More IT for front line operations
9 Oct 07
A further 3,300 computer terminals for the explicit purpose of commanding military operations, will now be delivered to MOD as part of the Defence Information Infrastructure (Future) programme.
Deployed Communications
[Source:MOD]
MOD has a £2.3bn contract with the ATLAS Consortium for the provision of the Defence Information Infrastructure (Future) programme (DII(F)) which will provide around 150,000 computer terminals across 2,000 MOD sites worldwide, enabling better sharing of information and collaborative working.
The £2.3bn contract has just been amended to incorporate a £270m Increment (2b) for the delivery of a further 3,300 terminals, of which 1,900 will be deployable to headquarters on the ground and on board Royal Navy ships.
DE&S DII integrated project team leader Bob Quick said:
"This is a first step in enhancing deployable capability to forces deployed to theatres such as Iraq and Afghanistan.
"The DII(F) contract was let in March 2005 and included delivery and support of Increment 1 of the programme that will provide DII(F) to around 70,000 desktops and 200,000 user accounts in fixed locations.
"DII(F) is one of the largest information infrastructure programmes in Europe. It will provide a computing infrastructure and services that will enable sharing of information and collaborative working to a variety of groups and individuals including those that currently have limited or no connectivity. Ultimately it will provide around 300,000 user accounts on approximately 150,000 terminals across about 2,000 MOD sites worldwide."
"DII(F) is one of the largest information infrastructure programmes in Europe."
Bob Quick
Increment 2 comprises three elements. Increment 2a was placed on contract by way of an amendment on 29 December 2006 to provide 44,000 additional workstations and 58,000 User Accounts for the office environment.
Increment 2b will replace a variety of older systems that are approaching obsolescence and have been identified as a risk to successful operations.
The ATLAS Consortium comprises EDS (as Prime Contractor), Fujitsu, EADS, General Dynamics, LogicaCMG and a number of other Capability Partners. ATLAS have now delivered over 10,000 UADs (user access devices) in total, over 300 sites are “live” and over 40,000 users have access to DII(F). The programme has now moved into a phase of high volume roll-out.