Hawkins: Mobility is About Providing Access to Data
Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) Director Air Force Lt Gen Ronnie D. Hawkins Jr. spoke about unleashing the power of information through mobility at the third-annual FedScoop MobileGov Summit on Feb. 28. The sold out event, held at the Newseum in Washington D.C., attracted approximately 750 industry and government attendees.
Hawkins discussed DISA’s role in the Department of Defense (DoD) mobility effort, the DoD Commercial Mobile Device Implementation Plan, and the goal of using mobility to exploit big data — the exponentially-increasing collection of information garnered through human behaviors such as document downloads, website clicks, emails, and video streams — to enhance command and control, particularly within the cyber domain.
He pointed out that 2.2 terabytes of new data are created every day. Every 60 seconds, approximately 168 million emails are sent; 11 million conversations are had via instant messenger; more than 13,000 apps are downloaded; 600 new videos are added on YouTube; and 98,000 new tweets are posted.
“There is just more information coming in than any of us can truly take in and manipulate. We are using about 10 percent of the data that is out there,” said Hawkins. “This [trend matches] what goes on in a data center on a daily basis right now.”
He indicated that a substantial portion of the total data available — 90 percent — is not being used to its full potential, and said that managing explosive information growth and increased demand for knowledge requires an enterprise-level strategy.
“We have a lot of data in the Department of Defense that could be utilized, that could be exploited … so that’s where I come with talking about unleashing the power of mobility,” said Hawkins, making reference to DoD’s vast collection of tactical, financial, medical, geospatial, and biometric data, as well as intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance imagery.
“[Mobility] is not about the mobile device. It is more than that. It is about what we can do with the data as a result of those mobile devices that we are now putting in people’s hands. It is about how we command and control within cyber as a result of all of this data that we now have at our fingertips,” said Hawkins.
Hawkins told attendees that the Joint Information Environment (JIE) — a single security architecture and a joint environment warfighters can operate on whether they are in a deployed environment or a fixed environment — will acknowledge mobility as a primary means of creating and accessing information.
“Most of the data is coming from the mobile devices. It is really not coming from our desktops anymore.”
Hawkins pointed out that the current business rules that are in place within DoD are desktop-centric. In order to exploit data on mobile devices, he said, the department will need to embrace and implement new, mobile-centric platforms, domains, scales, stakes, and mandates — and that many of these concepts are being addressed as JIE evolves.
The DISA director made it clear that DoD will be looking to industry for solutions in the mobile arena. He specified securing access to mobile devices, solutions to enable JIE, and big data solutions as three areas that will require industry’s help.
The FedScoop MobileGov Summit is an annual event that brings together government and industry IT leaders to share current issues, trends, and best practices on how to create the next generation mobile government workforce. Other speakers at the event included Teri Takai, the DoD chief information officer (CIO); Army LTG Susan Lawrence, the Army CIO; Navy RADM Robert E. Day Jr., assistant commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard Cyber Command; and James Craft, the deputy director for Information Enterprise Management of the Joint Improvised Explosive Device (IED) Defeat Organization (JIEDDO).
Posted March 1, 2013