Sorenson: Army should emulate apps model

The Army is looking to industry's "apps" model at a way to meet its information technology goals, says the service's top IT official.

Industry has streamlined and standardized the operating environments and the marketplaces for applications, so Army should be able to do so as well, said Army Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Sorenson, Army chief information officer and G6, during an August 10 breakfast hosted by INPUT in McLean, Va.

"'I need something in 30 days. And in 30 days, come show me.' So, in 30 days [developers] come back with their particular solution, we show it to the folks who were essentially asking for this capability, they give it a rating, a determination. If it gets three or four stars, we'll give you more money and 60 days to deliver it. And in 90 days we've got something we can put out in the field. Because we've standardized that operating environment, we've standardized the infrastructure and so as a consequence we can more rapidly build these apps," he said, describing what an ideal Army apps model would look like.

The service's "Apps for Army" contest, which launched in March, was a first step, Sorenson said, adding that more specific guidelines to institutionalize an apps model within the service are still needed. While giving freedom to programmers is a good thing, there still needs to be a common framework for them to work within, he explained.

The Army is trying to define the operating environment and standardize configurations, so a software developing kit can be released to third parties for app development, Sorenson said. The Army will likely have an acquisition decision memorandum released by the end of this month that describes the OS and specifications, as well as a cybersecurity architecture, he added.

"From a security standpoint it helps us with our security architecture because once we get this coordinated with NSA and get it approved, it's out there, it's defined. We don't have to spend as much time on the backend going through the certification and accreditation process," said Sorenson. 

Several capabilities are being fielded to leverage the iPhone, Android and iPad, as well as 3G and 4G technology, Sorenson said. "I am absolutely convinced that we're going to get there a lot sooner than we anticipated," said Sorenson. "I think we're still working through some of the security issues of hanging these particular systems on the network."

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