Government information technology is an area rife with issues for discussion. These include enterprise initiatives, mobile computing, the cloud in all its forms, cybersecurity and many more. However, one activity is the key to making all government information technology useful and secure: the common operating environment.

The tight coupling that currently binds Defense Department architecture—the infrastructure, communications, databases, applications, security and desktops into more than 2,200 unique silos—must be separated. Right now, each silo is the consequence of contracts in which all software is assembled into a one-of-a-kind collection of codes. The resulting software is costly to maintain; applications are not interoperable; and lack of compatibility complicates the exchange of data.

U.S. Army communications is more likely to be software-driven in the future as radios increasingly resemble specialized computers. Apps will be driving advances, and computer-like acquisition policies for radios will help speed cutting-edge technology to the field.

THE CZECH REPUBLIC IS LOOKING TO MODERNIZE its armed forces to address new capabilities, improved information technologies and greater international obligations. However, budgetary pressures and demographics threaten to derail the country’s efforts to field an effective military capable of interoperating with its allies in out-of-area operations.

MOBILE TECHNOLOGIES ARE ADVANCING at a blistering pace, and the old way of communicating is being relegated to the history books. The question many government customers are asking right now is, “When do we get these new mobile platforms?” The answer might be surprising.

Jim Ramsey never dreamed he would become a leader in the satellite communications industry. He just wanted to be a soldier. But his U.S. Army superiors had other ideas. They decided to transfer him from infantry to combat support, specifically as an officer in the Signal Corps. Ramsey was anything but happy about his impending transfer in the late 1980s.

Using both technology solutions and training initiatives, the General Services Administration is assisting other federal agencies in providing easy-to-locate and clearly written information both on the Web and through other data sources.

A MARKET FOR THE NEW GENERATION of information technology tools is growing in the Czech Republic despite economic challenges taking place around the globe. Spending on security products is one area of growth, as the nation has followed the path of other countries worldwide to become more security conscious.

The word transparency is used in many different places but with different results. Transparency is what we want in Congress, friendships, relationships and processes, as well as in city council meetings, school board decisions, neighborhood association rules and acquisition strategies. However, in today’s world, very few things are opaque—particularly when it comes to the process of government procurement. What should be an extremely transparent process remains one of the most coveted havens of secrecy, power and waste, and we all pay the price.

New security concerns are vying with the global financial crisis as NATO’s Allied Command Transformation attempts to keep abreast of the dynamic field of global security. Gen. Stéphane Abrial, FRAF, Supreme Allied Commander Transformation, opened the eighth ACT Industry Day held in London in September by emphasizing that affordability is today’s important word.