VISION: CIP will provide to the ADO a secure and cost-effective
information environment that connects the right people with the right information
at the right time.
The Defence Corporate Information Program (CIP) commenced operation
on 1 July 1997. As part of the broader review of all Defence functions,
the Defence Efficiency Review (DER)
concluded that a single Defence Information Organisation was needed for
effectively drawing together policy and planning; operations support for
in-service systems; development of new capabilities; and the management
of the communications infrastructure.
Information is an essential ingredient for decision making in any organisation.
The Australian Defence Organisation (ADO)
is dependent on relevant and timely information, and the systems which
provide it, such that effective information management is an essential
prerequisite for achievement of the Defence mission. Information is a strategic
resource and its effective use adds value to all Defence activities.
The decade to 1997 witnessed an information revolution, which, in Defence
no less than most large corporations, has seen the devolution of information
management from central IT departments to business units (in Defence, the
Programs). While this development was, and in many respects remains, a
positive change, its downside has been a reduction in the availability
of information at the corporate level and the introduction of large scale
inefficiencies in the systems for handling and moving information around
the enterprise. More recently, the information revolution has delivered
substantial innovation in computer to computer communications through such
technologies as the Internet, Intranet and GroupWare. The realisation of
the power of these technologies across an enterprise requires effective
management at the enterprise level.
The information revolution has secured the primacy of the business need
and the involvement of business units in information management such that
there can be no return to the central IT paradigm. The Corporate Information
Program has been established therefore, to take forward existing enterprise
IT initiatives (e.g. the DCB, the DCG, SDSS and DEFMIS) and to overcome
some of the structural inefficiencies which have resulted from a decade
of program-based development of information systems. The Corporate Information
Program is thus central to the Defence Reform Program (DRP);
indeed at one level the success of the DRP will depend on whether and how
quickly the new Program can deliver efficient and effective cross-program
information transfer.
Organisational Structure
The Corporate Information Program brings together a range of IT related
activities previously dispersed across all Programs in the pre-DRP organisation.
Following the detailed analysis of activities, functions and tasks, these
activities were grouped as follows:
Joint Systems Support Agency (JSSA):
The
JSSA is intended to provide running systems support to major Command, Control, Communications and Intelligence (C3I) systems
in the ADO. The JSSA will initially provide support to JCSE and JISE and
should be operational by 1 July 1998. The Corporate Information Program
will provide a skeleton management structure that will work with the DAO
Project Office in DGCSS to develop concepts and secure the necessary resources.
The allocation of the AUSTACSS project to DGCSS and the importance of its
interoperability with JCSE/JISE suggests that the JSSA should assume running
systems support for this system also. In the longer term the JSSA will
subsume running systems support to a wide range of operational C3I related
systems.
Defence Computing Bureau (DCB):Assistant Secretary Computing Bureau Services (ASCBS)
The DCB is
an established entity within the Corporate Information Program which, having
won the CSP-IT tender,
is focused for the next several months on implementing the In House Option
(IHO). In addition to the mainframe-based services that were the primary
focus of the CSP-IT RFT, the DCB is also providing support for a number of other systems, including
ODIN, DEFCARE and RIMS. Over
time the DCB will expand its bureau services support to the ADO by way of projected growth of current systems and support for new systems.
Also over time, and subject to outsourcing strategies, it is envisaged
that scope exists to combine the DCB and DCG into a single infrastructure
service provider.
Defence Communications Group (DCG).COMD Defence Communications Group (COMD DCG)
The DCG
is also an established entity, having formed in 1994 following COSC endorsement
of the recommendations of the Review of Strategic and Administrative Communications
(ROSAC). It provides DISCON secure messaging services, Defence satellite
transponder services, and a range of wide area voice and data transmission
services over the Defence Switched Data Network (DSDN). The DCG has been
engaged since 1994 in the rationalisation of wide area transmission through
the integration of voice and data services using carrier grade infrastructure
initially procured for the DSDN. The DCG is to carry forward this program
by assuming responsibility for RAAF PABXNET.
Defence Network Services Group (DNSG).
COMD Defence Network Services Group (COMD DNSG)
The
DNSG is a new entity, which brings together the very substantial investment
in the provision of networked voice and data services to widely dispersed
bases and establishments across the ADO. These services fall into two broad
categories. On bases and establishments, and in regional offices, small
staffs provide a range of services including base and local area network
support, help desk, PABX services, and formal messaging services (DISCON).
At Program level these services include national help desk support of a
common operating environment (COE) including e-mail, maintenance of directory
services, test and evaluation of new products, configuration management,
and development and integration of new services. The DNSG will assume responsibility
for the delivery of the full range of these services. Initially the Group
will focus on the rationalisation of management arrangements within the
limitations of the disparate networks that it operates and supports. This
will be followed by the collocation of national help desk and network management
operations at Deakin Offices and in the longer term the creation of geographic
network domains supporting a common environment to replace the "stovepipe"'
networks of the present.
Information Management Services Branch (IMS):Assistant Secretary Information Management Services (ASIMS)
IMS Branch is also a new entity built around three major functions. Its
primary role is the delivery of maintenance and development support to
a wide range of IT applications and systems supporting Defence business.
The Branch will combine the activities and resources of what were previously
SSR Branch, B&M IT Group (ISS, Pay Systems and others), DEFMIS, CIVILPRISM,
and the Personnel systems of the three Services (NPEMS, AUSMIS and AFPEMS).
In addition to the rationalisation of these maintenance and support activities,
the new Branch is responsible for the merging of Air Force and Navy personnel
systems.
Secondly, IMS Branch is responsible for the operation and maintenance
of the Canberra Region Information Systems Network (CRIS-N) being developed
in support of the Russell Redevelopment Project. This involves developing
the organisation that will provide running systems support to Canberra-wide
RESTRICTED and SECRET networks and associated activities including Commcens
and PABX services (the DCPN). The new Branch is also to assume responsibility
for the network management of those networks that have been assigned to
Corporate Information Program in advance of the delivery of CRISP (e.g.
FEPCIS).
Finally, IMS Branch will provide a range of corporate services to the
Program including HR, resource coordination, program review and evaluation,
and contract management (e.g. CSP-IT IHO). It will also provide a range
of IT acquisition services including the management of the Defence Preferred
Systems Integrators (DPSI) Panel and the PD50 arrangement for the procurement
of IT hardware. It will also provide the primary point of contact within
the Program for the development of Service Charters and Service Level Agreements
(SLAs).
Information Policy and Plans Branch (IPP).Director General Information Policy and Plans (DGIPP)
IPP Branch is to provide a single policy and planning focus for ADO information
management activities including operational C3I. Its primary task will
be the creation of an enterprise Information Management (IM) framework that facilitates the free
exchange of information across the ADO consistent with security and need
to know provisions. It will define that framework in terms of architectures
and standards to which systems being developed must conform in order to
operate over Defence networks. IPP Branch will also manage the ADO C3I/IM
international program including such diverse activities as Australia's
participation in the Combined Communications Electronics Board (CCEB),
the peak allied interoperability forum, the US Joint Warrior Interoperability
Demonstration (JWID), and the Australian/Indonesian (AS/ID) Communications, Electronic Warfare
and Information Technology (CEWIT) Working Group.
Canberra Region Information Systems Project
(CRISP):Project Director Canberra Region Information Systems Project (PD CRISP)
The CRISP project team is responsible for the design and acquisition
of the information systems component of the Russell Redevelopment Project.
Implementation Strategy
Implementation of the Corporate Information Program is well advanced.
A clearer understanding of the role and scope of the organisation is emerging,
and reflecting this, a Program structure has been defined and adopted.
Management arrangements are in place and are being refined. Attention is
now focused at the Branch and Group level. The DCB and DCG are well established
and the formation of the new Program has had minimal impact. In the case
of the DCB, the focus continues to be the implementation of the In House
Option. On the other hand, the Information Management Services (IMS) Branch
and the Information Policy and Plans (IPP) Branch are substantially new
organisations. Considerable work is required to develop appropriate structures
and to draw in from other Programs the resources required to stand up the
new organisations. The same applies to the Defence Network Services Group
(DNSG). A planning staff only will be assigned to the JSSA in the first
instance.
Implementation of the Program is to be progressed in stages as follows:
Stage 1. Define and adopt a high level structure. This stage
was essentially completed on the 31st July with the announcement in the
1st Progress Report of the Program organisation.
Stage 2. Define and adopt Branch and Group structures as appropriate.
This stage is progressing. IMS Branch and the Defence Network Services
Group are engaged in defining their structures. IPP Branch is to stand
up into its new organisation on 1st September. This stage is to be complete
by 31st October.
Stage 3. Develop and promulgate Program and Branch/Group Business
Plans that define goals and objectives, strategies and performance indicators.
Also in this stage, a number of Program level plans and instructions will
be developed including Service Charters and Service Level Agreements. This
stage is to be completed by 31st December.
Contacting the Program
The Corporate Information Program is adopting a 'net-centric model of operation, with the establishment of the program. This web home page will be expanded to include details of project, documents and organisation units. You can register to receive announcements of additions to the CI Program web pages by e-mail.
A directory of program staff is available on-line. While telephone, facsimile and postal addresses are provided, the preferred method of communication is electronic mail. Please direct enquires to one person in the program.
