In the age of the Internet, time is kept by the beating of an electronic clock that’s constantly blinking: You’re too slow; you’re not innovating fast enough; you’re too costly.
Senior executives at the Defense Information Systems Agency said recently that they have seen those blinking red digits in the middle of the night and are reorganizing the combat support agency to be more responsive to the needs of the military services in the “five Cs”: cyber, cloud, collaboration, command and control.
The reorganization includes four “centers,” with the two key ones focused on business and development, and implementation and sustainment (resource management and operations are the two other). It will work like this: Instead of requirements/requests from the military being funneled to various corners of DISA as they have been, all development, tests and evaluation will now occur in the business and development center, which is led by Alfred Rivera.
Once that new capability is viable and in the hands of war fighters, it will be sustained and refreshed by the other main DISA center, implementation and sustainment, led by Dave Bennett.
The goal: Speed delivery of cyber/security/cloud solutions to users within the military branches, and do so at a cost-competitive price. In other words, change those blinking red lights to green lights.
More change is in store for DISA this year on the leadership front. By the time you read this, Mark Orndorff, who has led the agency’s cybersecurity efforts, will have retired after three decades working for the Department of Defense and the government. And Lt Gen Ronnie Hawkins, director for three-plus years, will be retiring this year.
On another note, C4ISR & Networks has introduced a new website. Visually and graphically appealing, better organized and reader friendly, the website provides a much more dynamic package for our industry leading coverage of cyber, C2 and comms, unmanned systems and sensors, IT and networks, mobility, and GEOINT, as well as our interviews with senior military leaders and program managers.
We’re especially pleased with new functionality for photo galleries and video features, such as our recent visit to Fort Bliss for Network Integration Evaluation 15.1 to interview soldiers testing the tactical network.
The website is optimized for mobility, and the C4ISR & Networks app will help you stay connected to all the news related to the intelligence-age military anywhere and any time on your mobile device. The app is available for download now on iTunes and all the major app stores.
