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As with the U.S. military, Canada is transforming its military to enhance network-centric operations and to improve information security. And, also similar to the United States, the Canadian Forces are counting on their reservists to shore up their ranks in current operations as well as in homeland security. Changes taking place today and plans for the future will align reservists better with their active duty counterparts and increase the expertise they bring to the battlespace. Communication reservists, who are already playing an active role, are likely to see their contributions to national security expand in the near future.

If throughout your entire professional life you had gone by a nickname associated with one of the towering giants of American literature, what would you do when you finally retired from the corporate world?

Researchers are demonstrating that good things, in the form of useful amounts of power, can come in small packages. At the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, researchers have been able to produce power with a generator approximately the size of a dime. The device, called a microgenerator, is one aspect of a project to create a microengine that weighs less and lasts longer than batteries used by soldiers in the field today.

Members of the joint community are moving forward on proving that voice over Internet protocol can be a force multiplier. Although voice over Internet protocol is still in relative infancy, the Joint Communications Support Element, U.S. Joint Forces Command, has demonstrated through a series of exercises that this approach can increase both technological advances and bandwidth efficiency provided to the joint warfighter. It also decreases airlift requirements, reduces the number of needed personnel and cuts the cost of communications systems by moving from circuit-based to Internet-based networks.

A key U.S. ally is digitizing its command and control architecture to increase the operational speed and agility of its ground forces. Built around a wireless backbone supported by software programmable radios, this system will reduce sensor-to-shooter cycles by streaming real-time data to commanders. Designed for both high- and low-intensity conflict, it will link all echelons from infantry squads up to the division level in a single network.

The U.S. military must ramp up force transformation without missing a beat in its campaign to win the war on terror, and succeeding in those two endeavors will require close coordination across many disciplines. A variety of issues ranging from advanced system acquisition to personnel training and education must be addressed in the midst of operational activities at home and abroad.

As asymmetric threats to the United States continue to increase in number and expand in complexity, the protection of critical U.S. Intelligence Community and Defense Department information systems is a vital concern for the DIA. In consonance with the vision set forth by Vice Adm. Lowell E. Jacoby, USN, Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) director, the DIA will have a major role in ensuring that intelligence information is successfully and securely communicated to the warfighter and to decision makers.

TechNet International 2005, AFCEA International's annual conference and exposition in Washington D.C., began with a full slate of events to inaugurate three days of conferences, speakers, panels and courses. Being held May 17-19 at the Washington Convention Center, this year's event is titled "Network-Centric Operations: Balancing Speed and Agility With Security."

TechNet International 2005, AFCEA International's annual three-day conference and exposition being held May 17-19 at the Washington Convention Center in Washington D.C., began its second day with a dynamic address by one of the most recognized people in the United States. Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York City who helped lead his hometown-and the nation-in recovery after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, opened the Wednesday slate of events with the morning plenary address.

The third and final day of TechNet International 2005, AFCEA International's annual conference and exposition running May 17-19 at the Washington Convention Center in Washington D.C., included topical panels and a small business opportunity workshop. But the day's big event was what has become an annual feature at the show-the J-6 panel. The dominant topic discussed in that panel was information assurance and security, but many other issues emerged during the session.