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A World Wide Web-enabled technology is on the verge of dramatically changing the way people and computers interact and share information. It provides a common architecture that permits data to be communicated and reused across application, enterprise and community boundaries. This automated context mapping capability will allow complex network-centric systems to reach their full potential and to scale beyond present systems.

The complexity of the command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance environment has increased significantly during the diverse operations the U.S. military has supported in recent years. From the battlefields of Afghanistan and Iraq to the devastation in the Gulf Coast region, the ability to share information has been instrumental in saving lives and carrying out effective operations. However, the fast tempo of activity within such a short period of time has brought to light the challenges that still exist in sharing data among organizations.

What may be the oddest looking U.S. Navy craft to set sail in years is carrying the hopes of visionaries who aim to transform Navy ships and missions with the aid of advanced technologies. The composite-material craft couples a new hydrodynamic design with a modular network-centric electronic system to leverage the many innovations emerging from the information technology sector.

Biometric scanners, gamma ray detectors and unmanned underwater vehicles seem like topics reserved for futuristic action-adventure movies. However, these technologies are being embraced by agencies under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's umbrella. Technologies that serve to track, trace and contain or detain potentially harmful materials and individuals are being studied, tested and integrated into many homeland security activities.

The large hexagonal building's Tidewater architecture blends well with its placid Hampton Roads surroundings. Indeed, this bucolic Virginia setting belies the beehive of combat-related activity inside-experiments that are profoundly transforming the way this nation fights wars and protects its citizens.

Pictures may indeed be worth a thousand words when applied to visualization aids for warfighters and first responders. A university-based facility is using state-of-the-art computers and software to convert large data files into maps for a variety of organizations. This free material is made available to government agencies, academic research groups and companies that require high-resolution terrain imagery.

Analysts in the U.S. Navy will soon be able to examine new ship systems and military tactics from the beginning to the end of the kill chain without ever leaving shore. A modeling and simulation tool will enable them to assess capabilities quickly at their desktop with a level of fidelity that allows them to make better informed acquisition recommendations as well as to explore adversaries' responses to new devices and strategies. The capability capitalizes on advances made by the video game industry.

Playing games may do more than simply train an operator in a particular skill. Experts are using games to discover how participants behave in certain situations that only recently defied analysis.

The U.S. Defense Department is migrating to an updated version of the Internet protocol that will efficiently connect warfighters and their equipment to theater and global data networks. Internet protocol version 6, or IPv6, can support an unlimited number of site addresses for wireless communications devices, remote sensors, vehicles and precision-guided munitions while offering enhanced security and administrative features.

Flattening a network instead of a city may be the key to successful urban combat operations. U.S. Army intelligence is restructuring its information architecture both to suit the ongoing force transformation and with an eye on the joint arena. The Army's goal is to create a network that extends the reach of vital information across the breadth of the force and down to the individual warfighter.