Original broadcast 4/13/25
Sponsored by KPMG
The United States Navy’s mission has always centered around delivering power and presence across the globe. But in the digital era, the fleet’s strength increasingly depends not just on ships and sailors, but on secure, intelligent information systems. Leading that digital charge is Jane Rathbun, the Navy’s Chief Information Officer.
On a recent episode of Fed Gov Today, Rathbun joined me to unveil the Navy’s newly released Information Superiority Vision (ISV) 2.0—a strategic update designed to optimize the Navy’s digital ecosystem, strengthen cybersecurity, and, most importantly, enable faster, smarter decisions for the warfighter.
“Five years runtime—we’ve learned a lot,” Rathbun said. “We learned that we can actually go fast. COVID helped us do that by changing the way we deliver unified capabilities like chat and email. And we learned that we could work tightly with cyber folks and get it right.”
Those lessons, coupled with rapid advances in artificial intelligence and the rise of zero trust architectures, led Rathbun and her team to overhaul the vision while keeping its core mission intact: move data securely from anywhere to anywhere to provide a decisive edge.
“We haven’t changed the objective,” she said. “But we have evolved our thinking on how to get there.”
ISV 2.0 is built around three new pillars: Optimize, Secure, and Decide. Each reflects a modern approach to digital transformation, with data and cybersecurity at the center.
1. Optimize: Delivering a Unified, Efficient IT Ecosystem
The Navy's IT environment has historically been fragmented, with redundant systems and networks that lacked integration. Rathbun says “Optimize” means creating a “world-class IT ecosystem that supports the warfighter at the tactical edge.”
That starts with modernization. Rathbun highlighted the Navy’s Flank Speed platform—a cloud-based, zero trust environment built on Microsoft Azure—as a model. With embedded telemetry and real-time insights, Flank Speed allows the Navy to manage its environment more efficiently while improving cybersecurity.
“We want our IT ecosystem to be a strategic platform that supports both warfighting readiness and business operations,” Rathbun said.
2. Secure: Building Cybersecurity In From the Start
“We pivoted from ‘Defend’ to ‘Secure’ because ‘Defend’ felt like the end of the story,” Rathbun explained. “What we needed was to move left—to talk about securing from design all the way through disposal.”
That means cybersecurity is no longer a bolt-on function. It’s now a foundational capability, treated like any other critical warfighting system. Rathbun emphasized the importance of portfolio-level management of cybersecurity tools and services, rather than bespoke, one-off solutions developed by individual programs.
“Cybersecurity needs to be considered a core capability of the department—and managed as such,” she said.
3. Decide: Unlocking the Power of Data for the Warfighter
The ultimate purpose of ISV 2.0 is decision advantage—giving commanders the right data, at the right time, in the right format. That’s the driving force behind the third pillar, “Decide.”
“Everything we’re doing in Optimize and Secure is about protecting and enabling our data,” Rathbun said. “Decide is about how we manage and use that data.”
With large language models and AI tools becoming mainstream, the Navy sees an opportunity to empower personnel across the force—from IT specialists to operators on the front lines. But this shift also requires transforming the data environment itself.
“We want to move to a model where we’re training models at the tactical edge, pulling in sensor data, and delivering options to the warfighter without them having to merge or integrate data themselves,” Rathbun explained.
That means more than upgrading hardware or deploying new tools. It means designing an architecture that makes high-quality data accessible, usable, and secure.
ISV 2.0 doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Rathbun noted that its goals are closely aligned with the Biden administration’s priorities—particularly around efficiency, modernization, and stewardship of taxpayer dollars.
“In this time when many things are happening in the Navy—shipbuilding, readiness, modernization—we needed to figure out how to do it as efficiently and effectively as possible,” she said.
That alignment extends to cybersecurity as well, where zero trust initiatives and data governance have become central to both national defense and digital resilience.
With ISV 2.0, the Navy isn’t just updating its IT strategy. It’s reimagining how digital capabilities can become force multipliers—both in peacetime and in conflict. Rathbun’s message is clear: speed, security, and data-informed decisions will define tomorrow’s Navy.
“Our goal,” she said, “is to deliver the best Navy we possibly can—and we know that means delivering the best information environment we possibly can.”