Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09KABUL1090
2009-04-29 14:19:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Kabul
Cable title:  

Knowledge Management Action Plan for U.S.

Tags:  AMGT AADP KRIM AF 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXYZ0012
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBUL #1090/01 1191419
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 291419Z APR 09
FM AMEMBASSY KABUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8673
INFO RUEHBK/AMEMBASSY BANGKOK 2042
RUEHFSI/FSINFATC WASHDC
RHMFISS/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RXFPSHK/ISAF HQ
RHMFISS/USFOR-A
RUEHBU/AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES 0020
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
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
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.