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![1105 Media [justice]](/images/ds1_pntmlogo.gif "1105 Media [justice]") |
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home > February, 2007 issue > article
Defense Spectrum Organization drives DOD spectrum management
By Paige Atkins
Special to Defense Systems
It sounds like a truism to say access to radio spectrum is important for wireless communications and other systems. After all, in the commercial world, much of the global telecommunications growth over the past decade has been in mobile and other wireless services.
However, the Defense Department has been perceived as slow to catch on to the importance of evolving spectrum management techniques and philosophies.
That’s about to change, in large part because of the recent creation of the Defense Spectrum Organization. DSO is signaling DOD’s serious intent to be a national and global leader in spectrum policy and use.
DSO was formed by combining the Joint Spectrum Center and the former Defense Spectrum Office to leverage both technology and policy expertise to improve spectrum efficiency and effectiveness for decades to come. The result is a combined center of excellence to support all spectrum-related initiatives in the department.
Additionally, DSO is a core unit of the Defense Information Systems Agency, an implicit recognition that spectrum-based equipment and services are integral to the last-mile, tactical support of the Global Information Grid.
The new DSO has its work cut out. Like other military organizations around the world, the department has struggled to accommodate rapid changes in spectrum management techniques, new wireless technologies and the insatiable drive for more commercial spectrum. Put simply, the U.S. military must learn to do more with relatively less spectrum. Our best ally in this effort, luckily, is wireless technology itself. Newer transmission, receiver and antenna technologies are enabling quantum leaps in efficiency and more robust sharing capabilities. DSO’s Emerging Spectrum Technology team is spotlighting these technologies while they are still over the horizon, so that the department can incorporate them into future military communications, sensing and weapons systems.
DSO brings together the DOD’s largest element of expertise in spectrum planning, electromagnetic environmental effects, information systems, modeling and simulation, and operations. The organization also provides system integration guidance, system vulnerability analysis, testing support, and operational support to developers and warfighters, making the organization a one-stop resource for spectrum support issues.
Meanwhile, DSO is working to embed spectrum priorities in the acquisition and operations communities. DSO is developing the Defense Spectrum Management Architecture as the department’s enterprise architecture for spectrum resources. DSO is also working on a standardized methodology for spectrum requirements, which will help identify how – and how much – spectrum will be used in the future. Nationally, DSO is also supporting governmentwide efforts, including the President’s Spectrum Policy. Internationally, nobody else in the world has as much exposure to foreign governments’ spectrum allocation and licensing decisions as does the U.S. military. DSO helps coordinate the department’s participation in international forums, such as the World Radiocommunication Conference held by the International Telecommunication Union.
Whether it is the marriage of technical and policy expertise or its engagement in both national and international spectrum forums and processes, DSO is the new strategic center of excellence that will drive Defense spectrum transformation.
Paige Atkins is the first director of the newly created Defense Spectrum Organization, which is part of the Defense Information Systems Agency.
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