Henry Kenyon

Posts by Henry Kenyon

DOD, Microsoft Agree To Landmark Enterprise Licensing Deal

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The Defense Department has awarded a first of its kind joint enterprise licensing agreement for Microsoft collaboration, mobility, productivity and security tools. Valued at $617 million, the three-year agreement will allow the Army, Air Force and the Defense Information Systems Agency to begin using the latest versions of the company’s products.

The agreement creates a single framework providing all three organizations with a single, standardized way to access new Microsoft technologies. The contract also supports top DOD IT goals for data center consolidation, collaboration, cybersecurity, mobility, cloud computing and big data, company officials said in a statement. Keep reading →

 /  Published January 4, 2013 at 4:33 PM

Motion Control Technology Eliminates Need For Mice, Touchpads

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A new technology with potential government applications could make computer mice and touch interfaces obsolete with the wave of a finger. Consisting of a small motion-sensing unit and software, the Leap Motion controller allows users to manipulate graphic images and other data with hand motions.

The Leap controller is the size of a smart phone and sits in front of a computer monitor where it detects hand or stylus motions in an eight cubic foot space in front of the monitor and converts them into motion in the form of manipulated graphics, game control data, robot control or many other types of interface manipulation. Keep reading →

 /  Published January 4, 2013 at 7:00 AM

NSA Ready To Launch Classified Mobile Device Service

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The National Security Agency is launching a mobile device capability at the end of this year that will allow its personnel to securely access classified information with their smartphones and tablet computers.

The program, which is a joint effort with the Defense Information Systems Agency, could potentially provide the military services with similar secure information access capabilities. Keep reading →

 /  Published December 20, 2012 at 2:00 PM

DARPA High Speed Wireless Program Aims For The Sky

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The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is beginning work to develop a wireless communications system capable of transmitting data at speeds of 100 gigabits per second, rivaling high-speed fiber optic systems.

The technology is also intended to get around one of the biggest hurdles facing tactical military communications: the effects of weather degrading high-bandwidth transmissions between aircraft and ground stations and vehicles. Cloud cover is one of the big challenges facing high-bandwidth air-to-ground data communications, DARPA officials said. Keep reading →

 /  Published December 19, 2012 at 2:00 PM

Intelligence Agencies Move Towards Single Super-Cloud

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The intelligence community is developing a single cloud computing network to allow all its analysts to access and rapidly sift through massive volumes of data. When fully complete, this effort will create a pan-agency cloud, with organizations sharing many of the same computing resources and information. More importantly, the hope is the system will break down existing boundaries between agencies and change their insular cultures.

As in the rest of the federal government, lower costs and higher efficiency are the primary reasons for the intelligence world’s shift to cloud computing, said Charles Allen, formerly Under Secretary of Homeland Security for intelligence and analysis, currently a principal with the Chertoff Group, in an interview with Breaking Defense, an affiliate of Breaking Gov. Keep reading →

 /  Published December 17, 2012 at 12:01 PM

ICAM Still Faces Bumpy Road For Government Smart Card Rollout

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What seemed like a simple objective, to develop and issue a standardized, electronically-verifiable identification card for civilian agency personnel, continues to encounter a barrage of technical and cultural challenges at a time when identification has become a critical component in the government’s efforts to embrace mobile and remote computing.

Despite the government’s aggressive push under the Identity, Credential and Access Management (ICAM) plan, only three departments are above minimum fielding levels and using the civilian personal identity verification (PIV) cards, said Paul Grant, director for cybersecurity policy in the Office of the DOD Chief Information Officer. And it remains unclear when the cards will be universally fielded across the civilian government. Keep reading →

 /  Published December 17, 2012 at 8:00 AM

DoD To Adopt Dutch Public Key System To Support Foreign Military Sales

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The Defense Department is planning to accept a European-developed identification standard that will allow allied military personnel and contractors to access secure military networks under specific circumstances.

Multinational access considerations are part of a draft memo from DOD chief information officer Teresa Takai, said Paul Grant, director of cybersecurity policy in the DOD CIO’s office. Keep reading →

 /  Published December 13, 2012 at 8:00 AM

Mobile ‘Wave’ Will Change Entire Industries, Economies

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Mobile technology is poised to radically change the global economy by eliminating many jobs and entire industries. But this shift to virtual tools, documents and services will also create a host of new opportunities that will literally be at users’ fingertips.

This brave new wireless world will have a profound impact on public and private sector organizations, said Michael Saylor, chief executive officer of Microstrategy and author of “The Mobile Wave-How Mobile Intelligence Will Change Everything.” Keep reading →

 /  Published November 30, 2012 at 4:00 PM

Identity Verification: From Credit Checks To Federal Agencies

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Large-scale software and database tools can help private firms and federal agencies verify identities and avoid fraud, even in this online age of fake personas and criminals who front companies online.

Although known as a consumer credit reporting agency, Equifax uses such tools to verify identities as a key part of the credit checking process. Rich Huffman, senior director of product management at Equifax explained the process at this week’s Government Information and Analytics Summit in Washington, D.C. Keep reading →

 /  Published November 30, 2012 at 11:30 AM

Trust And Information Sharing Key In Tight Fiscal Times

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In tight fiscal times, federal agencies need to embrace changing technology, focus on attracting and retaining the next generation of workers and striking a balance between information sharing and security. To reach these goals, organizations need to foster a culture of trust and speed, a senior Defense Department official said.

David Wennergren, assistant deputy chief management officer for the Department of Defense, cited Stephen Covey’s book Speed Of Trust in his keynote speech at the Government Information and Analytics Summit in Washington D.C., this week. Keep reading →

 /  Published November 29, 2012 at 10:00 AM
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