Department of Defense Chief Information Officer Day.

Mr. Michael S. Yoemans, Director of Electronic Business and Knowledge Management, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense, Command, Control, Communications and Intelligence (C3I)

Panel:

Ms. Miriam Browning, Director of information Management, Office of the Director of information Systems for Command, Control, Communications, and Computers, Department of the Army

Mr. Dave Wennergren, Deputy CIO, Department of the Navy

Colonel Luis Linares, Chief Architecture Division, Directorate of CIO Support Air Force Communications and Information Center

The Department of Defense (DoD) Chief Information Officer (CIO) Day marked a key milestone in integration of information technology (IT) management and financial management. For the first time, the CIO community participated and exchanged important information on a large scale with DoD financial managers.

Mr. William Curtis, Director of Investments and Acquisitions, Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (Deputy CIO)

The DoD CIO Day program began with opening remarks by Mr. Michael S. Yoemans. He covered the DoD CIO vision, mission, and strategy of "Making Information Superiority Happen." The major focus of effort is on implementing the Global Information Grid (GIG)--the DoD-operated telecommunications and information systems critical to fulfilling military and intelligence missions.

Mr. Yoemans then covered the frame-work law and policy that have evolved over the last ten years, particularly the challenges in implementing the IT management and acquisition provisions of the Clinger-Cohen Act of 1996.

The DoD CIO overview concluded with a review of major CIO initiatives, including the following:

* CIO Executive Board to address IT management and its impact on DoD requirements, acquisition, and resource processes

* The GIG architecture and policy framework

* IT systems acquisition activities (IT systems database, milestone certification, and portfolio management)

* IT workforce training and retention

The overview was followed by a CIO panel discussion by Service and DoD CIO leaders. Ms. Miriam Browning discussed several of the top ten IT trends in the Army, including CIO Partnerships (CEO, CFO, War-fighters), eEnrerprise, Architecture/Infrastructure, IT Best Practices, New ITM Professional, and Virtual and Good Government.

Mr. Dave Wennergren provided a summary of the Navy/Marine Corps approaches to the changes induced by IT and its capabilities, including the Navy/Marine Corps Intranet, knowledge management, information security; smart cards, and the first online reverse auction in the federal government.

Colonel Luis Linares discussed the Air Force CIO community focus on ensuring that IT makes an operational difference. He focused on the following major points:

* Use IT to make tactical and business operations better

* Build the right IT architectures for the future

* Reengineer processes for models of efficiency

* Nurture strategic partnerships to achieve the Air Force CIO vision

In the afternoon, breakout sessions were held on the following subjects:

The final panelist, Mr. William Curtis, discussed how DoD is working to implement the portfolio management approach required by the Clinger-Cohen Act of 1996. He briefly summarized what a portfolio consists of and how oversight could be accomplished. In addition, Mr. Curtis reviewed other oversight requirements, including congressionally required milestone certification for the 72 major IT system acquisitions and review of the 5200 other systems in the DoD IT systems database.

* CIO Model Organization

* IT Workforce

* Performance Measurement in the Defense Information Systems Agency

* Competing Demands and Requirements Management

The CIO community also hosted the following well-attended workshops at ASMC PDI 2000:

* Advancing Federal and Defense eBusiness

* Deploying the Common Access Card Throughout DoD

* Changes in the IT Investment Business

* Information Assurance

* Advancing Knowledge Management in DoD

* The Global Information Grid

The exchange of information and viewpoints at ASMC PDI 2000 was extremely beneficial for all participants. The teamwork and understanding fostered between the IT and financial management communities will be key to jointly resolving the many IT management and acquisition challenges facing the Department of Defense.