WASHINGTON \u2014The U.S. Army is developing an enterprise digital strategy as the service prepares its networks and workforce for multidomain operations, the service\u2019s new chief information officer said Friday. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In his first public appearance Friday, Raj Iyer, the first civilian CIO of the Army, outlined his priorities for reforming the Army\u2019s approach to IT after the service split its CIO\/G-6 office into two positions to better align its IT positions as the service unifies its global enterprise and tactical networks. Iyer, who started his job in December, will work closely with Lt. Gen. John Morrison, the Army\u2019s first deputy chief of staff for the G-6. Lt. Col. Mary Ricks, an Army spokesperson, said the service hasn\u2019t confirmed a date to release the strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The plan, Iyer said, will go beyond addressing IT infrastructure plans, outlining how the Army will prepare its workforce for the digital age by changing culture and fostering innovation. \u201cIt\u2019s about how we leverage technologies, and how we\u2019re going to … leapfrog into the future with digital transformation,\u201d he said. \u201cBut along with that, we\u2019re going to need digital skills, talent management.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While Iyer has a massive undertaking as the Army prepares for future war-fighting needs, one of his priorities is to control the service\u2019s IT spending. The Army is continually over budget on IT, allotting about $14-15 billion, but spending $16-17 billion, said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When Iyer started, he said the then-secretary of the Army instructed him to manage the service\u2019s IT portfolio like a business. Iyer said that goal has two parts: controlling costs and increasing revenue, which for the Army would mean enabling missions with IT. To control costs, Iyer said, the service will have to divest from legacy systems and invest in time- and cost-saving technologies, such as automation. To enable missions, he said the CIO\u2019s office must be \u201cfront and center\u201d to Army modernization, working closely with Army Futures Command.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For the Army to succeed, the service must rewrite policies to makes it easier to acquire and sustain new technologies, such as cloud computing, that are integral to the multidomain fight, Iyer said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In his first few weeks on the job, he\u2019s been talking with four-star and three-star commanders across the Army about what challenges they want to solve using new technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf there is a commander out there in the field that wants to leverage technology to meet the mission outcomes, and there\u2019s some policy that\u2019s standing in the way, to me, that\u2019s the first thing we\u2019re going to go after,\u201d Iyer said. \u201cThat just cannot be.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The new CIO position gives the IT chief more decision-making power for the enterprise, which the prior CIO\/G-6 position didn\u2019t have. The lack of an \u201cempowered\u201d CIO in the past meant that IT decisions were passed down to lower level decision-makers who didn\u2019t have insight into the needs of the enterprise, leading to duplicated efforts and increased costs, Iyer said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the Army\u2019s push to improve its digital infrastructure and save money, Iyer plans to establish an Army Digital Oversight Council to act similarly to a board of directors, chaired by the CIO and reporting to the vice chief of staff of the Army.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf you look at how CIOs at Fortune 100 companies run, you know, they don\u2019t make unilateral decisions. They are there … as co-equal business units along with with their peers, and they form a board of directors and collectively make decisions,\u201d Iyer said. \u201cThat is where I want to take the Army.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The previous Army secretary was prepared to sign off on digital oversight council but didn\u2019t do so before the change in presidential administration, Iyer said. He will wait until new top Army leaders are confirmed before he formalizes the council.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis is all about change management, right? This is asking the Army to do something that it has never done before.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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