JIE framework will help address budget issues, says DISA vice director

The Defense Department's initiative to fold its disparate information networks into one common, shared global network will not receive new funding, and therefore will need to leverage legacy IT programs and existing networks in such a way as to continue making progress toward an enterprise information sharing environment, says a top Defense Information Systems Agency official.

But the Joint Information Enterprise (JIE) is well worth the effort as it offers the DOD a way to respond to real budget issues, get after the threat vector, be dominant in the information space, and do these things in an efficient and affordable way, DISA Vice Director Navy RADM David Simpson said at an AFCEA Central Maryland Chapter meeting on Jan. 24.

To achieve its purpose, the JIE will require synchronization of current and future architectures, engineering designs and enterprise services, capabilities and applications, he said.  

Programs such as the DOD's Enterprise E-mail, which currently has 800,000 users on the Sensitive but Unclassified IP Data Service, 20,000 users on the Secret IP Data Services and has the potential to scale to 4.5 million users in the JIE, are moving the department closer to the vision of an enterprise information environment by offering enhanced access, synergy with the mobile environment, and unprecedented agility and information-sharing capabilities, he said.

“The chairman [of the Joint Staff] and each of the service chiefs have endorsed [JIE] as a military imperative....It’s got mission endorsement and push, as well as the resource commitment from all of the key leaders inside the Pentagon,” said Simpson.

Other enterprise services and capabilities slated to evolve the JIE include the DOD Enterprise Portal Service, based on a Microsoft SharePoint platform; Unified Capabilities, which will integrate voice, video, and data services across a secure and highly available network infrastructure; Enterprise Cloud Broker, which will standardize the provision of cloud services across DOD; and mobility solutions, which include the mobile device management, including application or widget management.

The JIE is being conducted through the JIE Executive Committee tri-chaired by DOD CIO Teri Takai, Joint Staff J6 Army LTG Mark Bowman and Cyber Command commander Army GEN Keith Alexander, who also serves as the initiative’s operational sponsor, Simpson said.