Navy expects big savings from consolidated tasking system

The Navy is developing an enterprisewide system for tracking and managing records that will save money and time, CIO Terry Halvorsen wrote in an April 10 memo. The new Tasking, Records and Consolidated Knowledge Enterprise Repository (TRACKER) seeks to streamline the Navy's existing management systems into an "auditable and compliant" system for all "shore-based commands and organizations," Halvorsen wrote.

TRACKER offers a single application on which Navy personnel can be trained, the memo states, and will save the department from manually moving task assignments between systems. It will be managed by an arm of the Navy's Program Executive Office for Enterprise Information Systems, which develops and acquires IT support systems for the Navy and Marine Corps.

"Cost savings will result from eliminating numerous legacy, siloed tasking and records management systems across the [Department of the Navy], thereby reducing the IT footprint," spokesman Ed Austin said in an email message. "Additional efficiencies will be gained by using modern technology that combines automated task workflows and federally compliant record management functions."

The Navy began designing TRACKER in May 2013 and started developing an early prototype last month, Austin said. The system will initially cover unclassified networks but later apply to classified ones, he added.

Halvorsen's memo notes that deployment of TRACKER will begin in spring 2015 and states that instructions on how to implement the new system and retire legacy systems are forthcoming.