Integrating Commercial Electronic Equipment to Improve Military Capabilities

There is a new information revolution brewing. Hand held electronic devices are invading the home and the workplace. As capabilities increase, the cost of commercially available personal electronic devices continues to decline dramatically. These devices include Personal Data Assistants PDAs, Cellular Phones, Pagers, GPS receivers, and Digital imaging equipment. The military should plan for the integration and use of these devices to enhance effectiveness of operations. By designing open architecture systems that are upgrade capable, the military can take advantage of emerging technologies. There are issues to be considered integration, reliability, training, security and invasion of privacy.