NCES gets new director

Military officials named Debra Filippi as program director for the Net-Centric Enterprise Services.

A top Marine Corps information technology official will lead the Defense Department's initiative to improve information sharing for warfighters and intelligence analysts.

Military officials named Debra Filippi as program director for the Defense Information Systems Agency's Net-Centric Enterprise Services (NCES). Filippi was deputy chief information officer and deputy director for command, control, communications and communications for the Marines.

"We are pleased to welcome one of DOD's elite executives to the DISA team as we proceed to the technology development phase of Net-Centric Enterprise Services," said Air Force Lt. Gen. Harry Raduege, DISA director, in a July 27 statement. "Filippi will have a critical role in the evolution of the [NCES] program and the speed with which we are able to field software releases and enhancements."

NCES, established in 2002, is designed to create a communications infrastructure that will let troops and analysts access military and intelligence networks by customizing searches for information and combining intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance data to clearly identify enemy forces.

Military officials will start using the services in October. Also that month, DISA officials plan to make the Global Information Grid-Bandwidth Expansion program operational at 10 sites. The program will move imagery at laser speeds.