On Oct. 1, the CIO’s organization will take the lead on those efforts and expand the scope of current 5G testing and experimentation, DOD CIO John Sherman said.
BYMIKAYLA EASLEY MAY 11, 2023
The Pentagon’s chief information officer will take the reins of the department’s efforts to operationalize 5G communications technology for warfighters this fall, CIO John Sherman said Thursday.
For the last few years, the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering has been working to adopt 5G and future-generation wireless network technologies across the department. On Oct. 1, the CIO’s organization will take the lead on those efforts and expand the scope of current 5G testing and experimentation, Sherman announced at the DefenseTalks conference hosted by DefenseScoop..
“We’ve already been working left-seat and right-seat with research and engineering on this,” he said. “But we’ve got the lead as of Oct. 1 on the 5G pilots that are underway at the numerous DOD installations.”
In 2020, the Pentagon awarded contracts to multiple prime contractors to set up 5G and “FutureG” test bed projects at different military bases across the country. Each site experiments with a different way the department can utilize the technology, including creating smart warehouses enabled by 5G and bi-directional spectrum sharing.
The Pentagon’s chief information officer will take the reins of the department’s efforts to operationalize 5G communications technology for warfighters this fall, CIO John Sherman said Thursday.
For the last few years, the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering has been working to adopt 5G and future-generation wireless network technologies across the department. On Oct. 1, the CIO’s organization will take the lead on those efforts and expand the scope of current 5G testing and experimentation, Sherman announced at the DefenseTalks conference hosted by DefenseScoop..
“We’ve already been working left-seat and right-seat with research and engineering on this,” he said. “But we’ve got the lead as of Oct. 1 on the 5G pilots that are underway at the numerous DOD installations.”
In 2020, the Pentagon awarded contracts to multiple prime contractors to set up 5G and “FutureG” test bed projects at different military bases across the country. Each site experiments with a different way the department can utilize the technology, including creating smart warehouses enabled by 5G and bi-directional spectrum sharing.
But adopting O-RAN technology could be key for the Pentagon’s 5G and FutureG efforts, as it would allow the department to “break open that black box into different components,” he said.
Not only would the Pentagon’s focus on O-RAN bring new competition to the market and incentivize new innovation, the open architecture approach would also allow the department to experiment with new features in wireless communications, such as zero-trust security features, he noted.
“It’s going to change the game,” Rondeau said.
Article link: https://defensescoop.com/2023/05/11/dod-5g-oran-pilot/?
healthcarereimagined 