Modern Government MarApr13 Feature - Meet the CIOs - HUD NRC GSA NASA EPA

10 March - April 2013 · MODERN GOVERNMENT

Though technological marvels of their time the early room-sized computers

introduced in the middle of the last century produced only a fraction of the computing po er of a cell phone. But technology progressed rapidly In just a few short years, information technology morphed from a barely-practical novelty into an absolute necessity of modern life

Today, no business entity can remain viable and competitive without the aid of computer technology And for most of us, computer technology has also become an indispensable part of our private lives Few people on the planet live their daily lives without some form of aid or interaction with computer technology While some may argue the bene ts of our dependence upon technology, few would argue that computers haven’t become an inextricable part of our lives

Government Agencies Are No Exception The needs of most government agencies to process massive amounts of data on a daily basis make information technology vital to government operations So much so that Congress passed the Clinger-Cohen Act in 1996 known at the time as the Information Technology Management Reform Act of 1996 The purpose of the law was to assure that federal agencies competently acquire and manage information technology resources

One of the many mandates of the Clinger-Cohen act was the creation of an executive position within each major federal agency to oversee that agency’s I T operations That position is the Chief Information O cer And since the successful management of data is so crucial, the CIO of any organization — but particularly that of a large federal agency — is truly a critical component in that organization’s success

Insights and Wisdom From Five Government CIO’sIn this issue of Modern Government we’re proud to present in-depth interviews with the CIO’s of ve federal agencies Each of the CIO’s we interviewed are vastly experienced, with backgrounds in both governmental a airs and private industry Each CIO’s agency has experienced a degree of turmoil in recent years And each has faced the di cult problems of meshing the needs of a huge, slow-moving bureaucracy with the lightening-quick evolution of modern technology

Each freely shared their thoughts about the interface between information technology and government Their unique vantage point o ers a perspective that renders their insights all the more interesting and valuable We think you’ll agree

Challenges and Opportunities For

Government CIOs

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MODERN GOVERNMENT · March - April 2013 11

I see a world where our future workers leave work and have everything they need in their pocket to do their job.

Malcolm Jackson

As federal agencies go the Environmental Protection Agency is quite young. The EPA was established in 1970 to address concerns about environmental pollution But though young, the EPA has endured more than its share of administrative turmoil In fact, the EPA was born of

a mishmash of independent agencies, such as the National Air Pollution Control Administration and the Federal Water

uality Administration EPA’s predecessors of independent agencies has

resulted in administrative issues that linger to this day, representing an ongoing challenge for CIO Malcolm Jackson nder Malcolm’s leadership the EPA has implemented common, agency-wide technology solutions that eliminate individual silo processes while still meeting the needs of all departments Mobile technology has played a large role in that ongoing e ort

In addition to serving as EPA’s CIO, Malcolm is also the agency’s Assistant Administrator for the O ce of Environmental Information


CaseyColeman

The challenge is to find the technologies that provide a return on investment and allow us to free up dollars that had been spent on legacy systems.

Government entities are sometimes thought of as being rather ponderous and slo to adapt. But under CIO Casey Coleman’s leadership, the S General Services Administration is embracing technological changes that make those stereotypical charges ring hollow

Casey’s tenure at GSA has seen innovative changes in the way information technology has been used to slash costs, increase worker productivity and increase cybersecurity And moving to a mobility-based model has yielded cost-cutting bene ts as diverse as reducing by half the amount of o ce space required to support GSA’s workforce

Casey is a two-time winner of the Federal 100 awards, which recognizes and honors leaders who have played a transformational role in the government IT community She was also awarded the MIT Sloan Symposium 2010 Award for Leadership in Innovation

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We will all have to streamline our data systems in order to make our data authoritative, less costly and more capable of supporting decisions.

Jerry Williams

Bursting housing bubbles and economic do nturns have made for trying times in recent years for the Department of Housing and Urban Development. After joining D in 2009, CIO Jerry Williams has helped lead the agency through some of the most formidable challenges it has ever faced

An ongoing challenge for D is in the managing of its data By the very nature of its mission D must process and manage a massive amount of information As CIO, Jerry has fostered a philosophic approach of data rst, technology second, recognizing that large bureaucracies lack the agility to keep pace with the latest technological changes Even so, under Jerry’s leadership D has been making substantial progress in updating and modernizing its information systems

Jerry brought decades of government leadership experience to D, having also served in the Department of the Interior, the Department of Agriculture, the Small Business Administration, and the O ce of Management and Budget


The commercial space flight is where we’re going, which is turning low-earth orbit over to commercial entities and NASA focusing on targets near earth and beyond.

Linda Cureton

All government agencies have to deal ith a certain amount of change and uncertainty. But for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration changes have been coming at

arp speeds in recent years. Massive budget cuts have taken a toll And at times, NASA’s mission

directive has been somewhat ambiguous or in ux As the CIO of NASA since 2009, Linda Cureton has

helped guide the legendary agency through some of its most tumultuous changes: The retirement of the shuttle

eet, for example, and the move toward commercialization of low-earth orbit activities

Be tting an agency whose heritage revolves around the pioneering use of cutting-edge technologies, Linda has helped move NASA toward the use of innovative IT technologies such as cloud computing and computer-based social media Linda was awarded the Federal 100 award in 2011

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If we’ve focused on a device agnostic approach and we’ve focused on the information, then it will allow us to evolve and be responsive more quickly as technology changes.

Darren AshA

s the agency responsible for regulating the use of radioactive materials the Nuclear Regulatory Commission bears a heavy burden to get it right. If the NRC makes a mistake, the result can be very costly CIO Darren Ash recognizes the responsibility, certainly, and focuses every day on

’getting it right ’As CIO, Darren has fostered an information-centric

approach, recognizing that information is key, not the devices used to process and manipulate information That approach has a orded the NRC great exibility in weathering the rapidly changing dynamics of evolving technology

In addition to his CIO duties, Darren also serves as the NRC’s Deputy Executive Director for Corporate Management, and as the Chief Freedom of Information Act O cer and Senior Accountable O cial for Open Government


Feature

What are the largest challenges that your agency will have to overcome?

EPA is really at an interesting point in time now. The Agency grew up as separate entities, so there were a num er o i erent

o ces. They all grew up in i i ually an they ha e their silo business processes and silo technologies.

I think the biggest challenge we have is how do we marry up all of that and have one EPA approach or enterprise approach to how we do things from a business process perspective so we have one business process for common services that span across the entire agency Then, from a technology perspective, how do we marry that up; understanding what do they need to accomplish and what do we need to put it in place from a technology perspective to accomplish the overall mission of the Agency

There are a number of di erent processes there To start with, we’re in the middle of rolling out collaboration tools A new email and collaboration tool suite

We have one email system We’re a little di erent than a lot of other agencies or departments who may have had multiple email solutions; we had one But, our email solution was our records management system for the most part and what we want to do is break down some of these silos that exist across the agency and we want to do that by putting in place collaboration tools that will accomplish that and then have o ces work more jointly together towards initiatives that are going to drive the common e orts we want here at the agency as a whole

JACKSON

EPAGSA is an agency that pro ides

business ser ices to other federal agencies and other go ernment customers. We are

ery business li e in nature we operate in a ery business li e fashion and we always try to understand the ser ices we re pro iding to our customers by using them as much as possible oursel es, internally, rst.

As the federal government is moving more toward new technologies like mobile computing, social networking, cloud computing, and big data, they’re turning to GSA to help them acquire and utilize those services We seek to understand and be able to provide really good solutions by having incorporated them and used them ourselves internally rst

COLEMAN

GSA

As the federal government is moving more toward new technologies like mobile computing, social networking, cloud computing, and big data, they’re turning to GSA to help them acquire and utilize those services.


I thin one of the largest challenges we ha e to

o ercome is our ability to get our arms around the massi e sums of program related data we ha e and to ma e that data intelligible. I am not ignoring or underplaying the technology challenges we will have to overcome, however, I think data will be the major challenge for most agencies during the 21st century I believe that we will all have to work hard to streamline our data collections and systems in order to make our data authoritative, less costly and more capable of supporting decisions This may require changes in our investment management practices, a di erent view and use of enterprise architecture and organizational cultural changes

WILLIAMS

HUDIn the long term it s the retirement of the shuttle and the shuttle legacy and what s ne t for NASA. The commercial space ight is where we re going,

which is turning low earth orbit o er to commercial entities and NASA focusing on targets near earth and beyond.

Doing that and maintaining our preeminence as a space-faring agency and maintaining the S preeminence as a space-faring nation is a big challenge for NASA because of the cultural shift

What does it mean that we’re not ying anything with a NASA meatball on it? Does that mean we’re not a space-faring nation anymore? No, it doesn’t, because we’re still doing a lot of exploration, a lot of scienti c research, and a lot of spacecraft orbiting the earth, the sun, right now So, one aspect of us, which is in a transition stage, doesn’t make us not a space-faring nation And, the cultural shift that we have to go through is pretty signi cant

In the short-term I think we have the challenges that every federal agency is having right now with the budget I just heard Leon Panetta on the news this week saying, “ ey, this is really serious,” and it is serious It’s not just a budget exercise; it’s not just a, “ ey, let’s cut ten percent and see if we can get seven ” It’s a serious e ort and it’s a threat to our program

For NASA we’re waiting for guidance about how we’re going to deal with it Just like what we all do who are public servants, we recognize that we serve the president and we recognize that we serve the public, and we do what’s necessary and what we have to do The challenge of doing that with a reduced budget is very signi cant

CURETON

NASA

In the short-term I think we have the challenges that every federal agency is having right now with the budget.

What are the largest challenges that your agency will have to overcome?


I thin rst and

foremost, our

number one—and really number one—is staying focused on safety.

NRC licenses and regulates a eet of existing nuclear power plants that are operated by private companies; we regulate fuel facilities We license companies that hold nuclear materials for a variety of purposes: medical use, construction use, and so forth First and foremost, NRC must ensure the continued safety of our existing eet That means doing all the things that are necessary: inspections and oversight, remaining focused and not being distracted

ASH

NRC

Feature

I totally support bring your own device, but we’ve got to look at it very hard and look at it from the perspective of how do we support those devices and how do we make sure that they’re secure.

How will technology play a key role in solving these challenges?

There are quite a few technologies that we ha e to ta e a loo at. Mobile is one. Mobile is an e ol ing technology the platform, the

endpoint de ices there are ust so many ad ancements that are being made in the mobile space.

When we begin to look at how we want to support workers, we want our workforce to be able to work from wherever they are, to be able to support the mission of our agency, we’ve got to gure out how does mobile t in that We have to make sure that we’re driving towards that from a strategic perspective, taking into account the technology investments we’re making

This is something, the whole commercialization of mobile devices, that has just consumed our workforce and it’s a part of their lives; it’s what they do every day, day-in and day-out It’s kind of melding into the workforce as a whole So, how do we get in front of that curve? ow do we move from the big boxes that we’ve had in the past to thinking more broadly and longer-term IT initiatives to more modular, smaller, something that ts in someone’s hand and enables them to do their job?

I totally support bring your own device, but we’ve got to look at it very hard and look at it from the perspective of how do we support those devices and how do we make sure that they’re secure Cyber security is so critical here because the more endpoints you have—when I say endpoints, I de ne endpoints as devices people are using to access information—when you open yourself up to more endpoints you increase your risk from a cyber perspective So, how do we ensure that people, when they have these devices are able to do their jobs from wherever they sit, that it’s in a secure environment?

JACKSON

EPA


GSA, li e a lot of other agencies, is really trying to incorporate the most modern technologies because of the

promise for producti ity impro ements and the ability to better ful ll our mission. Of course we ha e to do that in a time when the budget pressures are serious and are right in front of us.

The challenge is to nd the technologies that provide a return on investment and allow us to free up dollars that had been spent on legacy systems and incorporate those into newer technologies So, to be able to make those investments from savings gener-ated in previous investments As an example of that, GSA was the rst federal agency to move to a cloud-based solution for email and collaboration services

Every agency has its own email system and some of them have many email systems GSA had one that we ran internally and in 2009 we were faced with a choice of either upgrading it or moving to the cloud, so we chose to go with the cloud-based solution which was much more economical

We made that implementation, turned it on in 2011 and we are on track to save $15 million over

ve years By doing so we can take money that had been spent to run servers—we’ve turned o over 300 servers—and we can use those savings to help with mobility strategies and big data and cloud computing elsewhere

GSA is one of three agencies that have a mission that is government-wide in nature We are involved

in e orts that span the entire breadth of the work the Federal Government does and so we have an ability to learn and to implement and try things that others can learn from and also bene t from Another example of that is cloud computing which, as you know, is a service It’s not running software locally or in your organization, it’s subscribing to a service that’s delivered externally

Cyber security is paramount in everything we do, so learning how to secure those services in a way that works for the Federal Government Many agencies might be using the same cloud service provider; we don’t need to each be doing the security on those We can come together and do it in a much more economical way; economical for the government and economical for the industry because they’re not responding to separate agencies requests and demands

The outcome of that e ort is FedRAMP It’s a program that supports the Obama Administration’s Cloud First Strategy and it’s a cloud security program GSA is the Program Manager, and the agencies that really drive the policy on that are GSA, D S, and DoD But, the security protocols that come from FedRAMP can be used by any agency and they don’t have to repeat that work So, it speeds up the time to be able to use these services, it speeds time to mission, it reduces the cost with everyone not having to repeat the process, and it gives real clarity to industry about what the Federal Government expects in terms of cyber security standards and protocols

COLEMAN

GSA

The challenge is to find the technologies that provide a return on investment and allow us to free up dollars that had been spent on legacy systems and incorporate those into newer technologies.

How will technology play a key role in solving these challenges?


Feaure

I belie e that technology will be at

the forefront of sol ing our data challenges. New technologies will be developed to address our “Big Data” challenges These technologies will allow for dynamic manipulation of large sums of data potentially from disparate sources in order to support business needs These technologies will need to be nimble, exible and cost e ective in order to meet the changing needs of organizations and provide an ability to conduct both trend and predicative analysis

WILLIAMS

HUDI thin one of the most promising technologies is cloud

computing. The cloud computing and its e ible, scalable, elastic nature is perfect for uncertainty, and that s e actly where we are.

You asked me earlier about some of the challenges and budget is one of them We don’t really have the budget to go out and buy a lot of hardware to install and then we’ll launch in ve years and we’ll have it sitting for ve years We have to start small and then scale fast There’s the promising nature of cloud computing that makes it a very promising strategy to help NASA I don’t think we’re using it as fully as we can but I think the economics and the technology value of it will drive us up

I think high performance computing is very important in that we’re going to be more focused if we’re going to do more low-end requirements in the cloud, and I think that high performance computing in the cloud is even going to take o But, our high performance computing capability that’s installed will be very important

Finally, social media because I

mentioned one of our challenges is making sure people understand that we are still a space-faring nation That means we have to communicate to the public, to our stakeholders, in a very e ective way and social media is just absolutely fabulous in doing something like that

For example, the Mars Phoenix Rover discovered ice on Mars and so the personi ed version of the Rover tweeted, “We have ice ” I think that’s what the tweet was, “We have ice; woot!” That is so much more powerful than, “National Aeronautic Space Administration announces that there’s a possibility they’ve discovered something ”

I think in terms of helping people understand that we’re still a space-faring nation and there’s still hope for the universe, social media is uniquely positioned because it communicates in such a personal way

CURETON

NASA


I thin a couple of things. One is nowing

that the fol s, the sta members, who do a lot of this wor are truly dependent upon solid information technology capabilities. It could be our inspector who works out in the eld at a nuclear power plant We have what we call resident inspectors We have individuals who reside in a community in the area of a nuclear power plant and work there for several years We want to ensure that they’ve got the right tools, the right capabilities, not just the core infrastructure to be able to reach back to the region or to headquarters, but that they actually have the tools whether it’s a tablet PC or access to information that they need to do their job e ectively

If you’re at headquarters or at a region, that you’re getting the information you need in a timely way and it’s authoritative data for you to be able to do your analysis, to do your assessment, to make recommendations

ASH

NRC

What technology-related initiatives are you most excited about?

Big data analytics is something that is still e ol ing. I don t thin we e

really ta en o there yet. It’s going to reach a point where—some sort of in ection point that—big data analytics is going to just take o , and when that takes o I don’t know what the outcome of that will be I just think there are a lot of opportunities there

The other thing gets into cloud; I think we’re just beginning to tap into cloud I have a lot of information on cloud; all my music is up there, I have pictures up there, my videos, movies, I have all that with me and it’s with me wherever I go When you couple that with mobile devices and big data analytics, that’s very powerful That’s extremely powerful That means you will have information with you wherever you go I contend these Smart Phones, Smart Tablets, Smart devices make all of us smarter because if you have a question you just get it answered right away

I’ve just recently read that new wireless technology is going to be faster than what we currently have today which would make it very similar to streaming like what you see on television

today That’s probably a few years out, but when that capability becomes available, just think about it You’ve got big data analytics, you’ve got mobile devices, you’ve got the bandwidth The bottleneck has always been on the bandwidth because you can only push so much across the band from a wireless perspective When you open that up and make it much faster than you’re streaming everything Who needs a television? You’re walking around with the device in your hand That’s where I see things going

Technology drives innovation and it drives our economy Twenty or thirty years ago you had to have a strong business case and nd funding to take a product to market Today you can start up your own business in your room Just think about the innovation I just see the world changing signi cantly in the next

ve to ten years

JACKSON

EPA


Feature

Big data analytics is something that is still evolving... It’s going to reach a point where—some sort of inflection point that—big data analytics is going to just take off, and when that takes off I don’t know what the outcome of that will be.

Social Media, Cloud Computing and Big Data are areas that potentially o er a lot of promise and I am e cited about the possibilities related to these initiatives.

WILLIAMS

HUD

I m ery e cited about mobility.

I e been in IT for a while as well and people ha e been mo ing in this direction and there s always been the promise of the ability to do your wor anytime from anywhere with any de ice and that s been an unful lled promise until now. I think we’re really getting there I believe that’s important, again, for ful lling our mission but it’s also important for recruiting and retaining the most talented employees who have choices as to where they’re going to go We want them to think of GSA as a top destination, we want them to come here and work here, and I think that o ering them a cutting-edge environment in which they can be productive and be connected is really important for our future

COLEMAN

GSA

I’m very excited about mobility... it’s also important for recruiting and retaining the most talented employees who have choices as to where they’re going to go


I thin we e got some of the bread and butter type acti ities going on. We’re in the midst of

migrating from Windows XP to Windows 7; that’s currently going on right now About a quarter of our workforce has already been migrated

I mentioned bring-your-own-device We are going to use the same capability in a pilot with our regional sta , our inspectors, to be able to prove it out on agency-issued devices

The other initiative is work on what we call authoritative data sources As we modernize our existing legacy systems, we’re using this concept as an opportunity to determine where the authoritative data should reside The objective of it is to reduce the number of cu systems and reduce the number of interfaces so that there are true owners of speci c types of information that are important to other parts of the agency We’re working via our governance structure to sort through this and ultimately to reinforce the decisions

Future system decisions should be in uenced and guided by this authoritative data source work, data standards, and data quality clean-up

This all ties into points I made earlier about an information-centric approach A lot of the foundational work is going on right now

ASH

NRC

The White House OMB has come out with a digital government strategy. I really like that. I like the personal-ization that it encourages to provide services to citizens in a way they understand.

Micro procurement, I thin it s really

good. It sounds li e a bureaucrat s thing. ardly at all, but that can really transform how we do things so I think that’s great

The White ouse OMB has come out with a digital government strategy I like the personalization that it encourages to provide services to citizens in a way they understand We sort of get hung up on government structures and programs and, “Oh no, you go here for that, there for that,” to make it more personal and more meaningful to people I think the digital government strategy is pushing us in that direction, so I think that’s really good; I’m excited about that That’s one of the things that I think I’ll miss not being able to work on

CURETON

NASA

What technology-related initiatives are you most excited about?


I don t thin you re e er there. I thin it s a ourney

it s a ourney because it continues to change o er time. EPA has done a good job up to this point to get to where we are given the history of the agency, given the internal dynamics, external factors, all of those things They all factor into where you are today But, when I look at the future and where we need to go based on a number of factors, just the environ-ment as a whole, from a budgetary perspective, some of the issues that we need to take into consideration We need to begin to look at—and it’s no di erent, we’re doing some of this now—the mobile workforce ow do we position ourselves so that we’re arming our workers to be able to do their job wherever they are? That’s one piece of it

Another piece of it is there’s going to be this huge in ux of big data and big data analytics ow do we accommodate and plan for all this data; structured, unstructured data? Structured being just the database stu nstructured is with social

media and all the things that we’re receiving or will begin to receive from people who are on social media

All this factors into decision making, so how do we collect all of this and then render it back in a way that makes sense for people to make decisions? I’m talking big decisions; I’m referring to laptops, desktops, or mobile devices So, you’ve got to

gure out how to do that I see a world where our future

workers will be able to leave work and they’ll have everything they need in their pocket to be able to do their jobs I see a world where there will be a conversion of the laptop, tablet, desktop, and desk phone It’s all going to go into one or two devices We are moving in that direction now when we complete the implementation of our collaboration tools because I see desk phones going away I just migrated over the weekend and I’m able to see where people are, ping them, ask them quick questions, do instant messaging with them, I can bring them up, do quick videos There’s a lot of new things that these tools are enabling us to do And, quite frankly,

some of this I think the younger generation will come in and they’re going to drive innovative business practices that don’t exist today that we haven’t even thought of We’re just planting the seeds; we’re just getting in the middle of this, and just starting it, by the way

You have to understand what the emerging technologies are and how they t within our workplace because it’s so critical and you have to know it when you see it I call it manager’s intuition; having this manager’s intuition or leadership intuition that you see it and understand You may not even quite understand how it all will t together, but knowing that it is something that can really drive change that’s going to be bene cial for your organization and I better get in early in the stage to be able to absorb it, understand it, and then get behind it and push it in the organization

Feature

How would you describe a more modern EPA?

JACKSON

EPA

MALCOLM

JACKSON


We’re going to be more knowledge experts; knowledge experts on the information and then making it available and opening it up and letting those outside the agency develop these applications.

How is the EPA leading the way in the creation of a mobile-first culture?

I e been here two and a half years. Coming in the door I came from a world where in the pri ate sector the mobile de ices, the mobile world, were really beginning to open up. When I came onboard, not soon after getting here, Apple came out with their mobile devices, the iPad and things of that nature, and I wanted to have a mobile device because I could see that’s where we were going And I believe as a technology leader you have to kind of anticipate trends, particularly major trends, and you have to know it when you see it

When I saw mobile devices and an explosion there, or at least a potential explosion, I saw that as a game changer and we needed to get in front of that and look at what we do here at this agency It’s something that’s going to help us as a whole to better serve the mission of the agency overall

On top of that I have to admit that some of the things I learn is kind of stumble upon We actually did an apps challenge—apps for environment challenge—and we

just said, “We’ve got this data We want to make it available We put it out as a challenge and said, “Tell us how you might use this data ” We got 38 responses back and we didn’t o er any money, just crowd sourcing We did a lot of work around publicizing and making sure people understood and we got, as I said, 38 applications that were submitted and over 100 ideas And, if you looked at them, most of them were mobile based

Then when we put it out on the street, the challenge, all of this rush came in around mobile devices We said, “We need to take it one step further ” So, from that we’ve actually stood up our own website, called Developer Central, because we want to understand what kind of information people want to use and how they might want to use it

We put some APIs out there that are run on mobile devices We put sample code out there for iPhone, for Android, and then we’ve opened up a dialogue to understand what are some of the other information because we’ve

got the data, we just don’t know they might want to use it So, we’re beginning to understand how they might want to use that information and we want to begin to build API for that because we want to push it outside

I see a world where development is going to go more outside of the agency than inside of the agency We’re going to be more knowledge experts; knowledge experts on the information and then making it available and opening it up and letting those outside the agency develop these applications

We want to make this information available It’s their information; when I say their, I mean general public’s information Its environmental information and we want to understand how they might use that information

JACKSON

EPA

MALCOLM

JACKSON


As chair of the CIO Council’s IT Workforce Committee, what new opportunities do you see for technology professionals?

I currently lead the IT Wor force Committee. I am committed to loo ing at our wor force and trying to gure out what s ills we need as we go forward.

A couple points when I looked at it from within EPA, I think over 60% of our workforce is 40 or over, and over 50% of our workforce is 50 and over So, as you look out over the next ve to

fteen years we’re going to lose a large percentage of our workforce So, that’s one piece of it, so there’s this institutional knowledge that exists

In addition to that we’ve got a changing skill set The skill sets we have from a technology perspective 15, 20, 30 years ago are very di erent than what you have today You look at things like vendor management, how you manage the vendor or vendor partnerships ow you managed a vendor 20 or 30 years ago is very di erent than how you manage them today We also have to keep our eyes on emerging technology and prepare our workforce for the future

Let’s just use mobile as an example ow do you get in front of the curve relative to emerging technologies? Today we have mobile, but in the future there will be new technology We have cloud today ow do you manage cloud?

ow do you plan for that from a technology perspective? These are all things or skill sets that don’t exist today so we have to look at it from the perspective of a couple things

One is how do we attract people coming in; so what are some of the skil gaps we need to identify and begin to build relationships with colleges and universities to bring people in to replace this group of workers who are leaving

Then you’ve got your transitional workers, those are approaching or around the middle part of their career ow do you begin to transition them to new skills and start moving them in the direction where they need to move?

The third piece of this is how do you have this blended family,

because you’ve got di erent cultures? Today we have anywhere from three to four generations in the workforce, so how do you blend that in such a way that you build a structure that accommodates all of that So, you create the world where people that are young coming into the workforce understand that we work with some pretty neat technology here and we’re setting the stage for where the rest of the country, and in the world in a lot of cases

Then you’ve got the middle turf; the early to mid part of their career ow do you begin to retool them as you begin to go towards the future? And then sunset, the ones that are leaving, in a way that’s respectful that they understand that they’re still learning and growing and balancing all three of these or all three to four at once

JACKSON

EPA

Feature

MALCOLM

JACKSON


I thin a more modern GSA is right in front of us because GSA is really being ery in

tentional about moderni ing in a way that s 21st century ready. We are renovating our headquarters building on 1800 F Street near the White ouse, and in doing that we are incorporating best practices in terms of real estate management and in terms of mobility and exibility in the workplace

In moving to this o ce—as you can see—we have exible workspaces, we have furniture that’s multipurpose, it’s very open and collaborative, and it allows people to do their work in a very collaborative and open fashion

When we go back into the building at 1800 F we’re going to take that one step further because we will not even have assigned o ces Whereas today I come and sit in this o ce space every day, on any given day only half of any o ce space is occupied

We’ve done studies about the occupancy of GSA’s buildings and in our focus in the building and with people being out for meetings, out for travel, out for leave or whatever, sick leave, there’s a natural pattern where only about 50% of the building is occupied So, you can use that real estate much more e ectively, save money, and allow

people to sit where their work takes them So, people will book a workspace for the

day based on where their team is working, based on the people they need to coordinate with So, a building that has 2000 seats can hold 4000 employees That’s the modern GSA and that’s a lesson that we can help other agencies with because their rent is a big part of their budget If they can nd ways and if we can help them nd ways to better use their real estate through workspace innovations and also technologies that support that

For example, if you are going to be moving about the building and not sitting in the same o ce every day, you need lightweight mobile devices, you need wireless access, you need web meeting technologies, you need good tele-work support so you have PN and Citrix access and DI access when you’re not in the building All of those technologies and workplace innovations together are going to make us really a force for the future

I would say even beyond tele-work because the idea of tele-work is the idea of working in another xed location, perhaps a home o ce or a tele-worksite that is your other work destination But, beyond that is mobility and that’s the idea of being able to work anywhere, anytime, with any device

So, you might be mobile here in the

COLEMAN

GSA

How would you describe a more modern GSA?

When we go back into the building at 1800 F we’re going to take that one step further because we will not even have assigned offices.

CASEY COLEMAN


Feature

Cloud computing allows you to access critical information and documents from anywhere. Mobile devices give you that endpoint mechanism that gives you a productive, secure, lightweight way to get to that critical information.

building because your work takes you around the building Even on a day I’m in the building, I’m not sitting at my desk more than a couple of hours at the most; I’m in meetings, I’m moving around, I’m coordinating and collaborating, and so I need to be able to be productive wherever I go That also carries beyond the boundaries of the building to be able to work [mobilly] whether I’m traveling or whether I’m working from home or elsewhere So that idea of mobility is, again, a priority of the Obama Administration The Digital Gov Strategy that was released by Federal CIO Steve anRoekel’s o ce and that is in support of the Federal Government being more mobile, GSA is out in front trying to make that happen

I thin because they re transformational. They really change and impro e our ability to ful ll our mission in, not an incremental fashion, but a paradigm shifting fashion, so e ponential. And they work together; for example cloud computing allows you to access critical information and documents from anywhere Mobile devices give you that endpoint mechanism that gives you a productive, secure, lightweight way to get to that critical information

Social networking and collaboration tools allow you to form workgroups and get questions answered and collaborate with your colleagues and stay on touch of developing issues and policies even if you’re not in the same building So, it lets people stay connected, it lets people be productive and stay engaged as a team

And then big data, really the explosion of information not even within our federal boundaries but even beyond, has important aspects in terms of how we engage with stakeholders, how we ful ll our mission, how we draw conclusions from trends around us and make decisions

So, I think it helps us with decision making and incorporating best practices, learning from industry, and in some ways I think the federal government has a story to tell to share with others and provide a path forward

COLEMAN

GSA

Why has big data, mobility, and cloud computing become such top initiatives for your agency and agencies in general?

CASEY COLEMAN


How would you describe a more modern HUD?

A modern HUD would be an organization

that possesses a technology platform and data en ironment that addresses its business needs, today and tomorrow, by leveraging both technology and data in a cost e ective manner To accomplish this goal we will need to make hard choices about the types of technology we employ, re-train our employees on how to use, measure, and evaluate commodity technology solutions and how to leverage enterprise-wide technology solutions embracing the concept of “build once and use many times” On the data front we will have to make enterprise data available “any time, any place, anywhere and on any device” to all of our users and provide the tools to analyze the data for intelligence dynamically and cost e ectively

WILLIAMS

HUD

...we will need to make hard choices about the types of technology we employ, re-train our employees on how to use, measure, and evaluate commodity technology solutions and how to leverage enterprise-wide technology solutions...

Do you see any way to mitigate the risk of cyber-related attacks?

Clearly we can ne er totally eliminate the possibility of cyber related attac s. notwithstanding, I think that the Federal Government as a whole is taking and has taken a number of steps to minimize both the severity and number of occurrences of cyber-related attacks From

D’s perspective we continue to monitor our networks and systems, apply patches as appropriate and work with other Federal partners to identify potential threats

WILLIAMS

HUD

JERRY WILLIAMS


We outsourced our infrastruc-ture opera-tions to two contractors who manage both the infra-structure and desktop oper-ations and we only have two data centers.

How has big data, mobile, and cloud computing changed the way that HUD collects and utilizes information and disseminates information?

If we are tal ing about cloud computing, there is an argument that HUD has been in a cloud en ironment since 2005. We outsourced our infrastructure operations to two contractors who manage both the infrastructure and desktop operations and we only have two data centers Notwithstanding, I would argue that we are not necessarily receiving all of the bene ts in terms of cost economies and e ciencies from our earlier decision This is in part because we have not fully leveraged the advantages provided by the other areas you mentioned – big data, mobile and; we also need to establish e ective service level agreements between D and its vendors supporting our infrastructure operations

We are currently in the process of re-competing our infrastructure operations and as such have taken what we believe is a more strategic path to achieving greater interoperability, cost economies

and e ciencies in our processes D’s IT Infrastructure service

includes two important components: Service Delivery and Service Management Service Delivery would provide fully-managed IT infrastructure services within three important service towers: Transport Services Wide Area Network , Data Center Services, and End

ser Services The Service Management components would include: Systems Engineering and Management Services and Automated Monitoring and Management Services

WILLIAMS

HUD

Feature

JERRY WILLIAMS


I thin that we do pretty well with the point technologies

that are out there in leading edge. I think that a more modern NASA will have more modern processes I think it’s in The Innovation Gap—I think it’s in that book—we talk about innovation and what are the barriers to innovation The barriers are process-type barriers So it’s not that we don’t have these things, but we don’t have process to maintain getting them It’s a ght to get new technologies, it’s a battle, and the antibodies resist things like that until the organisms just overwhelm them and you just do something else

I think that a more modern NASA has more modern processes We have more crisp, streamlined procurement processes to acquire innovative technology We’re better able to predict what our requirements might be as they emerge; our emerging requirements We’re very good at what are requirements right now, but innovation gets more into emerging acquirements and opportunities So, we’re thinking more about opportunities and emerging

requirements in addition to streamline processes to get us to that innovative technology much faster and integrate it into our organization

And with clouds having conversations today about one of the things we’re working on to try to streamline; and I’m calling it micro-procurement So, it’s easy to spend, well relatively easy to spend $100,000 or $100,000,000 or $30,000 but it’s hard to spend a dime So, some of these things that you can get into cloud costs—pennies, dimes, dollars—and it cost a lot of money to spend a dime So, it’s not something that you’re going to do a whole bunch of dimes

So, how to streamline that and how to have this notion of micro-procurement, buying something for small amounts of money or even free, is something that’s more sustainable in the government It sounds like, “Oh, we should do that,” but it’s not that easy

How would you describe a more modern NASA?

CURETON

NASA

...we’re thinking more about opportunities and emerging requirements in addition to streamline processes to get us to that innovative technology much faster...

linda cureton


Feature

I thin that we do pretty well with the point technologies that are out there in leading edge. I think that a more modern NASA will have more modern processes I think it’s in The Innovation Gap—I think it’s in that book—we talk about innovation and what are the barriers to innovation The barriers are process-type bar-riers So it’s not that we don’t have these things, but we don’t have pro-cess to maintain getting them It’s a ght to get new technologies, it’s a battle, and the antibodies resist things like that until the organisms just overwhelm them and you just do something else

I think that a more modern NASA has more modern processes We have more crisp, streamlined procurement processes to acquire innovative technology We’re better able to predict what our require-ments might be as they emerge; our emerging requirements We’re very good at what are requirements right now, but innovation gets more into emerging acquirements and opportunities So, we’re thinking more about opportunities and emerging requirements in addition

to streamline processes to get us to that innovative technology much faster and integrate it into our organization

And with clouds having con-versations today about one of the things we’re working on to try to streamline; and I’m calling it micro-procurement So, it’s easy to spend, well relatively easy to spend $100,000 or $100,000,000 or $30,000 but it’s hard to spend a dime So, some of these things that you can get into cloud costs—pen-nies, dimes, dollars—and it cost a lot of money to spend a dime So, it’s not something that you’re going to do a whole bunch of dimes

So, how to streamline that and how to have this notion of mi-cro-procurement, buying something for small amounts of money or even free, is something that’s more sustainable in the government It sounds like, “Oh, we should do that,” but it’s not that easy

How has social media changed the way you communicate and what role do you see it playing in NASA’s future?

CURETON

NASA

...we’re thinking more about opportunities and emerging requirements in addition to streamline processes to get us to that innovative technology much faster...

linda cureton


How would you describe a more modern NRC?

The rst things that I thin about are enabling

our employees to wor from anywhere. What that means truly is wherever they are, be it headquarters or in the region or in a eld site or in the middle of Wyoming at a uranium mining site, that they have the ability, that we’re providing the tools for them to do their job e ectively; for them to be able to work wherever they are, to be able to interact with their peers, their colleagues wher-ever they are, and to be able to get whatever access or information they need to do their job e ectively

Also that we’re providing the capabilities—and I’m staying away from tools or speci c products—and we’re quickly being responsive to changing requirements

Given limited resources, and it doesn’t matter if it’s the NRC or any other agency, when you have the resources to be able to modernize a solution, modernize an existing legacy application, or to push out a new application, a new capability, we architect it the right way the rst

time because there’s no guarantee those additional resources are going to be available in the coming years

What I mean by that is if you’ve architected or created a solution that is not grounded in mobility but just delivery of that capability to a desktop, yet that capability would also be well served for those in a mobile sense, I would rather have architected it the right way the rst time to be able to support both those who work at headquarters or the regions at a desktop, and also those who are mobile

I’ll take it one step further If we’re doing it from a mobile sense, we can’t create a solution around one speci c product because technology changes so quickly and in a year or two that product may be obsolete I would rather have designed it the right way so we can evolve and mature so that it really is device agnostic

So, if we’ve focused on a device agnostic approach and we’ve focused on the information, that it will allow us to evolve and be responsive more quickly as technology changes and still deliver that information, still

deliver those capabilities, and still be responsive

This is one of the things I think about the digital government strategy It comes down to an information-centric device agnostic approach I’m not the rst one to come up with it, but it’s something that I want us to embrace If we’re focused on the information and if we break things down into di erent levels and layers—if I’ve architected around the information as opposed to architecting a solution around how it’s presented—the information “stu ” is the hardest thing to re-architect If we’ve gotten that right, then as we make changes at the presentation layer, then, in theory, it will be easier to evolve

ASH

NRC

This is one of the things I think about the digital government strategy. It comes down to an information-centric device agnostic approach.

DARREN ASH


As a point of fact, we e gone li e with our production ersion of our bring your own de ice solution. Be-fore going live, we chose to pilot, and we did a lot of research and talking to other agencies and other organi-zations about their experiences rst before we turned anything on

We negotiated with our partners in the union on the rules of behavior and policies, and it was signed o on by both parties We talked through security, we talked through records, we talked through all the soft stu that, if done right, would make the program successful Lesson number one was to focus on the softer non-technical issues, the important foundational pieces rst

I’m glad we did because, when we started, the market of products that were available to help manage the solution evolved The solutions that we might have gone with a year or two years ago are not what we used

Sta reminds me that we focused on three challenging core requirements This is one of the lessons that we had The rst requirement is that it’s secure and it meets with the federal standards

The second requirement is that chosen solution has to be intuitive The reason why people buy these types of products, such as a tablet PC or a SmartPhone, is that it’s intuitive You don’t have to go to a training class to learn how to use a tablet It’s intuitive, so it was important for us and important for me that the user interface re ects that intuitiveness

The third requirement is that it is cost e ective By that, I mean that this market will continue to evolve and you want to ensure that you do this cost e ectively because in two or three years, whatever that timeframe is, there may be a better solution or this solution may continue to mature

I think we also did a good job in terms of piloting We had a pilot in the sense that there was a start date and there was an end date I was one of the participants in the pilot Our Chairman, the head of our agency, was also a participant I think we had maybe 40 or 50 people participating, a di erent crosscut of the agency What we liked about it was that at the end of the pilot, the solution was actually taken o of my phone We stopped and we pulled back and

asked ourselves both through internal technical questions and comments and also feedback from those who used it

We did a survey, we had a SharePoint site where people gave feedback as well, their experiences through the process, and that allowed us to know what worked, what didn’t work, and what we needed to change It also allowed us to think through, before we went to production, what are we going to do in terms of adding additional capabilities over the next three months, six months, next year? Again, it was a pilot in a true sense where you actually started and stopped

Thinking about when the solution was wiped from my phone at the end of the pilot, I was going downtown for a meeting and I got the warning I knew it was coming All of a sudden, I see the message and they wiped it That’s what I liked about the solution we went with, in this case a secure container approach It wiped the solution, and it didn’t touch anything else on the phone

ASH

NRC

What benefits have been uncovered through the BYOD and tablet PC initiatives?

DARREN ASH

Feature


Modern Government MarApr13 Feature - Meet the CIOs - HUD NRC GSA NASA EPA

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