Want an iPad? Pentagon CIO thinks you should be able to have one.

MSgt. Matthew D. Lohr/Air Force

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- Teri Takai, the Defense Department's chief information officer, kicked off a speech at the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association Cyberspace Symposium on Wednesday by asking, "Everyone wants an iPad, right?" and then implied quick deployment of tablet computers and smartphones across the department without defining the timeline.

Takai said, "we have to get those devices out there," but cautioned their use had to conform to strict information security guidelines. One way to ensure that compliance, she told

the audience, was to embed it within Defense networks rather than in the hardware.

She also said Defense plans to move away from reliance on PCs and shift to thin clients -- dumb terminals with only a keyboard and monitor, which get their computing power from a remote server. Last week, Northrop Grumman Corp. said it tapped Beatty and Company Computing to supply thin clients for its $637.8 million Navy Consolidated Afloat Networks and Enterprise Services contract.

"The demand for thin clients and mobile devices will [continue] to grow," Takai said, noting there are roughly 50 mobile computing pilots under way in Defense. She cautioned that incorporating tablet computers and smartphones into Defense networks, particularly those that are classified, remains a challenge.

She promised "quick adoption" of commercial mobile devices within the department, which will lead to speedy development of software applications. With mobile devices, the Pentagon and the services will be able to develop and deploy applications in "days, weeks or months" rather than the years Defense traditionally has spent on creating them, she said.

The Defense CIO office has developed a new enterprise information environment roadmap in conjunction with the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Cyber Command based on open, modular, interoperable and secure standards intended for global operations, including those on the battlefield. Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, will be briefed on the new plan Friday, Takai said.

The new roadmap will help equip tactical users "much more quickly than today" said Takai, who also expects it to help Cyber Command gain greater visibility into Defense networks.

Defense has an information technology budget of $38 billion a year, and the Pentagon must operate more efficiently to maximize the effect of that spending, she said. Toward this end, the department is continuing to consolidate its 772 Defense data centers, which have a utilization rate of between 6 percent and 15 percent. The Pentagon estimated in November 2011 that it could save $680 million a year starting in 2015 from data center consolidation.

Defense also can save money by consolidating hardware and software buys. The Air Force has demonstrated savings from streamlining network gateways, Takai said. The Air Force chopped its network gateways from 110 to 16, which will result in savings of $140 million over the next five years.

Network optimization not only will save money but also will increase security and improve user satisfaction, Takai said.