Navy starts new round of e-business pilots

The Navy's eBusiness Operations Office this week selected $3.8 million worth of first-round projects for fiscal 2004, ranging from software to streamline evaluation to systems to improve data accessibility.

The e-business office, set up in 2002, looks for projects that should be considered for Navy-wide adoption. So far, it has funded more than three dozen projects.

The latest pilots include:

* Navy Net-centric Aircraft Maintenance, which would give technicians wireless access to legacy maintenance databases, electronic manuals and other resources

* Speed to Capability Approval, Management and Planning Process, which would develop an automated, enterprisewide method to cut the current project approval time in half. SCAMP also would help users do product planning and management.

* Navy Public Affairs Knowledge Management System, which would integrate online collaboration tools for public affairs offices

* Collaborative Energy Conservation and Fuel Status Board, which would track and display a battle group's fuel status

* Legacy System Modernization, which would demonstrate how software modernization tools could cost-effectively make old applications comply with Navy-Marine Corps Intranet requirements

* Software Configuration Management, which would set up a central repository for shipboard software configuration data.