Mobile Computing is mission critical

Last decades have seen several major paradigm shifts in computing, such as personal computers, graphical user interfaces, the internet, the world wide web, laptops and wireless networking.

Each of these have intensively changed the way of personal computing. Mobile computing and its new  concepts of information processing such as "anytime & anywhere" or "context-awareness" is a paradigm shift as big as any of the previous ones.

The military sector is facing the challenge of how to participate in this technological revolution. Few armed forces such as these of the US have already begun to respond to this challenge.

Today military conflicts are almost asymmetrical conflicts where armed forces meet opponents with low fire power on the one hand, but highly mobile and equipped with easy-to-find and powerful communication and information technology on the other hand.
 
Actually, the answer to the rapid pace of development in mobile communications and information technology is still a long-standing and inflexible procurement process. The result is that  communications and information technology deployed to the troops is outdated by the time of its release, and increasingly left behind the technical capabilities of potential adversaries.
 
So to meet the challenges of future missions, a continuous deployment of up to date communications and information technology must be assured for armed forces such as the German Bundeswehr.