Two Army tech leaders retiring

A pair of the Army's technology leaders will retire this summer, after helping to establish its knowledge management vision and the Army Knowledge Online (AKO) portal.

Miriam Browning, the Army's director of enterprise integration, and Col. Robert Coxe, the service's chief technology officer, both will retire in August. The duo, along with Lt. Gen. Peter Cuviello, the Army's chief information officer, are responsible for the ongoing evolution of the service's Army Knowledge Management goals, including the development of the AKO portal.

The Army's knowledge management goals aim to improve the management and availability of information throughout the service. The AKO portal provides Army news, distance-learning opportunities, e-mail accounts, a search engine and a chat room. By July, officials plan to use it for most of the service's internal business.

Browning has been in current position since last August. In an interview earlier this year, she said she was pleased with the Army's knowledge management progress, especially her success in garnering support from management and breaking down cultural obstacles, but she admitted there was still much to do.

"Changing the hearts and minds of the Army that the [command, control, communications, computers and information technology] world is in everyone's best interest - that's a major cultural win," Browning said. "We have changed the way the Army does IT."

Coxe, who took over as CTO in July 2000, said he considered retiring then, but decided to stay so he could pay back the Army for the 27 years of experiences it has given him. Helping to establish AKO, a universal Army tool, let him to do that, he said.

After his Aug. 22 retirement, Coxe said he would like to explore a CIO or CTO position with a Fortune 500 company.