Information Resources Management College
National Defense University   

By Robert D. Childs, Director, Information Resources Management College, National Defense University 

The National Defense University is a professional military educational institution for developing senior military and diplomatic leaders for the United States.  Within it, the Information Resources Management College prepares military officers and civilian personnel to exercise information leadership, integrate technology with organizational goals, leverage information technology for strategic advantage, and transform federal agencies into “information age” institutions.  The college believes that an understanding of information strategies and related technologies is critical for all future national security leaders. 

To implement the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff’s Joint Vision 2010 – the guideline for national security for the next decade – the college prepares leaders to bring order to a chaotic environment of emerging technologies, cultural change, and diminishing resources.  Its programs explore strategies for leveraging information to improve leadership, advance readiness, reengineer processes, and enhance effectiveness. 

The college’s Chief Information Officer program has grown exponentially and now enrolls 2,500.  Its curriculum focuses upon strategic planning and policy; capital planning; security and information assurance; systems acquisition; performance and results management; architectures and infrastructure; technology assessment; and leadership and organizational change.  

The college’s students are employees of the Defense Department, federal agencies, private industry, and foreign countries.  It also brings students from its sister colleges, the National War College and Industrial College of the Armed Forces.  To reach students located aboard ships and other remote sites around the world, the college is building Internet learning methods.  To foster lifelong learning, the college is developing “Knowledge Net,” a web-based portal that provides current information on issues, policies, resources, and best practices in a digitized world.  To enrich the learning experiences, the college partners with civilian universities (Maryland, Syracuse, and East Carolina) for the awarding of master’s degrees, research organizations (Gartner and the Naval Research Lab) for the tracking of technology trends, and industry for the identifying of best practices. 

Note: Robert Childs can be reached at childs@ndu.edu, and information on the Information Resources Management College of the National Defense Industry can be found at http://ndu.edu/irmc.