Navy Net Set to Permit Public Internet Tools

Navy Chief Information Officer Robert Carey said the guidance dovetails with a Department of Defense directive, Responsible and Effective Use of Internet-based Capabilities, issued late last month by Deputy Defense Secretary William Lynn. The new Defense Department policy allows access to new media tools found on the Internet through DoD's non-classified networks. Carey characterized the directive as "DoD's first step toward consistently embracing these tools of collaboration as a department."

A strong advocate of Internet-based collaborative tools, Carey said his office is teaming with the Navy and Marine Corps to develop guidance on how the Navy Department can implement the new DoD policy.

"These tools have proven to be extremely valuable inside our .mil domain as demonstrated by Milsuite, A-Space, Intellipedia and most recently, the Pulse," Carey wrote Friday in his blog, referring to Web 2.0 offerings on non-classified Defense Department intranets. "Outside the firewall, we can harness their power to promote the Navy and Marine Corps story, engage with the public and provide service members the ability to communicate with friends and family while deployed."

Carey said any access to tools on the Internet must be done securely and with the proper privacy protections engaged to safeguard Navy and Marine Corps officers, enlistees and employees. Once available, he said, users also must be careful by protecting "their information online, be aware of who and what they interact with, and abide by existing regulations on ethics, operational security and privacy."