In the coming months, the U.S. Army will begin fielding components of its first integrated mobile network to units headed to Afghanistan. The equipment package known as Capability Set 13 will provide integrated voice and data throughout the brigade combat team. It also will offer on-the-move and beyond-line-of-sight communications, which could transform combat operations.

The U.S. Army is enhancing its premier intelligence distribution system in Afghanistan and around the world so that vast amounts of data are more accessible through cloud computing, laptops and handheld devices. It once took analysts days or weeks to sort through millions of files, but with the enhancements, they can do the same work in real time, which increases situational awareness and allows warfighters to make more informed decisions much faster.

Among many definitions, the Oxford dictionary defines a silo as a process that operates in isolation. In the U.S. Defense Department, everyone works in separate components. Computer silos have proliferated with the availability of a huge number of customized information technology solutions.

Smartphones and tablet computers increasingly are replacing desktop and laptop personal computers as on-the-job tools of choice in the federal government. Such a change not only presents opportunities to improve efficiency and productivity among federal workers, but it also creates information technology management and data security challenges for those who oversee the digital resources of agencies.

Federal officials are confronting a burgeoning expansion of mobile platforms as they strive to deliver information efficiently. Public demand for mobile delivery continues to grow, and so do the types of devices that must be served, providing the latest challenge for government leadership.

The U.S. Army has opened a one-of-a-kind laboratory that gives the service unprecedented ability to research and test new energy and powertrain technologies. The goal is to develop the next generation of energy-efficient vehicles that will make troops less dependent on fossil fuels that must be delivered via supply lines that endanger soldiers.

The multiyear evolutionary program that weaves a web of information around soldiers is entering the on-the-move communications phase. With at-the-quick-halt networking firmly in place, the latest capabilities extend communications to the brigade combat team and division levels. More importantly, they have been created with both legacy and not-yet-known future technologies in mind.

As U.S. military organizations and the private companies that support them struggle to adjust to decreases in funding, they are searching for efficiencies even in seemingly small matters

Advanced 4G mobile service, the use of personal mobile devices and its own dedicated apps are among the objectives of Version 2.0 of the U.S. Defense Department’s Mobile Device Strategy. Released Friday, June 15, 2012, the strategy lists three major goals and several subset objectives designed to bring the benefits of mobile systems to the department.

Industry experts say they expect the Defense Information Systems Agency to announce the winner--possibly as early as today--of the potential $4.6 billion Global Information Grid Services Management-Operations contract. The seven-year contract will provide for the day-to-day operations of the Defense Department's worldwide network, known as the Defense Information Systems Network, and related telecommunications.