GIO Leads Geospatial Enterprise
As the Army’s first geospatial information officer, Robert Burkhardt is dedicated
to fostering a network-enabled geospatial enterprise that allows geospatial
information to be collected, processed, exploited and shared in a timely manner.
By Harrison Donnelly
As the Army’s first geospatial information officer (GIO), Robert Burkhardt is dedicated to fostering a network-enabled geospatial enterprise that allows geospatial information to be collected, processed, exploited and shared in a timely manner.
Burkhardt, director of the Engineer Research and Development Center’s Topographic Engineering Center, was recently appointed as the Army’s first GIO by Headquarters, Department of the Army’s Geospatial-Enterprise Governance Board.
In that role, he will serve as the Army’s central manager responsible for coordination, assessment and synchronization of all Army policies and standardization requirements for the geospatial information enterprise, which will help enable interoperability across battle command systems, bringing the Army, Air Force, Navy and Marines closer to the realization of a unified common operational picture (COP). This COP allows the Department of Defense to deploy assets efficiently and effectively by providing the warfighter with the integrated capability to receive, correlate and display a common tactical picture, including planning applications that may include location of friendly, hostile and neutral units, assets and reference points.
“Geospatial data is the foundation for a common operational picture, and the lack of policy and standards in this area prevents a unified COP today,” said Burkhardt. “The technology is available to enable battle command systems to collect information once and allow discovery and exploitation by all, however, without these standards, it is difficult to present unified, understandable solutions within and outside of the Army.”
The Geospatial-Enterprise Governance Board (GGB), led by Lieutenant General Robert Van Antwerp, chief, Army Corps of Engineers, and Lieutenant General John Kimmons, deputy chief of staff, G-2, addresses Army geospatial-enterprise issues impacting current and future force requirements while striving to administer and facilitate the development of a net-enabled Army geospatial enterprise. Such an enterprise allows actionable geospatial information to be tasked, posted, processed and used as needed through a distributed database and architecture based on a common core of software, standards, data formats and algorithms. A key component of this shared enterprise will be established policy, in conjunction with the National Geospatial- Intelligence Agency, to pass value-added data back to national data stores.
Burkhardt, who joined the federal Senior Executive Service in 2001, served in uniform for 26 years, retiring at the rank of colonel. His last military position was as executive director of civil works, Army Corps of Engineers.
CENTRAL MANAGER
Burkhardt recently shared some of his thoughts on key aspects of his new position:
* Significance of title. “The appointment of a GIO is significant to the Army in that it will bring soldiers closer to the realization of a unified common operating picture. As the Army’s central manager responsible for the coordination, assessment and synchronization of all Army policies, standards and requirements for its geospatial enterprise, the GIO, under the direction of the Geospatial Governance Board, provides a structure that will allow the Army to administer and facilitate the development of a network-enabled geospatial enterprise that allows geospatial information to be collected, processed, exploited and shared among all soldiers and their organizations in a timely manner.”
* Goals. “The growing importance of geospatial information and systems in all Army operations has made it a key ‘commodity’; however, GI&S intricacies have made the Army oversight of its geospatial operations environment ineffective and disjointed. For example, over 40 geospatial data standards are in use in Operation Iraqi Freedom, representing an inefficient means of distributing actionable geospatial information to commanders at all levels, slowing their ability to act decisively within the operational environment. As Army GIO, one of my objectives is to marry technology and geospatial standards in a manner that enables battle command systems to collect information once and allow discovery and exploitation by all. I now have direct access to HQDA-level leadership representing interests across the Army and joint services as well as the support organizations needed to establish and enforce standards that will enable interoperability across battle command systems. These critical elements of the Army Geospatial Enterprise (AGE) allow each soldier to serve as a sensor—each will be empowered with the ability to collect information according to a standardized format, and share it with others downrange.”
* Other organizations. “Our commanders at all levels and within each service need an efficient and effective means of integrating warfighter functions and to better understand the operational environment, support unified battle command, and act decisively within the battlespace. Any organization that may benefit from timely, distributed information sharing from peer to peer, echelon to echelon to achieve a common operating picture should certainly consider standing up a GIO. However, an initiative of this magnitude and complexity cannot be executed in a vacuum—it requires oversight by an entity that has access to the ‘bigger picture’ as it pertains to the value and versatility of geospatial information across all service components. The Army’s Geospatial Governance Board, to which I report, establishes that link between geospatial solutions and our current and future force battle command challenges to ensure that our efforts remain releva nt and beneficial to the warfighter.”
* Army Geospatial Enterprise. “The GIO works directly for an Army Geospatial Governance Board comprising high ranking general officers, each responsible for specific functional interests within the Army and joint services. Together, the Army GIO and GGB will unify Army GI&S activities by establishing cohesive policies, enforcing standards, coordinating requirements, and ensuring synchronization of actions. Having such a governance structure in place will allow the Army to administer and facilitate the development of a network-enabled geospatial enterprise that allows geospatial information to be collected, exploited and disseminated vertically and horizontally, from peer to peer, and from national to the soldier level—and back.”
* Shared enterprise. “I’d like to emphasize is that the GIO is just one component of this shared enterprise, which consists of the Geospatial Governance Board, as well as a Geospatial Enterprise Office (GEO) comprising a full-time staff augmented from each of the G2, G3, G6, USACE, TRADOC, ASA(ALT) and other GGB core member organizations currently working geospatial issues and programs affecting the warfighter. The realization of a network-centric enterprise system requires the concerted efforts of the GIO, GGB, and GEO, as well as support from those agencies, such as NGA, and service components that also stand to benefit from this AGE construct.” ♦
