The Department of the Navy has released a memorandum directing the establishment of an Echelon I organization to help accelerate the development and deployment of mission-driven and user-focused software to warfighters and civilians.

DON said Monday the Software Modernization and Innovation Organization, or SMIO, within the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition, or ASN RD&A, will collaborate with the department's software practitioners and mission owners to advance enterprise DevSecOps platforms.

According to the Dec. 6 memo, SMIO will drive the department's collaborative customer-focused strategy to advance modernized software development and delivery efforts. The new organization will introduce operating guidance and best practices associated with a software factory ecosystem, or SwFE, including a transparent process for designating and using enterprise DevSecOps platforms, or EDPs.

Within 60 days of the memo's release, the new organization should issue a charter outlining the mission, functions, roles, reporting structure and reported outcomes.

The department directs SMIO to design and implement automated metrics and technical data standards to track SwFE's overall health and provide insight into performance, schedule and cost; leverage diverse pathways to innovation to ensure that the fleet's requirements are being met and emergent technologies are integrated into SwFE; and work with the Office of the DON Chief Information Officer/Chief Technical Officer on processes, metrics and policies in software containerization, open-source software and application programming interfaces, among key areas.