Mr. Dave Wennergren, DON CIO, was recently named Chair of the new Department of Defense (DoD) Identity Management Senior Coordinating Group (IMSCG). Established by the DoD CIO in January 2004, the IMSCG provides senior oversight and coordination of DoD's biometric, smart card and PKI initiatives.
The IMSCG replaces three bodies: the Smart Card Senior Coordinating Group, the PKI Senior Steering Committee, and the Biometric Senior Coordinating Group. This consolidation produces a single forum that will streamline and integrate the management of DoD/DON biometric, smart card and PKI initiatives.
The IMSCG responds to the need within the Department of Defense to globally oversee and combine efforts of these important initiatives aimed at managing the identity of DoD employees and networked devices by improving the security of DoD's systems. The senior coordinating group will craft and monitor the Department's vision and strategy for utilizing identity management capabilities to enhance readiness, improve business processes and ensure necessary security.
Mr. John Stenbit, Assistant Secretary of Defense, asked Mr. Wennergren to chair this coordinating group based on the tremendous success of the Smart Card Senior Coordinating Group, which oversaw the roll out of over 4 million Common Access Cards throughout DoD. Mr. Wennergren has chaired the Smart Card Senior Coordinating Group since its inception four years ago.
The IMSCG consists of Flag/General Officer and SES representatives of each of the Armed Forces, OSD Principal Staff Assistants, National Security Agency (NSA), Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC) and others. It is a cohesive DoD-wide policy, requirements, strategy and oversight group for managing the physical and virtual identities of all DoD personnel, support contractors and devices.
The IMSCG will focus on Department-wide interoperability standards, performance metrics, and ways to leverage identity management tools to enhance readiness, improve business processes and increase security. The group will receive support from the DoD Biometric Management Office, DoD Access Card Office and DoD PKI Program Management Office for their respective focus areas.