Army releases second AKM memo

The second Army Knowledge Management guidance memorandum was formally released last week and implores the commands to be "ruthless" in reducing the number of servers and applications.

AKM Guidance Memorandum No. 2 was released June 19 by Secretary Thomas White and Chief of Staff Gen. Eric Shinseki, about two months after being passed on to the service's leadership for approval. It states that the Army's progress to date has been good and has laid the foundation for future successes, but indicates that the service has "a long way to go" to reach its goals.

The new memo's goals for major command and other components include:

* Making server reductions of 30 percent by the end of fiscal 2003.

* Making application reductions of 50 percent by fiscal 2004.

* Submitting a report to the Army chief information officer by Aug. 1 stating baseline assessments to track the progress toward those application reductions, as well as a separate report on information assurance status and initiatives.

* Mandatory participation in the Army's Business Initiatives Council and the AKO Configuration Control Board.

The memo states that the Army chief information officer will provide implementing instructions for the baseline assessments and information assurance reports within 30 days.

The Army CIO, along with the assistant secretary of the Army for Financial Management and Comptroller and the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations and Plans (G-3), will also establish a reporting process to track the progress of the new goals and provide the metrics through the Key Performance Metrics Monitor and Strategic Readiness System, according to the memo.

The Army's original five AKM goals were issued in August 2001 and included:

* Governance and cultural change.

* Knowledge management through best business practices.

* Enterprise management.

* Establishing the Army Knowledge Online (AKO) portal.

* Increasing workforce.