The Directorate will be the corporate focus within the DCSA for all cross-cutting technical matters relating to future products and services, with particular emphasis on the coherent exploitation of technology to deliver business benefit to Defence. In discharging this role, the Directorate is required to maintain a wide range of contacts with industry and across Government; in particular, it is the primary point of contact with the MoD and other stakeholders on coherence issues, to ensure that a coherent, end-to-end view of information services is taken.
The Directorate will also be responsible for delivering the output of the ‘Coherent Solutions’ Workstream of the Agency’s Change Programme. The CTO champions all aspects of Whole Life Support (WLS) within the Agency and ensures that CIS submissions from across Defence reflect WLS requirements. He is also CDL’s delegated One-Star Approving Authority for CIS submissions to the Investment Approvals Board (IAB).
About D CTO
The Directorate Chief Technology Officer (DCTO) is headed by Commodore Adrian Whyntie, who recently assumed the role of Chief Technology Officer on promotion from the UKCEC IPT.
The Directorate’s role is to drive the transformation of Defence ICS delivery by:
- Embedding an architectural approach to current and future ICS delivery.
- Assuring that extant and future capabilities are architecturally compliant.
- Delivering coherent enabling services (including design and implementation support for deployed CIS).
- Developing relevant policy, programme and plans to underpin the architectural approach.
- Addressing the through-life delivery of Information Assurance (including CND).
It will be based around four key functions
- Architecture.
- Assurance.
- Enabling Services.
- Policy, Programme & Plans.
The DCTO has 600 staff based at Basil Hill, Copenacre, Blandford and Henlow and comprises four AD Sub Directorates:
AD Information Assurance – Colonel Rick Evans
The role of the Information Assurance Business Unit (BU) is to provide a comprehensive range of technical and security information assurance services to all areas of Defence. Following the DCTO Senior Management planning workshop, it was agreed that DINSA and CM Branches should re-brigade under AD Coherence with effect from 1 April 05. From this date, Information Assurance will comprise the following three business units:
- Defensive Information Operations (DIO)
- Defence Cryptosecurity Operating Authority (DCOA)
- Test & Reference (T&R).
AD Engineering Operations – Group Captain John Chapman
The primary role of Engineering Operations is to provide Air Support (AS) solutions and Communication and Information Systems (CIS) in direct support of deployed operations. The secondary role is to maintain, exercise and hone skills in readiness for deployment. These roles are delivered to our customers by the three output branches: AS, CIS and Synergy, with the essential overhead provided by the Support branch.
AD Whole Life Support – Captain Kevin Wilson Royal Navy
Whole Life Support (WLS) aims to ensure consistency and coherence in CIS support, ensuring acquisition support policy addresses CIS support needs. Work also includes providing a concept of operations for support to the Battlespace Information Infrastructure (BII) and providing CDL with input on CIS aspects of business cases submitted to the Investment Approvals Board (IAB). It also includes the centre of expertise for partnering with industry, which forms an integral part of much of the Through Life Management (TLM) planning of future IPT business.
AD Coherence – Group Captain Tony Boyle
The role of AD Coherence is to resolve interoperability and integration issues affecting current systems and services, and to work with others from across Defence to promote coherence in the development of new capability. An essential element of this is to capture and utilise emerging technology and best practice from industry, allies and Other Government Departments.
The Coherence Team comprises Information & Systems Coherence, Coherence Strategy, Architectural Coherence, Regulations & Interoperability, Configuration Management (CM) and Defence Interoperable Network Services Authority (DINSA).
