thedrifter
02-13-07, 07:45 AM
Major personnel Web site set to go DoD-wide
By Jim Tice - Staff writer
Posted : February 19, 2007
Army Knowledge Online, the service’s portal to Web-based information and services related to promotions, education, career tracks and more, is being used as a launch pad for a defensewide system that, in just three years, could have as many as 5 million users.
Called Defense Knowledge Online, the new system will incorporate similar portals operated by the other services.
The defensewide system is being modeled on the unclassified channel of AKO, the largest military portal with 1.9 million users, including soldiers, Army civilians, contractors, retirees and family members.
The Defense Information Systems Agency, headed by Air Force Lt. Gen. Charles Croom, selected AKO as the model for the defensewide system over the Air Force portal, the Global Combat Support System-AF, which serves 875,000 registered users.
The Air Force portal focuses more tightly on operations than does the Army system, which has an array of personal, self-service and operational support capabilities.
DKO is being built under a three-phase program tentatively scheduled for completion in 2010.
However, the exact timing will depend on when the Air Force and Navy agree to bring their systems, GCSS-AF and Navy Knowledge Online, into the joint portal.
Lt. Gen. Michael Peterson, the Air Force’s chief information officer, said at a recent technology fair that the service would not move its portal until after its contract is re-bid in two years.
However, “the goal is [to have] a mature DKO in 2009,” said Lt. Gen. Steven Boutelle, the Army’s chief information officer.
The Marine Corps, which has MarineNet and other Web portals tailored for specific services, wants to merge those capabilities with the defense system, said Col. Jason Young, the service’s DKO project officer. The intent is to build a DKO membership similar to the Army’s, he said.
Col. James Barrineau, director of AKO, said one of the major goals of DKO is to register 4 million to 5 million users.
While military members and defense civilians will constitute the bulk of users, other government agencies, including the Office of National Intelligence, will move their nonclassified portals to DKO.
In the initial implementation phase, to run through September, about 145,000 non-Army personnel in the joint arena, intelligence and information technology communities will be allowed to register for DKO.
To register during this first phase of DKO, people must be pre-authorized by the Defense Department. They will be allowed to register without a sponsor, a normal requirement for AKO registration.
As DKO capacity is increased, additional users will be allowed to register, according to Boutelle’s staff.
Initial services under DKO will include a directory of account holders and their contact information, limited single sign-on for selected sites behind the portal and a common access-card infrastructure required of defense computer systems. E-mail, video e-mail, discussion forums, instant messaging and chat rooms will also be available.
The final implementation phase — in the 2009-2010 time frame — will include moving classified communications and information (secret and below) to a section of the portal to be called DKO-S.
Staff writer Mark A. Kellner contributed to this report.
Ellie
By Jim Tice - Staff writer
Posted : February 19, 2007
Army Knowledge Online, the service’s portal to Web-based information and services related to promotions, education, career tracks and more, is being used as a launch pad for a defensewide system that, in just three years, could have as many as 5 million users.
Called Defense Knowledge Online, the new system will incorporate similar portals operated by the other services.
The defensewide system is being modeled on the unclassified channel of AKO, the largest military portal with 1.9 million users, including soldiers, Army civilians, contractors, retirees and family members.
The Defense Information Systems Agency, headed by Air Force Lt. Gen. Charles Croom, selected AKO as the model for the defensewide system over the Air Force portal, the Global Combat Support System-AF, which serves 875,000 registered users.
The Air Force portal focuses more tightly on operations than does the Army system, which has an array of personal, self-service and operational support capabilities.
DKO is being built under a three-phase program tentatively scheduled for completion in 2010.
However, the exact timing will depend on when the Air Force and Navy agree to bring their systems, GCSS-AF and Navy Knowledge Online, into the joint portal.
Lt. Gen. Michael Peterson, the Air Force’s chief information officer, said at a recent technology fair that the service would not move its portal until after its contract is re-bid in two years.
However, “the goal is [to have] a mature DKO in 2009,” said Lt. Gen. Steven Boutelle, the Army’s chief information officer.
The Marine Corps, which has MarineNet and other Web portals tailored for specific services, wants to merge those capabilities with the defense system, said Col. Jason Young, the service’s DKO project officer. The intent is to build a DKO membership similar to the Army’s, he said.
Col. James Barrineau, director of AKO, said one of the major goals of DKO is to register 4 million to 5 million users.
While military members and defense civilians will constitute the bulk of users, other government agencies, including the Office of National Intelligence, will move their nonclassified portals to DKO.
In the initial implementation phase, to run through September, about 145,000 non-Army personnel in the joint arena, intelligence and information technology communities will be allowed to register for DKO.
To register during this first phase of DKO, people must be pre-authorized by the Defense Department. They will be allowed to register without a sponsor, a normal requirement for AKO registration.
As DKO capacity is increased, additional users will be allowed to register, according to Boutelle’s staff.
Initial services under DKO will include a directory of account holders and their contact information, limited single sign-on for selected sites behind the portal and a common access-card infrastructure required of defense computer systems. E-mail, video e-mail, discussion forums, instant messaging and chat rooms will also be available.
The final implementation phase — in the 2009-2010 time frame — will include moving classified communications and information (secret and below) to a section of the portal to be called DKO-S.
Staff writer Mark A. Kellner contributed to this report.
Ellie