DISA receives DOD CIO Award for proactive planning
A Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) joint planning group was awarded the 2018 Department of Defense Chief Information Officer (DOD CIO) Annual Award for Cyber and Information Technology (IT) Excellence for its contributions to enhancing operational readiness in the Korean theater of operations in support of United States Forces Korea.
The awards program, held Nov. 29 in the Pentagon auditorium, recognized individuals and teams within the DOD IT community for exceptional achievements in delivering forward-leaning and strategically impactful technology capabilities and IT management practices.
“The people in this room safeguard our most important secrets and maintain our infrastructure, creating defensive and offensive tools to protect our nation … And are navigating an unknown domain, which is the biggest challenge we face. … In 20, 30 years, people will be talking about the things that you did,” said DOD CIO Dana Deasy, reading remarks prepared by Deputy Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan, who was unable to attend the ceremony in person.
Based on the potential threat posed by a nuclear-armed North Korea, DISA initiated an intra-agency collaboration to synchronize the agency’s resources and improve warfighting capabilities and command, control, communications, and computers capabilities (C4).
The group conducted analysis, reviewed planning guidance, identified capability gaps, proposed solutions, developed cost estimates, and, in several cases, gained senior leader approval to expedite funding toward surge capabilities.
The planning group’s effort resulted in identifying more than 20 DISA surge capabilities, and included several innovative capabilities that were delivered within five months of the planning effort.
According to the award citation, the team’s efforts represent a robust, “whole of agency” effort toward a precedent-setting Combatant Command Contingency Support Plan signed by the DISA director for execution when the mission dictates forces are required to operate and maintain critical, core C4 capabilities across the broad range of military operations.
The joint planning group provided direct support to United States Army Network Enterprise Technology Command, United States Indo-Pacific Command, and United States Forces Korea.
“The deployment of new capabilities create, extend and significantly enhance and improve mission effectiveness,” the citation reads.
Posted December 4, 2018