GovernmentExecutive.com

Navy Department officials are in the early stages of developing a massive information network that will encompass all existing department networks including the much maligned Navy-Marine Corps Intranet.

Implementation of the Next Generation Enterprise Network, known as NGEN, is scheduled to start in 2010. The network will either subsume or be compatible with all existing Navy networks. A Navy fact sheet stated that the new network will build on the lessons learned from NMCI, which is the world's largest intranet.

The new network's desired capabilities and potential enhancements to existing networks are still being worked out, Navy officials said. The network will be compatible with the Global Information Grid, an all-encompassing Defense Department communications project that is still in development, and will make use of the Defense Information Systems Agency's Net-Centric Enterprise Services program, according to the fact sheet.

The Navy project is under the direction of the department's IEC, the senior information technology forum for the department. Key stakeholders include the Navy chief information officer; the assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development and acquisition; chief of naval operations N6; headquarters Marine Corps C4; and the program executive officer for enterprise information systems.

The Center for Naval Analyses, a nonprofit federally funded research and development center serving the Navy and other defense agencies, has been tapped to perform the requirements analysis for the network.

According to the Navy, the Center for Naval Analyses is working to quickly identify the overarching capabilities needed from the network in the 2010 to 2020 timeframe and recommend workable solutions.

"The project is on a fast and demanding schedule to complete the analysis and provide a draft capability production document by March 2007," an early December Navy information directive stated.

Officials from the Center for Naval Analyses will work with Navy warfighting and business communities to collect information on the functions and applications needed, the characteristics of the communication needed and areas where the legacy applications, networks systems and services fail to meet the communities' needs.

Given the time constraints for the effort, the center will be identifying user communities at a "fairly high level," the message stated.

Subject matter expertise is being provided by the Naval Network Warfare Command, the Space and Naval Warfare Command and the Marine Corps Network Operations and Security Command, the fact sheet stated.

Because the initiative is in the early phases, the cost is unknown, Navy officials said. Details of how and when industry participation might be solicited have yet to be determined, according to the fact sheet.

The department could use one of several methods to involve contractors, including issuing a request for information or a formal request for proposals, or conducting a briefing.

NMCI, a 10-year $9.3 billion project contracted out to EDS, has struggled to meet customer satisfaction goals. A recent Government Accountability Office report found that the project had not met its key strategic targets.

"As information technology demands of the [Navy Department] have evolved, we have been able to partner with the [department] to implement solutions meeting changing mission needs, operating environments and technology opportunities now and well into the future," EDS said in a statement Monday.