Navy hopeful Computer Defense Roadmap will influence R&D

The Navy is set to release in March a document that outlines the information technology security priorities that it needs to act on quickly.

What the Navy is hoping to do with the Computer Defense Roadmap is influence research and development efforts to get better security tools more quickly, said Robert Carey, the Navy’s chief information officer. Carey spoke Thursday at a Washington Technology Top 100 Executive Briefing.

“We’re trying to drive a little bit of the R&D spending, but not for things that will take two or three years to sort out,” he said.

The Navy’s needs are immediate, Carey said.

The security needs are at the individual user level, the network level, the data level and the Global Information Grid level, he said.

Some of the specific technologies include identity management, privacy and encryption.

A piece of advice he had for companies trying to sell to the Navy is to explain how their technology will fit with the Navy’s strategy. “I want to know what brick in the wall you can be,” he said.

Carey supports the use of Web 2.0 technologies and collaboration, but said there is a need to balance access with security.

“We have to embrace the net, but we have to embrace security,” Carey said.

Speaking about the upcoming NGEN contract, which will replace the Navy-Marine Corps Intranet contract held by EDS, Carey said that NGEN will be the architecture for networks across the Navy and possibly could be a steppingstone for networks across the Defense Department.

“I have said it before and I’ll say it again, we will build on the security success of NMCI,” he said. “This will not be a vertical leap but a constant climb in capability.”