The US Government has demonstrated thought leadership in challenging conventional thinking with the Data Alignment & Unification Framework that enables:

• Any Government Department or across departments to unify common stakeholders and objectives, and to scope common mission critical programs and projects.
• Alignment and integration of joint initiatives.
• Achieving information sharing.
• Develop a set of core competencies and cross capabilities to support joint development in a prioritized and comprehensive approach.

The Data Alignment & Unity Framework was developed aiming to:

1. Unified common stakeholder, objectives and size common mission critical across complex mission and multidimensional warfare such as cyber, combating weapon of mass destruction, combating translation organization crime and security corporations.
2. Achieving information sharing unity of effort to meet national security US Department of Defense with the Department of Homeland Security, Department of Justice, and Department of State.
   • Alignment and Data Alignment & Unity Stakeholder Map.
   • Alignment and Data Alignment & Unity QuickScan.
   • Alignment and Data Alignment & Unity Maturity TCO-ROI evaluation.
   • Alignment and Data Alignment & Unity Maturity Benchmark.
   • Alignment and Data Alignment & Unity Development Path.
3. Data Alignment & Unity Framework Stages: Align, Compare and Unify.

With such a comprehensive “Alignment Management Concept” this data standard concept uniquely recognizes that any department even though it has its own mission, vision, strategies and critical success factors is only one element of a bigger delivery and service mechanism. In nearly all cases the success of strategy to execution is dependent on the ability to operate in “alignment” and thereby “unity” with the rest of the organizations.

Today, the Data Alignment & Unity Management Concept has been developed together with the US Government and LEADing Practice as an Enterprise Standard (Alignment & Unity Reference Content LEAD-ES60001AL) and Data Standard (Data Reference Content LEAD-ES50017DISABC). The LEADing Practice and Global University Alliance development team consist of:

• Business Transformation & Change Management responsible, Mark von Rosing
• Alignment & Unity Meta Object Semantics, Prof. Simon Polovina
• Information Management, Prof. Hans-Jürgen Scheruhn
• Enterprise Innovation, Georg Etzel

This truly encourages collaboration across departments, areas, groups that will enable value creation and realization. Realizing higher levels of data alignment and unity requires however identification of common objectives and initiatives and standards. Something desperately needed, never seen before, has the US Government team developed within the Data Alignment & Unity Framework.

Standing ovation goes to the team:

• The Project lead, Ms. Angela Winter, Joint Staff J7, US Government
• The developers, Mr. Mike Tisdel and Ken Teske, Joint Staff J6 , US Government
• Mr. Martin Westphal, Vice Director, Joint Staff J6, US Government
• Mr. Stuart Whitehead, Deputy Director C5I, Joint Staff J6, US Government
• General Jon Thomas, Deputy Director, Future Joint Force Development, US Government