Air Force scorecard to track increasing connectivity
The service is launching a scorecard so it can deliver ubiquitous connectivity and boost bandwidth and network readiness.
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Air Force has increased its focus on telework and improved base connectivity to make warfighters' work more seamless. Now, the service is launching a scorecard to help to it deliver ubiquitous connectivity and boost bandwidth and network readiness.
"If we have somebody who is having to work incredibly hard without connectivity -- using whiteboards or 2D models -- then we're just not going to be as prepared as if we gave them really best in class tools where the data [can] help them visualize everything that they need to do," Air Force CIO Lauren Knausenberger said at FCW's March 24 telework event.
Because each base has different connectivity needs and capabilities, Knausenberger said the scorecard effort involves "a comprehensive look" across the department to identify three to five areas bases can focus on.
Air Combat Command/Communications Directorate (A6) and the 38th Cyberspace Engineering Installation Group are working to define criteria and aggregate data needed to analyze those top three to five efforts for the base scorecards. A draft product is expected in the next 30 days.
The effort will also support the Air Force's "internet of battlefield things," also known as the Advanced Battle Management System, and the Defense Department's push to connect platforms and networks across the services via Joint All Domain Command and Control.
Additionally, Knausenberger said the scorecard feeds into the Air Force's initiatives on user experience that calls for getting direct feedback on issues that affect productivity and readiness via surveys from airmen and Space Force guardians.
To improve telework, and more flexibility for defense workers, the Air Force is also developing a bring-your-own-approved-device program with Air Combat Command's Headquarters Cyberspace Capabilities Center. The pilot project, which reaches 1,000 users and requires leadership approval, allows airmen and Space Force guardians to use personal mobile devices to access government information and applications, such as email, chat and secure web browsing, Knausenberger said.
Right now, the program is "entirely voluntary" and only permits National Information Assurance Partnership-approved iOS and Android devices to be enrolled.
This article was first posted to FCW, a sibling site to GCN.