A Web 2.0 Primer for DOD Energy Workers

From NDU social media guru (and practitioner) Mark Drapeau, and former Principal Deputy Assistant SECDEF, Linton Wells, comes an outstanding new report titled Social Software and National Security that may have you saying, "I see the DOD connection, but what the heck does this have to do with energy?"

I'll tell you what. I come from a info security background. The last ten years of my working life have involved thinking about how to keep certain info in the hands of certain people ... and out of the hands of others. Today's WSJ note on a recent F-35 breach reminds us: this is a tough job. And as the parodies (see Apple's ad on Vista's security controls ) and realities of working in secure environments show, the speed of communications and collaboration definitely takes a hit. Progress on DOD energy needs to move quickly.

If a boxer spends all 15 rounds covering up, he's never going to learn about his opponent's strategy, let alone be able to go on the offensive and land some blows of his own. My point is that the job of bringing heightened awareness and activity on energy issues across DOD is not something that can happen in secret or in tribal cloisters. Unlike the development of sensitive weapons systems, improvements to energy management and efficiency are something we can (and need to) hasten through better communications. And if a bad guy happens upon what we're up to, it's no big deal.

The different chambers of OSD, the four service branches, the Joint Forces, the intel community,  DLA and the loggies in the field, the war gamers and acquisition folks, and many more in DOD, not to mention like-minded colleagues in DOE, academia and industry need to start sharing ideas and cooperating like never before.

If you're not inclined to try this stuff, no worries. But if you're curious and haven't yet immersed yourself in the Web 2.0 deep end yet, check out the NDU report and start blogging, Youtubing, Twittering, GovLooping, Flickring and soon you'll be fully Linked-In to the an incredible hub of energy team work.