Ireland Degges
In today’s digital world, a strong information technology ecosystem is critical to protecting sensitive data and uncovering key insights hidden within large datasets. To take advantage of these opportunities, the Intelligence Community has brought IT modernization to the forefront of its transformation goals.
At the Potomac Officers Club’s 2024 Intel Summit on Sept. 19, you will get to hear directly from IC leaders as they explore a wide range of U.S. intelligence objectives. During one panel, titled “Accelerating Mission IT for the Intelligence Community,” experts will take a deep dive into the ways the IC is embracing new IT approaches to achieve mission success. To gain access to these insights, register for the 2024 Intel Summit on the Potomac Officers Club website.
Meet the “Accelerating Mission IT for the Intelligence Community” Panelists
Mark Chatelain
Mark Chatelain currently serves as associate chief information officer for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, where he leads IT initiatives for the organization and works alongside fellow IT experts across the Intelligence Community, Department of Defense and private sector.
Chatelain has spent over 38 years at NGA. In his previous role as deputy director and acting director of the Adopt and Deliver Group within the agency’s IT Services Directorate, he led definition, development and maintenance for the full spectrum of application and infrastructure services within the National System for Geospatial-Intelligence.
Sue Dorr
As CIO of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Sue Dorr helms delivery and security efforts for ODNI’s information environment. In carrying out her responsibilities, she works alongside CIOs from the 16 additional IC components as well as the IC CIO.
Dorr has held numerous roles within the IC. Prior to assuming her current position, she served as IC chief information security officer and director of the Cybersecurity Division within the Office of the IC CIO. Some of her earlier positions include chair of the IC Security Risk Management Committee and IC chief architect.
Jay Meil
Jay Meil, vice president of artificial intelligence and data analytics and chief data scientist at SAIC, will moderate the panel. He has extensive experience in the government contracting field, and currently serves in multiple contract roles for a variety of federal organizations, including the U.S. Special Operations Command, ODNI and NASA, among others.
Meil has spoken at multiple Potomac Officers Club events, most recently at the 2024 Navy Summit in August, where he moderated a panel focused on artificial intelligence. He also moderated panels at the Joint Coalition Operations in 2030 Forum in May and the Achieving Transformative Cooperation for National Defense Forum in March.
A New Approach to IT
In May 2024, ODNI published the Vision for the IC Information Environment, a roadmap centered around five focus areas designed to transform the community’s IT systems.
The first focus area—fortifying the mission with a reliable and resilient digital foundation—aims to improve the IC’s cloud environment; scale compute, storage and transport; and empower the edge. The second is concentrated on cybersecurity and lists six key initiatives surrounding these areas: zero trust; enterprise risk management; security coordination; development, security and operations, or DevSecOps; quantum; and cross-domain solutions.
Driving collaboration is the goal of the third focus area, which aims to connect people; enable dynamic information sharing through agile and non-traditional partnerships; achieve IC-wide IT accessibility; and cultivate interoperability between IC organizations. Data-centricity is the next focus area, and the IC aims to reach this state by mastering end-to-end data management, creating a data-centric architecture and moving siloed data into data-centric enclaves.
The final focus area prioritizes the adoption of cutting-edge technologies, such as artificial intelligence, and preparing the workforce for the implementation of future technologies.
Earlier IT Endeavors
IC Data Strategy 2023–2025
Released in July 2023, the IC Data Strategy 2023–2025 takes an in-depth look at the steps the IC must take to establish data-centricity across its many components. It is designed to make data, which the strategy states has not been “significantly prioritized,” a focal point of IC modernization efforts. Its four strategic focus areas include:
- Performing end-to-end data management
- Delivering data interoperability and analytics at speed and scale
- Advancing all partnerships for continued digital and data innovation
- Transforming the IC workforce to be data-driven
The Vision for the IC Information Environment extends the reach of this strategy, setting data-related objectives for fiscal years 2026 and 2027.
Cloud Service Sharing
Also in July 2023, the IC signed a memorandum of agreement with the Pentagon enabling the sharing of classified cloud services available under the Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability contract, Federal News Network reported.
Through this agreement, the DOD and IC aim to break down data-sharing barriers to advance the goals of the Joint All-Domain Command and Control initiative, or CJADC2, which aims to produce seamless connectivity between U.S. forces, allies and partners to enhance interoperability.
Don’t miss your chance to hear the Accelerating Mission IT for the Intelligence Community panelists weigh in on the IC’s evolving IT goals. Visit the Potomac Officers Club Website to register for the 2024 Intel Summit!
