Vanguard Magazine

www.vanguardcanada.com DECEMBER 2020/JANUARY 2021 21 interview Formerly known as Director General Cyber, the organization was renamed to Director General Information Capabilities Force Development (DGICFD). However, this is more than just a cosmetic change, the division is going through a significant trans- formation to tackle the broader challenges of our time and setting the right conditions for the future. No longer in the industrial age, the information age has drastically al- tered the world as a whole, and ushered in challenges which are complex and multi- faceted. DGICFD's mandate is to spearhead the efforts to identify and shape information capabilities, which are required to enable Canadian Armed Forces operations and the business of defence. We need to develop the Information Capabilities that will allow us to operate with more agility in the ever in- creasingly contested future battle space. We are all working together towards com- mon goals. Assistance Deputy Minister (Information Management/Defence CIO Organization (ADM(IM)/Defence CIO) is at the epicentre of the swelling appetite the institution is developing for informa- tion capabilities, and ultimately the enthusi- asm is needed to support the Department of National Defence (DND) and the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF). Being technologically forward and positive are essential compo- nents to maintaining the front and center stance needed to keep pace with the rap- idly evolving global landscape, which now incorporates an expanding array of friendly and disruptive technological solutions. The ADM(IM) and CAF J6 must contend with operational demands, unique to military considerations, as well as with the corporate business imperatives required to support de- fence endeavours. DGICFD is at the center of understanding these problem sets, and in- corporating them into a framework that will in turn shape investments and risk strategies. Q The IM Group contributes towards Op Laser, and the move to conducting business from home has to be considered a major accomplishment. Do you have any aerthoughts about how the spring and summer have evolved? Do you see further changes as the CAF returns to more normal operations? In order to defend defence, we needed to modernize the business of defence by con- tinuously improving the way we work and operate – streamlining processes, pioneering new ways of collaborating efficiently and ef- fectively across all levels of the organization in order to deliver superior results. Given the extenuating circumstances from COVID-19, increasing connectivity and providing alternative working solu- tions for the Defence Team to allow for remote work was a priority. It is critical that Defence continues to protect and safeguard the integrity and availability of its networks for operational priorities and support. In collaboration with SSC, the IM Group spearheaded two distinct but equal- ly important initiatives to increase the ca- pacity of the department to work remotely without compromising security. The first initiative focused on increasing the num- ber of personnel who could access our in- ternal applications and tools. The second oversaw the implementation of Defence O365, which enabled people to work us- ing their own personnel device early on and increased collaboration within a dispersed workforce significantly. The increase in network capacity and the use of Defence O365 complemented one another. The use of Defence O365 on personal devices is being maximized to al- leviate the requirements for DND issued mobile devices. This platform will comple- ment existing systems in place to improve the remote work experience and enable all DND/CAF personnel to virtually con- nect with their teams from anywhere. The Defence Team is not the only one affected by these changes; we see all other govern- ment bodies (and the private sector) work- ing to adapt to the new environment. One of the lessons that the pandemic has taught us is that we need to be looking further ahead to make sure that we have built the necessary 'road map'. It needs to be mapped out to allow for rapid decisions for the development and improvement of our cyber and digital capabilities, not only for the ongoing situation, but also for any future operating environment. It is a significant undertaking to map all initiatives that impact ADM(IM) with Strong, Secure, Engaged Major Projects. Beyond mapping, it is also important to identify gaps in our cyber and digital capa- bilities, and direct resources in a deliberate way, using analytics and scientific rigour. An overarching Roadmap will help senior leadership and executives to understand the present and end states for the organiza- tion, informing the allocation of funds, as well as the acceptance of certain risks. Essential to the framework is the definition of future Information Capabilities require- ments. The intellectual precision in assessing the maturity, state, and performance of infor- mation capabilities, both current and target, will identify future gaps early. Thoughtful business intervention will pay dividends, as new capabilities will be introduced and implemented in a planned and purposeful way, as opposed to ad-hoc solutions being expediently brought into service urgently to stopgap a critical deficiency. Q The "Cyber and C2 portfolio" of capital programs within DGICFD has a lot of projects in definition or options analysis. These include Net C2 ISAC, CD DARICAM Sup, and ITI in Sp of C2. What are the most compelling goals and objec- tives you are seeking to achieve across this portfolio and what procurement activity do you anticipate in 2021? Two essential projects in Options Analysis that I wish to highlight are Identity Credential and Access Management proj- ect (ICAM), and Information Technology Infrastructure in Support of C2 project (ITI in Sp of C2). These projects are compelling as they set the stage for the organization to mod- ernize the foundation data centric infor- mation capabilities. It is important to understand that when speaking about the Information Age, we are no longer fo- cused on the technology but rather what is crucially important: Data. No longer are any weapon system platforms just tools. Most modern equipment is also a sensor, collecting a significant amount of data. The future lies in Data-Centric- Computing. The Cloud is where we are heading, and it is a question of when not if. However, in order to realize the full po- tential of the opportunities the Cloud pro- vides, it is an absolute imperative to solve questions related to data management and governance, thus management of, and ac- cess to, the systems as a whole. The ICAM project is the foremost initia- tive within defense that is set to address defi- ciencies in digital identity management and access control. It will enable the department to improve the accuracy and efficiency of identity, credential, and access control man- agement. In moving to the Cloud, ICAM will improve security in ensuring only the right people have access to the data needed to do their jobs. ICAM is the gateway and unlocks the potential for successfully imple- menting many future initiatives, leveraging them to their full capacity. The ITI in Sp of C2 project: The com- plexity of some of our networks creates chal- lenges in meeting modern operational re- quirements. DND/CAF employs an aging

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