Shared Vision for a Joint Services Based Environment to Enable Information Sharing

DoD and DNI Chief Information Officers Establish Shared Vision for a Joint Services Based Environment to Enable Information Sharing

Assistant Secretary of Defense for Networks and Information Integration and DoD Chief Information Officer John G. Grimes and retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Dale Meyerrose, Associate Director of National Intelligence and Chief Information Officer for the Director of National Intelligence, recently signed a memorandum of agreement for a joint vision which enables improved interoperability and seamless information sharing between the Department of Defense and the Intelligence Community (IC).

The joint agreement seeks to create a services-based information environment and to reinforce DoD and DNI collaboration towards implementing business and information services and service-oriented architecture. This environment, which leverages commercial practices, offers functionality as 'services' rather than stand-alone applications and is based on building capabilities using standard Web technologies.

"We work closely with Dale Meyerrose, my counterpart in the DNI, to ensure that DoD and the national intelligence community are pursuing complementary strategies to achieve information sharing," said Grimes. "The strategies communicate our vision of how to best achieve effective, efficient, and agile information sharing between DoD and the IC."

Developed through the combined efforts of the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the shared vision is to establish an information services-based environment that is:

Supported by a mandatory and common foundation based upon DoD CIO/DNI CIO jointly-developed standards, rules, and interoperable secure infrastructure services. This foundation will be governed by a joint board co-chaired by the DoD CIO and the DNI CIO; Populated with secure mission and business services. These will be provided and used by functions and organizations from across the DoD and IC and based on applicable enterprise architectures;

Managed to ensure operational visibility and situational awareness of the information environment for users throughout the DoD and IC.

To achieve this shared vision, the DoD-DNI agreement outlines the shared goals adopted by the DoD and the IC to ensure the envisioned services-based environment is achieved. These goals include: (1) provide services-rather than developing stand alone applications; (2) use services-rather than creating duplicative capabilities; (3) govern the environment; and (4) manage the environment. These goals are further explained in the context of the DoD and the IC in their respective services strategies. Each strategy articulates the same vision and goals to ensure unity of purpose but each is grounded in the terminology and the required level of detail for the respective organization. The service oriented vision and strategies will be shared with other government agencies to enhance the information sharing environment.

The jointly signed memorandum and DoD Net-Centric Services Strategy can be found online at http://www.defenselink.mil/cio-nii/entservices/.

New DoD Strategy Outlined For Information Sharing

Assistant Secretary of Defense for Networks and Information Integration and DoD Chief Information Officer John G. Grimes signed the "DoD Information Sharing Strategy" today and established a new information sharing vision for the Department of Defense:

"Delivering the power of information to ensure mission success through an agile enterprise with freedom of maneuverability across the information environment." "The Department of Defense must closely cooperate with our domestic and international partners to mutually reinforce each other's success," said Grimes. "To that end, we must be able to quickly and seamlessly share information. This strategy will help us achieve that goal in concert with our partners both at home and abroad."

"We are working closely with Ambassador Ted McNamara, the President's Information Sharing Environment program manager, and retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Dale Meyerrose, Associate Director of National Intelligence and Chief Information Officer for the Director of National Intelligence, to ensure that our goals will support the national strategy," he added.

According to the DoD Information Sharing Strategy, the vision describes a future state where "transparent, open, agile, timely, and relevant information sharing occurs to promote freedom of maneuverability across a trusted information environment." To achieve this vision, the strategy describes four goals that form the necessary environment across the department. These include: (1) promote, encourage, and incentivize sharing; (2) achieve an extended enterprise; (3) strengthen agility in order to accommodate unanticipated partners and events; and (4) ensure trust across organizations.

Developed through the combined efforts of the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the strategy was published in response to the President's information sharing imperatives and as outlined in the most recent Quadrennial Defense Review. It seeks to guide the Department's exchange of information within the DoD and with domestic and international partners; for example, federal, state, local, tribal, the private sector, non-governmental organizations, foreign nations, and international organizations.

It provides an approach to information sharing activities and operations for the Office of the Secretary of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the combatant commands, the military departments, the Office of the Inspector General of the DoD, the defense agencies, the DoD field activities, and all other organizational entities in the DoD.

"To realize these objectives, the strategy addresses necessary changes to information mobility and associated alignment of incentives, policies, processes and systems, while identifying the critical cultural shift required to support collaboration and improved knowledge sharing," said Grimes.

The DoD Information Sharing Strategy will be supplemented with additional integrated guidance to synchronize the many information sharing activities, initiatives and investments supported by the DoD. This guidance will expand on five implementation considerations identified in the strategy to focus development on the culture, governance, policies, economics and resources, and technology and infrastructure factors associated with solutions to information sharing challenges. The strategy also establishes a framework for DoD to support the Federal Information Sharing Environment mandated by the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act (IRTPA) of 2004.

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