DON IT/Cyberspace Efficiency Initiatives and Realignment
By Lynda Pierce - Published, January 31, 2011
The Under Secretary of the Navy, The Honorable Robert O. Work, signed a memo, dated Dec. 3, 2010, addressing information technology (IT)/cyberspace efficiency initiatives and realignment in the Department of the Navy. The memo underscores the challenge from Secretary of Defense (SECDEF) Robert Gates to think about the DON's approach to IT initiatives and to centralize and consolidate efforts where it makes sense. Work and Department of the Navy Secretary Ray Mabus view SECDEF's challenge as an opportunity to become efficient in the DON's IT procurement and business processes and to define a department strategy to shape the way forward in information management (IM), IT and cyberspace. The memo directs the DON Chief Information Officer to take the lead for the department for this endeavor, noting that it is a team effort and no one organization can do it alone.
The memo designates Terry Halvorsen, DON CIO, as the DON's IT/Cyberspace Efficiency Lead. It directs him to partner with several Secretariat level offices, the Chief of Naval Operations and Commandant of the Marine Corps to ensure the Department's IM, IT/cyberspace and Information
Resources Management (IRM) goals are clearly articulated and met. The memo directs these offices to review their current processes and procedures to ensure their organizations are aware and actively included in all IM, IT/cyberspace and IRM activities. Additionally, to ensure a common, enterprise approach to IM, IT/cyberspace and IRM activities, the memo tasks the DON CIO to provide updates to the memos of August 2005 and November 2006 designating the DON Deputy Chief Information Officers.
Work writes that the IT/cyberspace efficiencies efforts must ensure operational integrity, maintain sufficient levels of defense-in-depth and fail-over capabilities, and be supportive of Department of Defense IT consolidation and efficiency efforts. They must also address the costs and risks associated with any proposed changes and be based on solid business case analysis. Halvorsen is tasked to collaborate
with relevant DON IM, IT/cyberspace and IRM stakeholders to accomplish the following by the due dates noted:
- Create a process to become advocates and active participants in the development and review of the Services and DON's IM, IT/cyberspace and IRM portions of the annual Program Objective Memorandum (POM) build (Dec. 30, 2011).
- Charter and chair a DON IT policy/governance board to function as the Department's single senior governance forum in which IM, IT/cyberspace and IRM matters are reviewed and approved or disapproved (Jan. 14, 2011).
- Publish an overarching Naval Networking Environment (NNE) strategy document to which the governance, administration, operation, investment and acquisition of DON IM, IT/cyberspace and IRM resource assets will be predicated (Feb. 14, 2011).
- Identify opportunities for consolidation and centralization of IM, IT/cyberspace and IRM services, applications and operations across the Department (Feb. 28, 2011). Then submit an aggressive high-level Plan of Action & Milestones that spans the Future Year Defense Plan (FYDP) to migrate to cohesive, defendable and resilient DON enterprise solutions (Mar. 30, 2011).
- Develop, publish and implement a new Secretary of the Navy instruction to articulate
roles, responsibilities and relationships of all key stakeholder entities within the IM, IT/cyberspace and IRM domains (May 1, 2011).
Lynda Pierce is the DON CIO strategic communications team leader.