Bits: Ushahidi Crowdmap, Productivity Suites

1. Ushahidi: Ushahidi means testimony in Swahili. This crisis mapping technology was brought bear by an African organization amid the turmoil after the Kenyan elections of 2008. This is a platform for crowd sourcing SA - a capability to provide a means for any and all people in an area to contribute information about events in a particular area. The platform found huge success in the aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti. A new offering from Ushahidi, Crowdmap, is a thin client version to be stood up and deployed rapidly by end users anywhere via the commercial internet. Imagine locals, local government and NGOs being able to add incident information to Crowdmap amid a crisis. Note that CrowdMap is cell phone SMS capable (this is significant in disaster areas and 3rd world regions). Powerful stuff.
2. Productivity Suites: Word processors, spreadsheets, and presentation software have long been grouped and called Productivity software (a relic term from pre-Web 2.0 of course). I have always been amazed by the government and military use of MS Office with its huge licensing costs and maintenance). Most End Users of productivity suites only use the bare bones essential functions - even if they are PowerPoint Ranger tabbed. Why pay big fees for a ton of functionality when cost effective solutions are available? Open Office has been around for quite sometime, offers a very robust desktop productivity suite and is free. In the web based realm, Zoho's "fake Office" solution and Google's Apps for Gov would meet the need, provide huge cost savings and, arguably, increase End User / Team productivity! Need I say more?

Bits: Cloud Storage, RSS

1. Cloud Storage: These days cloud computing is all the rage within DOD IT and rightfully so. Access to the same info from multiple devices - anytime, anywhere - always in sync. We are all familiar with web apps for various capabilities such as email, calendar, social media and even banking. One critical capability for End-Users to fully employ the cloud is file storage and I do not mean a wiki or SharePoint Portal type of application. I mean full on file storage and sync - a capability whereas End-Users may work with their files as intended on a local device and sync via the cloud to other devices. Any enterprise worth its salt and wishing full adoption must allocate "cloud drive space" for users and make this capability available. Bliss for End-Users is local storage (for times when there is zero connectivity), web based editing and web access to files. Examples include Live Mesh, Syncplicity, Memeo Connect and even Offisync.
2. RSS Reader: Where do I start with RSS and RSS Readers? I once said this was how one could control information, make information work for you (instead of you working for it) and I am sticking to that. Numerous web apps, blogs, maps, alerts, update notifications, invites - End-Users need a tool to provide a capability to funnel notifications and info to a single interface for ingestion and re-distribution (the Inbox is not the place). GeoRSS is also on the rise (but thats a discussion for another time). Secure enterprises, such as AKO/DKO need to address this and provide a web based open and secure authenticated feed capability. Google Reader is the preeminent web based reader and may be synced with 3rd party desktop and mobile apps (RSS via Outlook and IE is pitiful). Once End-Users realize the benefits of RSS, there is no turning back. Even though NEC (DOIM) may be blocking this link for many of you, check out my brief on RSS from 2008 for some visuals - its old, but still holds true.

Bits: Google Voice, milSuite, DCO

1. Google Voice: Part of the Army CIO/G6 enterprise strategy is to provide End-Users a single email address AND phone number. Check out Google Voice to see what that capability may be like - sign up is open to everyone now.
2. milSuite: Social Media (SM) has changed the communications landscape and the US Army is leading the DOD to operationalize SM via the milSuite capability from PEO-C3T MilTech Solutions. You like Facebook, Wikipedia and Blogs? Check out milSuite. Rumor has it: milSuite may go Joint and may be adding milTube in the future - its already a killer capability. AKO/DKO Login required.
3. Defense Connect Online (DCO): Enterprise version of Adobe Connect web-conferencing via AKO/DKO (another MilTech Solutions service) has been around since Button 1 and 2. There are currently a lot of stand-alone Connect servers in TOCs, but as the network matures and permeates, more and more users in the tactical environment will be able to access and use DCO proper. AKO/DKO Login and DCO login required. Also try Adobe's commercial light version - Connect Now.