The Foreign Service Journal, December 2005

• More work outside the office. The advent of remote access to the unclassified network means that more employees can telecommute using random number gen- erators (called “fobs”) for extra security. The ONE sys- tem, unveiled earlier this year, was snapped up by senior officials to check their unclassified e-mail from home and on the road, as well as by employees with telecommuting agreements. As the technology spreads, middle managers will be challenged to deal with the new demands of super- vising staff who are often working from home. • More access to information. It is getting harder to compartmentalize information, and that applies right up to the secret level of classification. Even public affairs officers are disturbed when Washington offers electronic “feeds” of announcements that local editors may see before they do. Old-fashioned diplomats will have to become more agile as tactics of deception and surprise become more difficult, and as the pace of developments continues to accelerate. • The techies themselves have plenty of adjustments ahead. New computer science graduates with fresh busi- ness management skills are replacing the old “communi- cators.” But like their predecessors, information manage- ment personnel are often taken aback by their second- class status at embassies. At the same time, they are need- ed less in the computer room, where the system hums along on autopilot, and more around the embassy keeping IT-savvy customers satisfied. Accounting for system secu- rity is another task that is expanding overseas. In 2003, the Gartner Group, a technology advisory ser- vice, declared that the State Department had transformed itself from a technology laggard to a relatively “early adopter.” Yet five years after Secretary Powell doubled the budget, IT spending is expected to begin a decline this fiscal year. The inheritors of the Powell-era investment boom are wondering how to ensure that State does not fall behind, as it did in the 1980s. One thing seems clear: for the foreseeable future, progress will depend less on new equipment, and more on good management and collabo- ration between technologists and diplomats. n F O C U S 28 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / D E C E M B E R 2 0 0 5