"The continuing evolution in information technology presents both opportunities and challenges for the U.S. Navy. Information is becoming increasingly central to all aspects of maritime warfighting and is core to the Navy's strategic, operational and tactical missions of sea control, power projection, deterrence and forward presence. Whether characterized as intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, networks, communications, space, cyber, meteorology, oceanography, or electronic warfare, the Navy is inextricably and irreversibly dependent on information. Information provides a source of power but can also be an incapacitating weakness if not protected. Mastering the information domain is critical to the Navy's future success. […] Defined as the operational advantage gained from fully integrating the Navy's information functions, capabilities and resources to optimize decision making and maximize warfighting effects, Navy Information Dominance has become a leading Service priority. In 2009 the Navy consolidated information-related programs, resources, and manpower in order to organize, unify and concentrate its information capabilities. This Strategy for Achieving Information Dominance provides the framework through which the Navy's information capabilities will be mainstreamed into the Navy's culture as a distinct warfighting discipline. The strategy focuses on the three fundamental Information Dominance capabilities of Assured Command and Control, Battlespace Awareness, and Integrated Fires, and sets forth the following major goals for the 2013--2017 timeframe: 1) Strong and Secure Navy Command and Control; 2) Persistent, Predictive Battlespace Awareness; 3) Integrated Combat Information; 4) Integrated Kinetic and Non-kinetic Fires; 5) Information Dominance as a Warfighting Discipline."