DEF CON 14 - Linton Wells: UNCLASSIFIED Information Sharing with Non-Traditional Partners
Channel: DEFCONConference
Date: 2014-02-05

Linton Wells: UNCLASSIFIED Information Sharing with Non-Traditional Partners

Abstract: Experience from domestic and foreign humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) operations shows that shared situational awareness and the information systems that support it are the critical enablers of all other functions in such situations. They are not merely technical adjuncts to the delivery of food, water and shelter. Federal Agencies can respond better to disasters (both domestic and international) by sharing unclassified information effectively with state, local and tribal governments, non-governmental organizations, and relief entities. DoD often refers to these as "non-traditional partners." Besides sharing situational awareness, decision-makers also must exchange ideas for solving emergent problems and convert decisions into action. These capabilities need to be in place within hours after the beginning of a crisis. Success will require new cultures of unclassified information sharing; not just within DoD, but also with the non-traditional partners that form the backbone of domestic and international disaster response. 

Bio: Dr. Linton Wells II serves as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (Networks and Information Integration). He resumed these duties on November 14, 2005 after serving as the Acting Assistant Secretary and DoD Chief Information Officer from March 8, 2004. He became the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (Command, Control, Communications and Intelligence) on August 20, 1998 which became Networks and Information Integration in 2003. Prior to this assignment, he had served in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Policy) from 1991 to 1998, most recently as the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Policy Support). In twenty-six years of naval service, Dr. Wells served in a variety of surface ships, including command of a destroyer squadron and guided missile destroyer. In addition, he acquired a wide range of experience in operations analysis; Pacific, Indian Ocean and Middle East affairs; C3I; and special access program oversight. Dr. Wells was born in Luanda, Angola, in 1946. He was graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1967 and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in physics and oceanography. He attended graduate school at The Johns Hopkins University, receiving a Master of Science in Engineering degree in mathematical sciences and a PhD in international relations. He is also a 1983 graduate of the Japanese National Institute for Defense Studies in Tokyo, the first U.S. naval officer to attend there. Dr. Wells has written widely on security studies in English and Japanese journals. He co-authored Japanese Cruisers of the Pacific War, which was published in 1997. His hobbies include history, the relationship between policy and technology, scuba diving, and flying.