Enterprise Architecture Conference 

A decision has been made to not conduct an 8th Annual DoD Enterprise Architecture Conference.  While we know that this will come as a disappointment to many, the staff of the DoD CIO is looking at other options to provide a venue for our continued and important information exchange.  In conjunction with this decision, the Defense Enterprise Architecture Achievement (DEAA) Awards program is on hold.  We will post additional information as it becomes available.

The DoD Enterprise Architecture Conference has become the one annual event where the architecture and operator communities gather to interact around the role of architecture in enabling a better Defense Department.  Hosted by the DoD CIO office, this yearly event takes on a new urgency in 2012 as the budget environment coupled with operational needs means the information environment must do more with less, and faster.  Participants at the conference come together for training, information sharing and discussion of Enterprise Architecture practices and requirements.

The theme this year, "Agile and Secure Information Capabilities to the Warfighter and Mission Partners"  will provide an opportunity to learn about the DoD CIO Campaign Plan, efforts of military Service and Combatant Commands to use architecture for better decision making, improved operational effectiveness, increased efficiencies and interactions with all mission partners.

The conference features Monday tutorials and three full days of conference sessions from Tuesday through closing on Thursday afternoon. The conference will attract attendees and exhibitors who are interested in collaborating to help DoD do more with less.

In 2011 the IT Enterprise Strategy and Roadmap set two primary goals: making DoD more secure against cyber-attacks; and reducing cost while improving the agility of its information technology and networks.  This has set the imperative for what is happening to information environments across the Department.  The DoD CIO is leading efforts to make improved mission effectiveness and cybersecurity the primary goals of a re-engineered information infrastructure. Though budget cuts have been and will continue to be made, the infrastructure must become more secure and agile.

The result of this new effort will be the joint information environment, or JIE.  This two-fold emphasis - security and efficiency - drives the CIO's strategic objective of providing enterprise policy and architecture guidance for development and delivery of the secure, integrated information capabilities necessary for mission success.