Ken Johnson is the Sea Warrior Program (PMW 240) Manpower, Personnel, Training, and Education Technical Director, under the Program Executive Office for Enterprise Information Systems (PEO EIS. He is leading the development of a strategy to create (MPT&E) Navy mobile applications. This app development is part of a larger bring-your-own-device (BYOD) effort, which will expand the way that Sailors and other users can access information and complete tasks using their personal devices. The first app Sea Warrior developed was eDIVO, which serves as a prototype for future MPT&E app development.
Mr. Johnson responded to questions in writing in April.
Q: eDIVO was the first app developed for Sea Warrior’s larger MPT&E mobile app strategy. Can you talk about the app and how it came about?
A: eDIVO is a leadership and management mobile app that gives Division Officers and other Navy leaders easy access to the information they need to do their job. Division Officers, often referred to as DIVOs, spend a lot of time looking through Navy policies, and eDIVO can save them time searching for the information they need. Most importantly for those serving aboard ships, it is designed so that the information can be accessed offline at sea, where access to mobile devices and the Internet is very limited.
The idea for eDIVO came from two lieutenants, Charlie Hymen and John Harry, just off their tours as Division Officers. They realized that if they had an app that put the most commonly used information in one place, it would have help them be more effective as DIVOs. During the effort to make their idea a reality, they caught the ear of the Chief of Navy Personnel (CNP).
At the same time Sea Warrior was proposing using mobile applications to accelerate Sailor self-service concepts being identified in the My Navy Portal effort. CNP loved the eDIVO idea and it fit into the Sea Warrior proposal so he put us to work to create a prototype effort, not only with the end goal of developing eDIVO, but to see if we could create a process to make mobile apps quickly and inexpensively.
To ensure we carried out their vision on eDIVO, we worked directly with the lieutenants to develop the app. In their role, they guided the development of the app from the look and feel to what content was included. They were the eDIVO application “champions.”
Q: What kind of information is included in the app?
A: eDIVO contains more than 40 documents and 8,300 pages of information including numerous Navy policies, navigation rules of the road, and emergency contact points. Before the app was available, Division Officers would have to page through a large amount of information to find the answers they needed, or find a way to get on the Internet and “Google” the resources to do their job. Now, not only do they have that information on their mobile device, but it is presented in a way that highlights the most relevant information that they need to access quickly.
The information in the app resides within four sections — Division Management, Personnel Management, My Bridge Team, and Emergency. The Division and Personnel Management sections hold Navy instructions, frequently asked questions, and other Navy policy information on division and personnel management.
Within the Bridge Team section, there is information specifically for Surface Warfare Officers (SWOs) on navigation basics, officer of the deck (OOD) tools, and a training section that includes a quiz feature that allows Sailors to test their knowledge on the navigation rules of the road questions developed by the Surface Warfare Officer School (SWOS). This allows SWOs to constantly refresh the knowledge they need to do their jobs.
In the Emergency section, phone numbers and links to the emergency resources, such as the National Suicide Prevention helpline and American Red Cross Emergency helpline, are available in case of emergency.
Q: Can you talk about the overall strategy that Sea Warrior is taking on Manpower, Personnel, Training, and Education mobile applications?
A: What we have done at Sea Warrior is to create a strategy detailing the approach for developing apps from inception to sustainment. eDIVO served as the prototype for this strategy. eDIVO showed we could do it in a seven-month agile process but we feel strongly that with the ground that eDIVO plowed we can produce apps of the same complexity in four months and lower complexity apps even faster.
The strategy includes a timeline for governance, testing, communications, systems engineering, budgeting, and sustainment planning. As a part of the strategy, we identify and designate an app “champion.” This app champion will serve the same role the lieutenants did with eDIVO, guiding the development and leading the plans for deployment and sustainment.
CNP has directed us to proceed with pulling together a MPTE Mobile Application Group to encourage app ideas, identify app champions, mature the MPTE mobile app strategy to get from idea to application delivery rapidly and consistently, approve apps, and evaluate apps in operation. A consistency example is the Emergency section in the eDIVO app. We want to make sure every app has this important reference. Even if it is not germane to the app, it is to the Navy and the priority we put on our most important asset, our Sailors.
Q: How do you see the bring-your-own-device (BYOD) approach as a solution for some of the challenges Sailors face?
A: BYOD has become popular because of the increased use of smartphones and tablets. The last statistic I saw was that over 96 percent of incoming Sailors are entering the Navy with their own device. However, because of security concerns and lack of alternative user authentication, BYOD still has many challenges as a solution in the Navy.
Currently, apps cannot contain any personally identifiable information (PII) or sensitive information limiting how apps and other mobility solutions can be used. But while BYOD is not the solution to every technology problem, there are definitely some places where the Navy can benefit from embracing the BYOD approach.
In particular, BYOD is a powerful way to reach Sailors at sea, where access to computers and the Internet is extremely limited. In the case of eDIVO, it provides Sailors access to valuable information that they would either have to search a large manual for or rely on fellow Sailors. Because of this, we are likely to see many more apps in the future that give access to information and tools to Sailors via a BYOD solution.
Q: How do you see the future role of MPT&E apps in the Navy?
A: MPTE has no intention to stop producing apps after just one. CNP has already authorized us to produce two General Military Training (GMT) mobile apps. Later this year, Sailors will be able to take “Domestic Violence Prevention and Reporting” and “Operational Risk Management” from their device. If the Sailors allow the mobile apps to send an email from their personal account they will automatically get credit for taking the courses.
In addition to these, the eDIVO release has spawned an influx of ideas and suggestions for new apps and even some that have been done in various commands waiting for a process to get out.
The decision of which apps to develop in the future falls to the MPT&E Mobile Application Group, the members of which will represent the major MPT&E organizations. This group will also govern the process to find the functional champion of each app, determine the optimal development and deployment plan, approve apps for deployment, and evaluate apps in operation.
Because of the information assurance limitations we are currently only targeting the creation of apps that do not contain any personal or sensitive information, but we are working with the [Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Information Dominance] OPNAV Information Dominance (N2/N6), Navy Enterprise Mobility Integrated Product Team (IPT) on the Navy’s path forward to get these types of apps in the Sailors hands. For now, we will focus on developing non-PII, non-sensitive apps that Sailors and other Navy users need. With each app we build, it will refine the process for the process for future apps.
The Sea Warrior Program (PMW 240) manages a complex portfolio of information technology (IT) systems that enable the Navy to support Navy human resource management, criminal justice, Fleet Support, afloat business applications, Navy and DoD portfolio management, DON administration, and joint aviation aircraft scheduling. The SWP’s portfolio includes 11 product lines comprised of 20 initiatives, 29 systems, and 14 applications. For more information, please visit: http://www.public.navy.mil/spawar/PEOEIS/SWP/Pages/default.aspx.