The goal to kick off a bring-your-own-device pilot program at the Defense Department is behind schedule, according to DoD CIO Terry Halvorsen, but getting wifi up and running in the Pentagon is a project that is seeing some forward momentum.
The BYOD pilot was originally slated for this summer, but that's looking unlikely, and there appears to be no new timeline in place just yet.
"I thought I would have a larger BYOD pilot started by now," said Halvorsen, who spoke at the DoD CIO Mobility Industry Day in Washington, D.C. "I don't, and it's my fault. I'm late, but a few other things happened that took our attention away from that."
Halvorsen said he remains committed to implementing some sort of BYOD pilot at DoD, but admitted its reach may not be as broad as some may hope.
"I do not think it'll be a majority of our operations just because of the complexities of trying to manage that and keeping it secure enough," he said.
Widespread security is a key issue in another top Pentagon IT effort: installing wifi throughout the massive facility.
"I think Wi-Fi is our big growth for the Department in terms of being able to move data," Halvorsen said, added that the project is on track to be completed in January.
It's taking awhile, though, because DoD officials are installing a wireless intrusion detection system to accompany and secure the wifi.
"It's kind of breaking lots of rules and traditions…a lot of the Pentagon is a [sensitive compartmented information facility]. My office is a SCIF. But at least 50 percent of the time I'm not doing anything" that requires such a high-security space, Halvorsen said. "People coming to visit me ought to be able to come in and use their devices to help us have dialog. I would like to be able to use my devices in my office. But we have to ensure some things, so we are putting heavily into the WIDS."
