Defense CIO: Systems fill info gap

The top priority of the Pentagon's new chief information officer is pushing forward with network-centric warfare using information systems to bridge the gap between the "sensors" and the "shooters."

John Stenbit, the new assistant secretary of Defense for command, control, communications and intelligence and the department's CIO, said this approach will enable any service member with a gun to determine the 10 best targets himself, rather than having to wait for somebody else to tell him.

It will mean that "anybody can get any information at any time," Stenbit said in a meeting with reporters Aug. 24.

"That doesn't mean he's supposed to shoot," Stenbit said. "There have to be procedural controls.... But I do believe that it's very important that we decentralize decision-making."

The services must work together, he said, and DOD is increasingly depending on long-range weapons that put fewer U.S. soldiers at risk. But that also creates a gap, he said. "We're separating the shooter from the sensor, and we have to solve that problem. When that happens, you need information to exchange and be coordinated a lot."

Traditionally, such coordination has taken time. But those efforts essentially have to be done in real time today, Stenbit said.

Another top priority is changing available information, he said. "We've gotten very used to certain classes of information, and I think there are some that are going to be more useful in the future" than they've been in the past.

Stenbit will also focus on the reliability of information systems. "Once we start depending upon them, we'd better make sure they're there."