencies available at the lowest tactical level to all those soldiers, airmen, sailors, and marines. The electromagnetic spectrum available for military operations is becoming an increasingly rare commodity. It is, of course, also used for a wide variety of government and civil applications and demand is skyrocketing in all sectors. Efforts are underway to allocate and utilize available spectrum more efficiently. Some advocate the implementation of a national strategy to coordinate the usage of spectrum by its various contenders. Radio coverage Government Computer News When the Air Force’s Combined Air and Space Operations Center in Southwest Asia completed installing a radio-over-IP network in October, it placed the capstone on a project that had found a mission entirely different from the one for which it was launched. The center finished building the Radio-over-IP Routed Network’s radio towers and ground stations in September and moved the project into its sustainment phase, complete with formal project management from headquarters. But when plans for RIPRnet first arose in December 2005, before the Iraqi elections, it was seen as an emergency, shoestring network designed to help prevent interference with the voting process. Last year, the project morphed into a network designed to cover major convoy routes in Iraq.
US administration pushes UNCLOS ISN Security Watch A quarter of a century after original negotiations were completed, the US has decided to endorse the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. Although not known for its championship of multilateral institutions, the Bush administration is pushing the US Senate to ratify the treaty, which has been signed by over 180 nations. The US participated in UNCLOS negotiations in the 1970s, but did not sign on at the time. The Convention represents an attempt to comprehensively regulate all aspects of the resources and uses of seas and oceans. The administration has started a campaign to urge ratification of the treaty by the Senate. Considering the constitutional requirement that two-thirds of the senators vote in the affirmative, that ratification is by no means assured. Proponents claim that the treaty promises the US military full freedom of navigation on the high seas and in straits and coastal waterways. Opponents justify scuttling the accord, saying the international tribunal would compromise US sovereignty because it would be the ultimate arbiter of what constitutes military activity under the convention.
Air Force 'shocked' by Chinese actions in space Federal Computer Week The prospect of war in space has led to some strategic thinking at the Defense Department about the future of U.S. satellites. The galvanizing event came in January when China destroyed one of its weather satellites by launching a ground-based ballistic missile. Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne, speaking in Washington Sept. 19, called the incident an egregious act and added that the Chinese were sending a message to the U.S. military that China now views space as a battlefield. "We were not surprised; we were shocked," Wynne said, at the symposium sponsored by the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, a defense policy think tank in Washington. "What was shocking about it was the denial." Data crucial to Army's situational awareness Federal Computer Week Technology has a single major role to play to support business transformation in an increasingly expeditionary Army: to provide warfighters with greater situational awareness. “Situational awareness is an attempt to reduce uncertainty in decision-making,” said Army chief information officer-designate Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Sorenson. Key to the Army CIO’s role in this area is to pursue an enterprise data strategy. Front-Line Satellites Military Information Technology As ongoing operations in Iraq focus on cleaning out pockets of insurgency, neighborhood by neighborhood, street by street, a set of satellite communications technologies now being tested by the Department of Defense could benefit these and similar future operations by providing maneuverable and configurable surveillance and reconnaissance assets. Field commanders would be able to call in surveillance, by targeting flexible, low-cost, tactical satellites on their next area of operation. More than that, they would be able to order up satellites with capabilities configured to the requirements of the mission, almost like ordering a laptop computer online.
COIs: Too much of a good thing? Federal Computer Week Growth in the number of communities of interest created to improve information sharing at the Defense Department shows no sign of slowing. Some DOD leaders welcome the phenomenon, but others say having too many groups could result in competing standards. “The growth in the number of communities of interest is a problem we want right now,” said Michael Krieger, director of information management at DOD’s Office of the Chief Information Officer. Warfighter Wi-Fi Defense Technology International The key to survival and success on the "empty battlefield" fighting shadowy, stateless terrorists is to make every soldier part of the information network. But such efforts - including the US Army's Land Warrior system - have proved too expensive to avoid the budget ax during wartime. Now, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is making another go at a similar concept by developing a mobile and low-cost wireless battlefield communications network that emphasizes radio density rather than range for effectiveness. The effort will put tens of thousands of radios in the hands of dismounted soldiers and in vehicles rather than building a network around remote base stations.
GAO to seek FISMA changes Federal Computer Week The Government Accountability Office will recommend that federal agencies take a more qualitative and risk-based approach to evaluating their information security. In a report to be released later this year, auditors will advocate changes in the Office of Management and Budget’s policy guidelines for complying with the Federal Information Security Management Act·(FISMA). GAO is closely reviewing the performance measures that OMB uses to ensure that agencies are implementing proper security controls. The review comes as lawmakers and others are criticizing FISMA for failing to improve the security of government computer systems. Experts differ on whether a risk-based approach would improve the situation. | |