Hubbard Radio Washington DC, LLC. All rights reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.
China's rolling out its digital army. Xinhua, the official state news agency says next month they're going to conduct their first "digital" technology military exercise. It'll take place in north China's remote Inner Mongolia region. They're going to focus on digitalized combat, special operations forces, army aviation and electronic counter forces.
Navy CIO Terry Halvorsen says the Navy and Marine Corps have already reduced IT spending by $2 billion, and will soon target billions more in technology spending.
Roughly 680,000 DoD civilians will be forced to take one day off per week without pay between July 8 and the end of the fiscal year as a result of the automatic budget cuts, known as sequestration. Jessica Wright, acting undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, told In Depth with Francis Rose the decision wasn't an easy one.
After reaching one of its energy efficiency goals three years early, the Air Force has adopted a more ambitious plan. On this week's edition of On DoD, Dr. Kevin Geiss offers an update on where the Air Force is at now.
Frank Kendall, Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics; and Dr. Ash Carter, Deputy Secretary of Defense, recently gave an update on the agency's Better Buying initiative at an event held by the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
The Pentagon is responding to a Washington Post article claiming key weapons systems have been compromised by Chinese espionage. Spokesman George Little says, "We maintain full confidence in our weapons platforms." Little also says, "The Department of Defense takes the threat of cyber espionage and cyber security very seriously, which is why we have taken a number of steps to increase funding to strengthen our capabilities, harden our networks, and work with the defense industrial base to achieve greater visibility into the threats our industrial partners are facing." He says, "suggestions that cyber intrusions have somehow led to the erosion of our capabilities or technological edge are incorrect."
The Pentagon will begin tracking how much time its acquisition managers spend performing and responding to oversight in an effort to remove "non-value-added" processes from the procurement system.
News and buzz in the acquisition and IT communities that you may have missed this week.
After the President's major speech on drones and GITMO, the intelligence community responded. DNI James Clapper welcomed "the effort to strengthen the process for reviewing and approving counterterrorism operations." He said "a consistent and regularized interagency coordination process that involves policymakers, intelligence professionals and the legal community is essential to preventing and responding to terrorism while ensuring the freedoms that are the bedrock of our democracy."
All veterans who have waited two years or more for a decision will have their cases decided by next month, the Department of Veterans Affairs told Congress. Half of the Veterans Benefits Administration's oldest cases already have been removed from the backlog.
The Pentagon is buying a new computerized health records system to be able to better share and merge its data with the Department of Veterans Affairs. But the Associated Press is reporting, "officials cautioned that it was part of a "long-term modernization" effort and would not help ease the current backlog in VA disability claims." Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is ordering DoD to seek bids for development of the new system.
Frank Kendall says many different factors played into the Pentagon's decision to go with a competitive bidding process to develop its integrated electronic health record system, instead of adopting VA's VistA program. He said DoD wants to ensure its system is interoperable not just with VA hospitals but with civilian health facilities as well. In addition, Kendall cited cultural differences between the two large agencies.
Brig. Gen. Bryan T. Roberts, Commanding General, U.S. Army Training Center and Fort Jackson, in Fort Jackson, S.C. has been suspended. The Pentagon says the suspension is due to allegations that include adultery and a physical altercation. Military authorities say the charges are being thoroughly investigated. While the investigation is ongoing, Brig. Gen. Peggy C. Combs, Commandant of the U.S. Army Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear School, Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., will serve as the interim commander until the investigation is complete and the issue resolved.
Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel has decided to turn to the commercial marketplace for an integrated electronic health records solution rather than adopting VA' Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture. He cited market research that showed turning to the competitive process would generate reduced cost and technical risk for DoD.