US Navy Mobile App – A Gate of Opportunities for Federal Agencies?

Oct 9
08:09

2013

Jennifer Lewis

Jennifer Lewis

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The US navy became another government agency to embrace mobility in their modus operandi. According to sources, the app adopted by the US Navy is targeted to help sailors, military families and others to stay updated with the latest happenings in the US Navy.The US Navy was first considering revamping its main web portal to make it mobile friendly but later; it decided to go for a light weighted enterprise app for the organization.

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The US navy became another government agency to embrace mobility in their modus operandi. According to sources,US Navy Mobile App – A Gate of Opportunities for Federal Agencies? Articles the app adopted by the US Navy is targeted to help sailors, military families and others to stay updated with the latest happenings in the US Navy. The Navy department already had a website to help families and navy men to get acquainted with everything within the navy. This website also served as a central hub for information on Sexual Assault prevention helpline that was incorporated some time back to address the problems of Sexual Exploitation of the sailors. The mobile app adopted by the US Navy has almost the same features as on the website. The US Navy was first considering revamping its main web portal to make it mobile friendly but later; it decided to go for a light weighted enterprise app for the organization.

This new mobile app is 17 MB in size and the best feature is that it is available on both Android and iOS. Apart from connecting army men with rest of the world, this app also features images from various operations that this department is carrying out across the globe, pictures of training modules of Navy officers and Navy Seals. This app is also connected with the social media channels of the US army. After looking at this app, all I can say is that it is a touch-friendly version of the Navy's website.

There were a number of concerns raised over Navy's willingness to adopt mobile app for sharing information with the world. This information also included "Status of the Navy" information that displayed the accurate number of navy soldiers, sailors, ships, fighter planes, helicopters along with the name of ships and current location where they are currently deployed. According to defence experts, apps like this would do nothing good and continue to increase risk as terrorists can take advantage of this sensitive information stored in it. On the contrary, Navy spokesperson says that Navy don't smell any security related threat from this information being publicized on the mobile app. Their motive to share this information on the app is to make it serve as a channel for general information about public approved headlines and information.

Personally, I feel that this step taken by the US navy is just the beginning of a brighter future for the Federal agencies as well as app development companies like Copper Mobile. Some time back, we saw how US military has already adopted marketing mode for each of its divisions. They were visiting schools and colleges across the nation to hand over promotional stuffs. The US Army also took a dive in the technology sector by adopting mobile advertising in the form of car wraps and other eye-catchy modes to appeal people to join the army.

With so many activities going on in the Federal Army, I feel the inclusion of mobile app in the US army would surely help them a lot. They would be able to connect to the public in a better manner. They would be able to connect within the army in a better and a more disciplined behaviour. It would increase coordination among various units and fight for the "right". Once these goals are achieved through a mobile app, the slogan would surely change from "long live America" to "long live technology".