About the Chief Information Officer Group
- Introduction
- Our Mission
- Who we are?
- Our People
- Our Structure
- Our Operating Model
- Our Relationships
- DIE Facts
Introduction
The Chief Information Officer Group (CIOG), within the Department of Defence, is responsible for ensuring that Defence has a dependable, secure and integrated Defence Information Environment (DIE) to support Defence business and military operations.
In simple terms, the DIE encompasses the computing and communications infrastructure of Defence along with the management systems and people that deliver that infrastructure. It includes our computing networks, business applications and the data that they generate and carry. It includes the communication standards and spectrum required for our Battlespace networks. The infrastructure is essential and integral to such central Defence functions as intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, communications, information warfare, command and management.
Our Mission
The Chief Information Officer leads the integrated design, cost effective delivery, and sustained operation of the Defence Information Environment.
Who we are
We deliver a massive and complex range of commercial, government, specialist military and bespoke applications. These systems operate across geographically dispersed, fixed, deployable and mobile networks and on most types of modern hardware and communications bearers.
The Chief Information Officer (CIO) is accountable to the Secretary and the Chief of Defence Force for the completeness and coherence of DIE planning; and for establishing effective governance and coordination arrangements for the development, operation and management of DIE capabilities.
The authority of the CIOG encompasses all aspects of the DIE capability management including strategy, planning, prioritisation, development, implementation and support.
Our People
In carrying out our mission we are to adhere collectively and individually to Defence values. We believe in the results through people philosophy of Defence and recognise that our success depends on exhibiting good leadership at all levels of the organisation. We recognise training and development of our people as an investment in our success. We know that sustained success depends on the skills, attitude, and innovation of our people.
Our Structure
The Group’s structure incorporates the following elements:
Click the Organisation Structure for larger view.
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The Chief Technology Officer Division (CTOD) is responsible for the Defence ICT architecture and delivering ICT systems and applications in line with Defence's corporate goals and strategies. The CTO also provides guidance and support to defence on projects of strategic significance, promoting technology awareness and competence throughout the organisation and ensuring applications are built and integrated in line with CIOG's architecture for applications, Infrastructure and information.
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The Information and Communications Technology Development Division (ICTDD) is responsible for the architectural design, development and third level support of the Defence Information Environment. ICTDD delivers to internal and external customer requirements through program and project management.
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The Information and Communications Technology Operations Division (ICTOD) / J6 is the responsible for delivering the Defence Information Environment as a global end to end capability including the provision of satellite communications, electromagnetic spectrum and networks to support military operations. The Head of the Division is the principal strategic adviser (Strategic J6) to the Chief of Defence Force and Commander Joint Operations on communications and information systems and electromagnetic spectrum.
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The Chief Operating Officer Branch (COOB) provides a focal point for finance, governance, organisation performance, and all aspects of business office management support to the Chief Information Officer (CIO) Group. This includes: human resources, financial management, contracting and procurement, quality management, corporate governance, communication and customer service management. The Branch develops and implements relevant business policies and coordinates, manages, monitors and evaluates human, financial and other resources allocated or attributed to the CIO Group. It also coordinates and manages a range of support activities for the CIO and the CIO Group.
Our Operating Model
The operating model for CIOG is a Plan, Build and Run model common to most ICT delivery organisations.
Click the Operating model for larger view.
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The Information and Communications Technology Operations Division (ICTOD) is responsible for Defence Information Infrastructure (DII) Planning, including strategic direction and risk management and the development of the Defence ICT Strategy and the Defence Information Infrastructure Plan.
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Information and Communications Technology Development Division (ICTDD) is responsible for the design and build of the DII, including acquisition, delivery, optimisation, simplification and sustainment.
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ICTOD is responsible for running or operating the DII, including the efficient delivery of services to all users on the Defence Restricted and Secret Networks.
Our Relationships
Our key relationships in meeting our mission are captured in Defence policy and in our group to group agreements, primarily our Operational Performance Agreement and other Service Level Agreements. In summary, our most critical relationships involve:
- Commander Joint Operations (CJOPS) for planning and support of military operations, including deliberate planning and preparedness management as coordinating capability manager for the DIE;
- Strategy, Coordination & Governance Executive for aligning Defence information management strategy with broader Defence strategy and the Defence business needs;
- Defence Personnel Executive, Chief Finance Officer and Commander Joint Logistics for integrated development and support of Defence’s core business systems;
- Chief Capability Development Group for major capital program project definition for projects that contribute to or depend on the Defence information infrastructure; and
- Defence Materiel Organisation as a major supplier of command and control and deployable communications systems for the Australian Defence Force.
DIE Facts
The Chief Information Officer Group:
- CIOG manages the third largest Information and Communications Technology (ICT) network in Australia, following the commercial networks of Telstra and Optus;
- CIOG conducts business of around $700 million in support of Defence operations around the world; and
- CIOG manages and maintains Defence’s fixed and mobile ICT networks of over 8,400 servers and 107,000 workstations for 106,000 users.


