CIO Stresses Navy’s Need to Invest in Global IT Infrastructure

Aaron Weis, chief information officer of the Navy and a 2021 Wash100 winner, stressed the importance of a robust global information technology infrastructure in achieving information superiority.

Modern technologies will play a key role in allowing the Navy to provide accurate and timely data and services to naval warfighters and the civilian teams that support them, the Navy’s CIO office said.

One such technology is government cloud, which Weis claimed will depend on his office’s ability to carry out digital transformation. 

“One of the common threads about digital transformation and innovation is this idea that you need to have a firm foundation to build on,” Weis said during FedScoop’s virtual Public Sector Summit. 

Such foundations or “digital prerequisites” will allow DON CIO to more effectively respond to the technological needs of warfighters and to better keep up with emerging technologies, Weis said. The office is also tasked with improving business functions and enabling future digital transformation. 

Weis added that next-generation 5G communications will enable the high speeds and low latencies required by the Navy’s envisioned global IT infrastructure. 

The Department of Defense recently awarded GE Research contracts to create 5G-enabled smart warehouses at the Naval Base San Diego in California and Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany in Georgia. 

DOD is currently carrying out a $600 million 5G initiative aimed at advancing dual-use 5G applications at five military test sites. 

The Pentagon is also exploring 5G’s use for augmented and virtual reality training, dynamic spectrum utilization and distributed command and control.