Global Information Grid
TheGlobal Information Grid(GIG) is a network of information transmission and processing maintained by theUnited States Department of Defense.More descriptively, it is a worldwide network of information transmission, of associated processes, and of personnel serving to collect, process, safeguard, transmit, and manage this information.[1]It is an all-encompassing communications project of theUnited States Department of Defense.[citation needed]The GIG makes this immediately available to military personnel, to those responsible for military politics, and for support personnel.[citation needed]It includes all infrastructure, bought or loaned, of communications, electronics, informatics (including software and databases), and security.[citation needed]It is the most visible manifestation ofnetwork-centric warfare.[citation needed]It is the combination of technology and human activity that enables warfighters to access information on demand.[2]
It is defined as a "globally interconnected, end-to-end set of information capabilities for collecting, processing, storing, disseminating, and managing information on demand to warfighters, policy makers, and support personnel".[3]
The GIG includes owned and leased communications and computing systems and services, software (including applications), data, security services, other associated services, andNational Security Systems.Non-GIGInformation Technology (IT)includes stand-alone, self-contained, or embedded IT that is not, and will not be, connected to the enterprise network.[4]
This new definition removes references to the National Security Systems as defined in section 5142 of theClinger-Cohen Act of 1996.Further, this new definition removes the references to the GIG providing capabilities from all operating locations (bases, posts, camps, stations, facilities, mobile platforms, and deployed sites). And lastly, this definition removes the part of the definition that discusses the interfaces to coalition, allied, and non-Department of Defense users and systems.[5]
The DoD's use of the term "GIG" is undergoing changes as the Department deals with new concepts such as Cyberspace Operations, GIG 2.0 (A Joint Staff J6 Initiative), and the Department of Defense Information Enterprise (DIE).[4]
The GIG is managed by a construct known asNetOps.NetOps is defined as the operational framework consisting of three essential tasks,Situational Awareness (SA),and Command & Control (C2) that the Commander (CDR) ofUnited States Strategic Command(USSTRATCOM), in coordination with DoD and Global NetOps Community, employs to operate and defend the GIG to ensure information superiority.[6]
In the past
[edit]The specifications for the GIG were published by the DoD on 22 September 1999, and theassistant secretary of defenseofficially mandated it on 19 September 2002 to carry out the project.[citation needed]Although in 2008, the ambitious objectives of the program had not been realized, informatic communications between soldiers and commanders on the battlefield had been successfully realized, the most well-known examples having occurred during the2003 invasion of Iraq.[citation needed]
The GIG underwent a severecyberattackin 2008, in the form of acomputer viruswhich spread through military computer networks.[1]As a result, theUS Strategic Commandbanned all forms ofremovable media,includingthumb drives,DVDs,andfloppy disks.[1]At the time, the GIG contained about 17 million military computers, and it was scanned millions of times daily.[1]
Defense Information Enterprise
[edit]The Department of Defense Information Enterprise is defined as the DoD information resources, assets, and processes required to achieve an information advantage and share information across the Department of Defense and with mission partners.[citation needed]
It includes:[4]
- the information itself and the Department's management over the information life cycle
- the processes, including risk management, associated with managing information to accomplish the DoD mission and functions
- activities related to designing, building, populating, acquiring, managing, operating, protecting, and defending the information enterprise
- related information resources such as personnel, funds, equipment, and IT, including national security systems
Vision
[edit]TheNetwork-Centric Warfare (NCW)doctrine represents a fundamental shift in military culture, away from compartmentalized war machines and toward interconnected units operating cohesively.[citation needed]The tenets of Network Centric Warfare are:
- A robustly networked force improves information sharing;
- Information sharing enhances the quality of information and shared situational awareness;
- Sharedsituational awarenessenables collaboration and self-synchronization and enhances sustainability and speed of command;
- Speed of command, in turn, dramatically increases mission effectiveness.[7]
At the enterprise level, forging new paths with whom components of the military communicate will easelogisticsburdens, improve communication and combat effectiveness of the war fighter, decrease instances of confusion-relatedfratricide,accelerate the trend in minimizing collateral damage, and hasten the flow of business. For thewarfighter,situational awarenesswould be improved tremendously by linking what he sees with what an overhead satellite sees.[citation needed]
Thefog of warwould be lifted by seamless communication between unit members, off site detection devices, and commanders operating behind the line. Improved coordination may also assist in delivering appropriate firepower or other tangible assets to first responders during domestic attacks and natural disasters worldwide.[7]
See also
[edit]- Defense Information Systems Agency
- Global Information Network Architecture
- Information Assurance Vulnerability Alert
- Joint Battlespace Infosphere
- JTF-GNO
- Software Defined Perimeter
- Skynet (Terminator)
References
[edit]- ^abcd"Pentagon Hit by Unprecedented Cyber Attack".Fox News.20 Nov 2008. Archived fromthe originalon 14 October 2015.Retrieved12 Apr2021.
- ^"Defense Information Services Agency".Archived fromthe originalon 2021-04-13.Retrieved12 Apr2021.
- ^"Global Information Grid - Glossary | CSRC".Retrieved12 Apr2021.
- ^abc"DoDD 8000.01, Management of the Department of Defense Information Enterprise, dated February 10, 2009"(PDF).Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 2014-06-11.Retrieved2014-03-25.
- ^Global Information Grid (GIG) Overarching Policy, dated September 19, 2002ArchivedMay 22, 2011, at theWayback Machine
- ^Joint Concept of Operations (CONOPS) for Global Information Grid (GIG) NetOps Version 3, dated August 4, 2006
- ^ab"Network-Centric Warfare: Its Origin and Future, By Vice Admiral Arthur K. Cebrowski, U.S. Navy, and John J. Garstka, Proceedings, January 1998".Dodccrp.org.Retrieved2014-03-25.