Thunderdome is a new, modernized cybersecurity and technology architecture for the Department of Defense, spearheaded by the Defense Information Systems Agency. It is part of the Pentagon’s official zero trust strategy, as mandated by President Biden’s Executive Order and concretized in the DOD’s Nov. 2022 zero trust strategy. Thunderdome gained promising traction in 2023, with more to come in 2024.
Lt. Gen. Robert Skinner, who serves as director of DISA and commander of the Joint Force Headquarters – Department of Defense Information Network, recently discussed Thunderdome with GovCon Wire.
“As the IT service provider for DOD, DISA is energized and focused on ensuring the joint force is in a position of advantage against any nation or group that desires to harm us or our allies as we set the globe in the cyber domain,” said Lt. Gen. Skinner, who is also a winner of Executive Mosaic’s prestigious Wash100 Award. “Toward that end, Thunderdome is a key part of our next generation network and data environment.”
Lt. Gen. Skinner will close out the Potomac Officers Club’s 5th Annual CIO Summit on Wednesday, April 17. Save a seat now to learn about his priorities for Thunderdome and other crucial DISA deployments. The event will be a critical hub for networking with government contracting industry professionals about the latest federal IT initiatives.
According to Lt. Gen. Skinner, Thunderdome “will provide defense agencies and combatant commands with improved user experiences while also increasing cyber security by knowing who is accessing the network and data; limiting individuals to only that data they are authorized to access; enhancing data analytics through artificial intelligence; and increasing segmentation.”
He noted that DISA oversaw 15 Thunderdome activations last year, with 60 more occurring in the remainder of 2024.
After successful prototyping, Booz Allen Hamilton is responsible for the rollout and implementation of the platform under a follow-on other transaction authority agreement that extends through August 2028.
To hear more about this exciting new venture — and many other new technology efforts at the DOD and across the federal government — register to attend Potomac Officers Club’s 5th Annual CIO Summit. It will be hosted at the Hilton Alexandria Mark Center in Virginia and is an all-day event packed with fascinating speakers like Lt. Gen. Skinner, DIA CIO Doug Cossa, Intelligence Community CIO Adele Merritt and many more!
