• By William Welsh

The Defense Department Feb. 26 released a strategic plan for implementing commercial mobile devices for the department’s 600,000 users designed to align various mobile devices, pilots and initiatives across the department under common objectives to improve collaboration and information sharing, the Office of the DOD CIO said.

The release of the “Commercial Mobile Device Implementation Plan” supports the department’s June 2012 Mobility Strategy with specific goals and objectives to capitalize on the full potential of mobile devices, the CIO’s office said.

The plan targets for improvement three areas critical to mobility: mobile devices, wireless infrastructure, and mobile applications. It also works to ensure these areas remain reliable, secure and flexible enough to keep up with fast-changing technology, the DOD CIO said.

The DOD “is taking a leadership role in leveraging mobile device technology by ensuring its workforce is empowered with mobile devices,” said DOC CIO Teri Takai. “As today’s DOD personnel increasingly rely on mobile technology as a key capability enabler for joint force combat operations, the application of mobile technology into global operations, integration of secure and non-secure communications, and development of portable, cloud-enabled capability will dramatically increase the number of people able to collaborate and share information rapidly.”

The plan puts in place a framework to equip the department’s mobile-device users with secure classified and protected unclassified mobile technologies that leverage commercial off-the-shelf products, promote the development and use of mobile applications to improve functionality, decrease costs and enable increased personal productivity, the office said.

The plan orchestrates a series of operational pilots from across the DOD components that will incorporate lessons learned, ensure interoperability, refine technical requirements and create operational efficiencies, the DOD CIO said. The plan also seeks to influence commercial standards, the announcement said.

“This [plan] is not simply about embracing the newest technology — it is about keeping the department’s workforce relevant in an era when information accessibility and cybersecurity play a critical role in mission success,” Takai said.”