The assistant secretary of defense for networks and information integration within the Defense Department is no more, as of Jan. 11.

On that day, a memo from Deputy Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter signed a memo (.pdf) that formally disestablished the position of ASD(NII). The position of DoD chief information officer, however, will remain; until the memo's issuance, the position of ASD(NII) and CIO overlapped in the same political appointee. The current DoD CIO is Teri Takai, who assumed the position in October 2010.

Under the memo's guidance, the CIO is the department's "primary authority for the policy and oversight of information resources management," and has authority over the director of the Defense Information Systems Agency.

However, the memo moves acquisition oversight for major automated information systems and command, control, communications and non-intelligence space matters to the office of the under secretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics (aka the "acquisition czar")--except for business systems whose primary purpose is IT infrastructure support or information assurance, which remain under the DoD CIO.

Major Automated Information Systems, or MAIS, are DoD systems on which the department spends $32 million in any single fiscal year; or, cost $126 million from acquisition through deployment; or, cost $378 million across the entire lifecycle. All dollar numbers are in constant fiscal 2000 amounts.

The responsibilities of the DoD CIO have been in flux for more than a year now. At one point, Pentagon officials nearly transferred the position to reside within Cyber Command. One of the last memos (.pdf) signed by Robert Gates, who stepped down as defense secretary on July 1, 2011,  backed off on that approach, declaring that policy, operations and practical concerns "no longer make it a viable approach."

The Jan. 11 memo from Carter says Cyber Command has direct responsibility over operations to "secure, operate and defend" DoD information networks.

For more:
- download the Jan. 11, 2012 Carter memo, "Disestablishment of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Networks and Information Integration and Related Matters" (.pdf)

Related Articles:
DoD CIO duties not going to Cyber Command 
DoD CIO to come back more powerful, says Lynn 
DoD IT strategy focuses on consolidation