Outgoing DOD CIO reviews state of agency programs

Outgoing DOD CIO Terry Halvorsen gives an agency update before his tenure comes to a close at the end of February.

Outgoing chief information officer for the Defense Department, Terry Halvorsen, said that despite making progress on achieving Joint Information Environment goals, technological change continues to outpace the ability to reform procurement and tech deployment.

One of the key initiatives at the Defense Department after Halvorsen departs, FCW reported, is the transition to the Joint Regional Security Stacks, which is a security suite of firewalls, intrusion detection, enterprise management and virtual routing capabilities.

Training is the big hiccup that slows down transition, and he expects that to be an ongoing problem for the Defense Department, FCW quoted him as saying, mainly due to the regular personnel turnover at the department.

The Defense Department is, however, making progress on its transition to Windows 10 and on the Mission Partner environment.

Where the agency is really falling behind is on the closure of data centers, Halvorsen said.

At a press roundtable, he praised the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act clause that maintains the chief information officer and deputy chief management officer as separate positions, FCW reported.

Halverson expects to stay on board through Feb. 28.