The Army CIO/G6 hit a major milestone last year after receiving authorization to utilize an overarching document that lays out the foundation for the Army's data strategy plan.
The CECOM Software Engineering Center (SEC), Army Net-Centric Data Strategy (ANCDS) Center of Excellence developed the Army Information Architecture (AIA) version 4.1 as part of a team supporting the Army CIO/G-6. The document provides design and development guidance, in accordance with Army and DoD objectives, to improve data access, data exchange, information sharing, and interoperability among information systems. The AIA also provides a set of enforceable compliance metrics to objectively assess program transformation to net-centric data exchange and information sharing.
The AIA serves as a single access point to help Army organizations understand and adopt its information sharing strategies, policies, and guidelines. It provides a roadmap for program managers so that they can achieve DoD net-centric goals: exposing data via data services making it accessible; ensuring that data and data services are visible through registries and metadata tagging; ensuring that data is trusted by utilizing authoritative data sources, establishing and maintaining data quality, and securing data appropriately; and using Information Exchange Specifications for understandability and interoperability. In addition, the AIA Compliance Assessment evaluates the degree to which an organization or system complies with the principles and rules written in the AIA. The AIA Compliance Assessment results in a recommendation report which can help identify and prioritize improvements necessary to meet Army and DoD guidelines and can lead to favorable funding consideration based on current compliance and improvement plans to achieve compliance.
The development and implementation of the AIA is a significant accomplishment for the Army as it establishes a foundation to ensure that all of its forces and mission partners have the right information, at the right time, in the right place. It is critical for Soldiers and decision makers to have access to data in a secure and timely manner, regardless of where they are, to make knowledgeable and accurate decisions to protect lives and carry out the Army's mission.
The Army CIO/G-6 and the ANCDS Center of Excellence have been working diligently to educate Army organizations on the importance of the AIA and how it can be used to improve their information systems. There has been several virtual information sessions held on the AIA and the AIA Compliance Assessment which provided a forum for individuals in the Army IT community to interact and ask questions. Personnel unable to attend these events can obtain more information and access the AIA documentation at www.architecture.army.mil and www.intelink.gov/go/zbGhwAe.
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