Ever wonder why pilots wheel around giant, square bags? No, neither did we, but apparently there is a lot of documentation in there, and not just whiskey. Surely there is a better way. Yes, there is says Australia’s first CTO of its Defense Department.
According to an article in Australia’s Government News, that country’s defense department is planning to equip its airforce personnel with with iPads so that they don’t have to lug around all those manuals and documentation. You know the kind that get dumped in those square pilot briefcases that are anything but brief:
If you’ve ever wondered why commercial and military pilots need to carry big black briefcases into the cockpit of their aircraft, you’re not alone.
The chief technology officer for the Australian Department of Defence, Matt Yannopoulos, has revealed that the nation’s elite pilots and aircraft ground maintenance staff will soon be able to swap their hulking boxes-on-wheels for paper aircraft and flight documentation for iPads.
Although not quite a revolution in military affairs, the move to adopt and adapt consumer mobile devices to Defence’s own needs is emblematic of the big gains in productivity and efficiency government tech leaders are now trying to push down the line.
The leaps forward and lower costs could not come at a better time for public servants who are under stiff pressure to eliminate costs and help reduce Budget deficits.
Matt Yannopoulos is the first official CTO of the Defense Department in Australia. I am sure he has a backdoor into the kill codes so, we won’t say anything else, but it is kind of cool that Australia’s defense forces have a CTO.
I wonder if their IT department gets all annoyed when they get a call in the middle of the night saying, My night vision goggles are not working.
“Have you tried turning them on, sir.”
“Yes, I have, but if they don’t work soon, I will be dead.”
“Well, you might want to reboot then. I’ve been telling my manager that those things are really old and they need to be upgraded but he keeps moaning about the budget and money. Typical. Hello? Hello? You there? Typical noob!”
Static. End of Scene.
