State jump starts overseas network
- By Diane Frank
- Apr 26, 2000
ORLANDO, Fla. — The State Department has put forward more than $1 million
from its own budget to start developing a plan that will bring the 40 agencies
with overseas presences onto a single unclassified network by 2003.
The network, called for by the Overseas Presence Advisory Panel in November
1999, will provide a single Internet interface and replace the many networks
developed within the various federal agencies working outside of the United
States. This will allow all 40 agencies working overseas to communicate
with each other in a unified fashion and share information through a common
network.
The president's fiscal 2001 budget calls for $17 million to perform
several pilots, including two of the overseas network at two embassies.
In addition, the State Department has reallocated about $1.1 million of
its own fiscal 2000 budget to begin development plans for those pilots.
"This will allow us to hit the ground running with some preliminary
plans and designs" when the $17 million comes through in October, said Fernando
Burbano, chief information officer at State, speaking at the Information
Processing Interagency Conference here. The OPAP report can be found at on the State Department's Web site.