Knowledge Management Action Plan for U.S.

UNCLAS KABUL 001090 SIPDIS DEPT FOR D(L),M, CIO, S/SRAP, RM, SCA/A AMB. EIKENBERRY FROM RICCIARDONE NFATC FOR DIRECTOR WHITESIDE USAID FOR A/ADMINISTRATOR BANGKOK FOR RIMC BUENOS AIRES FOR AMBASSADOR ISAF FOR COMMANDER USFOR-A FOR COMMANDER AND J6 E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: AMGT AADP KRIM AF SUBJECT: Knowledge Management Action Plan for U.S. Mission Afghanistan 1.A/COM INTRODUCTION: I endorse the following message from Kabul Chief Knowledge Officer (CKO) Kathleen Lively, and ask Department and USAID leadership's support for our plan. CKO Lively has been leading an IM interagency task force combining civilian agencies under COM authority and USFOR-A J6. This team's goal is to improve intra-USG Information Communication Technology (ICT) systems and exploitation of them, with a longer-range goal of improving USG collaboration via ICT with host nation, third country, and NGO partners. We believe this goal is directly in line with President Obama's "whole of government" philosophy. Begin CKO plan: Summary ======= ¶2. We must move forward as a Mission, not a collection of disparate Agencies, to succeed in Afghanistan. It is thus critical to create and maintain effective collaboration and robust Knowledge Management across USG agencies and elements throughout Afghanistan, and between us and colleagues in Washington, Islamabad and CENTCOM. To do so we must overcome the seams among our many custom-built IM networks we all access. U.S. Mission Afghanistan requests the Department's (including USAID's) assistance in three keys areas: -- 1) The migration to one Unclassified network as discussed in KABUL 1089 to improve policy coordination and management efficiencies while meeting the business requirements of all agencies; -- 2) Extensive promotion of and training on existing collaboration tools such as Intelink, Net Centric Diplomacy (NCD),Communities at State, SharePoint and Adobe Connect to Mission staff; and -- 3) Resources to fund and implement a method to create a timely, seamless flow of information from unclassified sources and networks to higher-level, secure government networks. Improving System Performance ============================ ¶3. While one network will be a great leap forward in terms of coordination, U.S. Mission Afghanistan's limited communication infrastructure and staff are also impediments to success. We request that IRM engineers explore ways to improve the performance of our �0A;collaboration tools on both the Classified and Unclassified networks so that Mission users can access and use these tools more quickly and efficiently. Training and Subject Matter Expertise Needed ============================================ ¶4. We need assistance from the Department and other experts in sensitizing and training our staff regarding existing tools such as Intelink, uGov mail, NCD, SharePoint , and Communities at State. We are requesting a joint IRM and RM/IRP team travel to post to train all Mission staff in the effective use of these tools. This training must be complemented by efforts in Washington to ensure that staff traveling to post have Intelink Passports and that Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) employees also have uGov mail accounts. This area is ripe for collaborating with our host nation, third country and NGO/private sector partners. We request that the Department reach out to experts such as Microsoft that have partnered with us in the past on SharePoint and other collaboration tools to assist us with establishing an effective collaboration site, sharing government best practices for collaboration standards and processes, and helping us to get the most out of these robust tools. Tapping into Critical Unclassified Information ============================================= = ¶5. There are many important inputs from the PRTs and others located off the Embassy compound, such as our implementing partners and NGOs, that exist in the unclassified realm, but with too limited access to government networks. We need an easy way to ensure that this wealth of information can enter our collaboration space and be made available to all Mission elements. Other Agencies, implementing partners, and PRT officers require a better way to exchange and access information before stovepipes lead to ill-informed decisions on critical issues. Accordingly, important ground-truth information from a variety of reporters needs to make a seamless migration to the classified enclave for analysts and policymakers who exist virtually only on higher networks. Mission Afghanistan requests that the Department send a software development team to gather requirements in order to make this important pathway for information sharing a quick reality. We Succeed Together =================== ¶6. While we are making progress on leveraging existing tools such as Intelink and uGov email we request the Department's assistance on these issues to meet the President's objectives in Afghanistan; State and USAID need to be in lockstep on one network, existing tools need to be familiar and dependable for all Mission employees, and a connector between the unclassified and classified enclaves needs to be built to tap the wealth of information that is available on the unclassified side. We ask for Department (including USAID) leadership's support and active engagement to realize these goals.