FORT BELVOIR, Va. (Army News Service, June 5, 2008) - The Army has launched a new and improved version of its unclassified Web portal, Army Knowledge Online.
AKO, part of the Program Executive Office, Enterprise Information Systems, known as PEO-EIS, continues preparation for the full implementation of Defense Knowledge Online with a portal upgrade that will enable new and improved services.
DKO will provide the Department of Defense community with a single point of entry to net-centric enterprise services, including online collaboration (Web conferencing, instant messaging and chat); a people directory, and improved search capabilities, all in a secure environment designed to improve information sharing.
"Our vision for Defense Knowledge Online is to provide a single entry point that empowers knowledge dominance, ensures synchronization of resources, and aggressively enables situational awareness and operational security throughout the DoD community," said Col. James Barrineau, AKO/DKO project director.
"Eventually, we envision even extending access to the portal to other government agencies," he said.
Barrineau said he expects the AKO/DKO to achieve capability to support 2.5 million users by fall of this year, and envisions a 3.5-million user capability by 2010. AKO/DKO members could eventually include non-DoD agencies that work closely with DoD in missions that span the globe, he said.
One of the most significant capabilities provided with the AKO/DKO upgrade is support for service-oriented architecture, PEO-EIS officials said. They said with the implementation of SOA capability, the Army portal will become a standards-compliant platform prepared to support the integration of key Web applications within DoD commands, services and agencies. Until now, they said these disparate capabilities were limited to the individual services' portals.
Although most aspects of the AKO/DKO upgrade don't significantly affect the way users interact with the portal, PEO-EIS officials said, the average user will notice small "look and feel" changes in portal function. On the login page, they said users will notice a new homepage banner with images that change each time the user visits the page.
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