Just when I thought all the hub-bub surrounding social networking media was scary stuff to explore from home - our troops in harms way are finding it to be an advantage on the battle field. First I should give a disclaimer - I've never actually started a myspace, facebook or twitter account, and this is my first attempt at entering the "blogosphere". I think I'm still a young guy - but I'm an OLD MAN when it comes to anything related with Web 2.0. I've always felt the more information you give out (or take in) on social media applications would place me and my family at risk. As if some techie boogie-man was waiting on-line to get us as soon as we poked our head out of our shell.
My employer has come out with a corporate policy restricting most use of non-company related Web 2.0 applications. I would have assumed it would be similarly shunned by the Department of Defence. As it turns out, our military is NOT shying away from these applications - in fact, they're embracing them to gain an intelligence advantage. In a recent article by Heather Havenstien (www.computerworld.com) the growing popularity in web based applications is finding significant growth in the US military. More specifically, given the Department of Defence's lead intelligence agency's growing use of wikis, blogs, RSS feeds and enterprise "mashups", security can actually be acheived through maximizing Web 2.0 applications, rather than avoiding them. Chief of the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA), Lewis Shepard, recently stated they are experiencing "Mushrooming use of various Web 2.0 technologies, which are becoming increasingly critical to accomplishing missions that require analysts to share intelligence... (allowing) intelligence agencies to improve and deepen our collaborative work processes."
Data is being received constantly. As such, the military needs to process it asynchronously to give real time information for battle field decisions. By having wikis, blogs and mashups able to be constantly updated, information can be timely for more effective intelligence. Chief Shepard went on to say DIA's analysts, "rely upon and demand instant gratification" for their information needs.
While the DIA's IT infrastructure is significantly more secure than any I will use from my home PC, their use of Web 2.0 as a way to feed their analysts with instant information is impressive. Blogging for the first time may not make me feel like a government agent - but it just might make this "old-timer" feel a little younger. Who knows, I might get a little crazy and throw caution to the wind by launching a facebook account... On second thought, one step at a time.
1 hour ago
Your company has restricted use of non-business related web 2.0 apps, do you know how they enforce this? I just started facebooking. My younger family members have been doing social networking much longer. It's tough keeping my teen and young adult children from understanding the ramifications of using them willy nilly. I would think the same applies to companies and that is why they are having these restrictions?
ReplyDeleteYou mentioned that DOD and other agencies are not shying away from them. Your points about timeliness of information is absolutely right.
You made me wonder if they also restrict use of non-business related web 2.0 apps?
Welcome to Web 2.0! I should probably welcome myself too because the only social networking I really use is the facebook. Blogs, RSS feeds, and Wikis are all brand new to me, but they are all pretty cool features.
ReplyDeleteGood points about the military use of Web 2.0 technology, I really think it is a fantastic use of technology. My company should take a cue from the military, because the only 2.0 tool we really use is instant messaging.
The military is receiving huge amounts of data coming into thier systems and therefore need to be on top of it. Using some of these Web 2.0 technologies offers the technology support the military needs. They need to be aware of what is going on the war field and off the field.
ReplyDeleteI know that one field of work more technology should be implemented is in Education. Several teachers are thrown into the job and demanded to be successful without being given any assistance with curriculum to technology.