It has been over one year since President Biden signed an executive order with an ambitious goal to “place people at the center of everything government does”
This executive order is promoting changes to social, financial and health services provided to Americans from government agencies when they experience the following events in life: 

• Approaching retirement,
• Recovering from a disaster,
• Navigating the transition to civilian life following military service,
• Birth and early childhood for low-income women and their children; and
• Facing a financial shock and becoming newly eligible for critical support

The framing of this work as supporting life experiences means that federal agencies will need to work together to understand and support their shared customers.
We’re joined by Nelly Kinsella, Organizational Change Manager of Anthro-Tech, a human centered design consultancy that works for social impact to discuss the progress that agencies have made on the goal of the executive order

Nelly Kinsella, Organizational Change Manager, Anthro-Tech
Nelly is an experienced communications strategist with a knack for digital engagement. She has led or supported the launch and maintenance of nearly a dozen digital products, including informational and educational websites, intranets, and highly integrated web and mobile applications. She loves to untangle knots, learn on-the-fly and pull apart the components of complicated situations.

Nelly holds Masters degrees in both Health Administration and Public Health Policy, as well as a graduate certificate in User-Centered Design (UCD) from the University of Washington. She is a scrum-certified product owner and practitioner of agile development.

Fueling Nelly's role as Organizational Change Manager at Anthro-Tech is her passion for coaching teams in UCD tools and process. Specifically, she is motivated to get organizations with a social-impact mission to harness the power of user personas and relentlessly enhance the customer experience.

Anthro-Tech
Anthro-Tech is a human-centered design consultancy focused on government agencies, nonprofits, and enterprises with a social impact mission. We help organizations gain a deep understanding of their customers through research to design products and services that are usable, useful, and make a positive impact on peoples’ everyday lives. Over the past 20 years, we’ve partnered with many organizations to transform how they engage their customers, including dozens of county, state, and federal government organizations, global foundations, and fortune 500 clients. Anthro-Tech was founded in 1997. We are a women-owned business with offices and user experience labs in Olympia and Seattle. We’re driven by our purpose - to build a great business that makes things better for people.

In this episode, ICF’s Chief Technology Executive, Mark Lee, and Chief Technology Officer, Kyle Tuberson, discuss the current state of federal technology and digital modernization initiatives, and predictions on where efforts will evolve in the near future. To inform the discussion, Mark and Kyle share findings from a recent report published by ICF that uncovers common pain points throughout the modernization process, and how agencies can overcome them, tapping into trends such as upskilling, product management, the role of a Chief Data Officer, and the power of unified communication, among other key topics.

Mark Lee 

Chief Technology Executive  

As chief technology executive, Mark strengthens ICF’s technology solutions and drives the company’s overall technology strategy. His team works to increase ICF’s technology capabilities and enhance corporatewide technology procedures, systems, and partnerships to offer more value to clients and employees. 

Mark’s team focuses on helping leaders think differently about how to address significant and interconnected challenges impacting society today. They provide technology, digital solutions, and advanced data and analytics tools—backed by deep domain expertise—to help clients deliver practical programs that lead to positive outcomes. 

Mark previously served as the executive vice president of ICF’s public sector business and has been with ICF for nearly 30 years. He has held many leadership roles across the public sector business, including previously serving as the head of business development and the disaster management division. Prior to this, he led the climate, sustainability, environmental health, and surface transportation businesses and has extensive experience supporting a wide range of clients in addressing technology, regulatory, workforce development, and policy challenges. 

An industry leader, Mark was recognized by WashingtonExec as a Top Public Sector Leader to Watch in 2020 and 2021, and he received a 2022 Longevity Award for his career trajectory at ICF. Mark is also an executive committee member for the Professional Services Council. 

Mark holds a Master of Science and a Bachelor of Science in Public Health from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 

Kyle Tuberson  

Chief Technology Officer 

Kyle Tuberson is ICF’s chief technology officer. He has over 20 years of technology consulting experience in the areas of data visualization, geospatial analytics, data management, and data science. In his role, Kyle builds teams that use data to create innovative solutions to difficult business challenges. This includes helping clients evolve their cultures toward embracing digital adoption, better leverage data and scale enterprise technology for greater impact, enable faster development cycles, accelerate innovation through repeatable frameworks, and more. 

Kyle’s team leads initiatives that focus on providing IT modernization services to the government and to industries such as healthcare and energy. These services include IT modernization, cloud computing, machine learning, internet of things (IoT), geospatial analytics, data visualization, and more. By applying data science and data visualization techniques to drive impact, they have helped ICF’s clients reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve access to healthcare in emerging markets, and prevent fraud with government programs. 

Kyle was recognized by WashingtonExec as a Top Chief Technology Exec to Watch in 2023. He is also a 2018 Federal 100 award winner. 

Kyle holds a master’s in technology management from George Mason University and a bachelor’s in management information systems from George Mason University. He was also awarded the CIO University Certificate in Federal Executive Competencies by the Federa

This podcast is based on an event dated April 12, 2023. If you missed this event, be sure and check out our list of upcoming events on Forum. 

Today we are speaking to Susan Sharer, the CEO at Forum about the upcoming Disruptive Tech Summit taking place at (location).  It will be an opportunity to hear from the Federal IT innovators and game changers who are positively transforming how Government fulfills its missions.

Register for the event here.

Today we discuss the importance of, impact of and future of Internet Protocol version 6 with Ralph Wallace of Aptive Resources.


Ralph Wallace

As program director and IPv6 lead at Aptive Resources, Ralph Wallace leads a 40-person team through the IPv6 transition under the OMB memo M-21-07 for a cabinet-level agency. The memo requires the federal government to complete the transition to IPv6. Ralph is internationally recognized as an IPv6 subject matter expert. The IPv6 Forum designated him an IPv6 Deployment World Leader, and he has been inducted into the international IPv6 Hall of Fame. Ralph contributed significantly to the latest federal government directive to move all federal agencies to IPv6-only enterprises by 2025. Over the past 13 years, he has led various federal cross-organizational teams in their respective enterprise transition to IPv6, including every aspect of the transition from technical to logistical and programmatic. Ralph has more than 40 years of technology experience in executive and systems engineering leadership; engineering, portfolio, program and project management; and capture management.

Aptive Resources

Led by CEO Rachele Cooper, a Navy Veteran and aerospace engineer, Aptive is a trusted partner and consulting services provider for organizations seeking to accomplish strategic transformations, improve performance and leverage modern technology. Aptive is an ISO 9001:2015 and CMMI L3 certified business and has supported the federal government for more than a decade across a range of high-profile programs.

 Coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, federal health agencies are now evaluating what their shortcomings were and how they can improve. Key issues that have come to the forefront include future-proofing the workforce, combating misinformation, and maximizing data utilization. In this episode, ICF SVP of Federal Health John Auerbach shares the biggest priorities for federal health agencies in improving health outcomes and preparing better for future pandemics.

  

John Auerbach

Senior Vice President, Federal Health

John is ICF’s primary federal health expert and thought leader within the company’s public sector business. Amid tremendous global health and social challenges, ICF’s capabilities and solutions for federal health agencies have never been more relevant. John’s thought leadership advances ICF’s combination of proven domain and scientific expertise with leading-edge analytics and technology solutions to drive improved health outcomes for clients.

John came to ICF from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), where he most recently served as the director of intergovernmental and strategic affairs. In this role, he was the lead strategic advisor on CDC engagement with government agencies at the federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial levels, as well as public health and other external partners. He also had oversight of CDC’s health equity workgroup and served as the chief equity officer for CDC’s COVID-19 response.

John brings additional leadership experience in the nonprofit sector and state government. He is the former president and CEO of Trust for America’s Health, a nonpartisan organization dedicated to promoting sound public health policy and making disease prevention a national priority through research, reports, and communications campaigns. He is also the former public health commissioner for the Massachusetts Department of Public Health where he developed innovative programs to promote health equity, combat chronic and infectious disease, and supported the successful implementation of the state’s health care reform initiative.

An established industry leader and recipient of the American Public Health Association’s Excellence in Public Health Award, John is the co-author of many publications on topics covering social determinants of health, mental health, substance misuse, the health and wellbeing of older adults, and more. He serves on the National Academies of Sciences, Engineer

ICF

ICF is a global advisory and digital services provider with approximately 8,000 full- and part-time employees. Not a typical consultancy, ICF business analysts and policy specialists work hand-in-hand with digital strategists, data scientists and creatives. ICF combines unmatched industry expertise with technology to help organizations solve their most complex challenges. Since 1969, public and private sector clients have worked with ICF to navigate change and shape the future.

In an increasingly fast-paced and complex digital world, the ability of different information technology systems and software applications to communicate, exchange data, and use that information is becoming increasingly more vital. Achieving a greater speed and efficiency through an enriched data exchange framework will permit greatly enhanced data sharing across clinicians, labs, hospitals, pharmacies, and patients regardless of the application or application vendor.

When disparate systems can work in tandem to share patient data seamlessly across all networks, within and across organizational boundaries, providers are able to advance the effective delivery of healthcare for individuals and communities. In essence, any healthcare professional from anywhere in the world can access a patient’s records and provide treatment and care without delay.

Masood Ahmed, Chief Technology Officer, Civilian Health Solutions, Leidos

Masood Ahmed serves as Chief Technology Officer for Civilian Health Solutions at Leidos, where he leads development of innovative technical solutions for customers including NIH, FDA, CDC, CMS, SSA and NCI in support of growth and operations. He holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering telecommunications from the University of Wollongong, Australia; a master’s degree in engineering management from the University of Technology Sydney, Australia; and a master’s degree in executive leadership from Harvard. https://www.linkedin.com/in/masood-ahmed-9076504/

Leidos

Leidos is a Fortune 500® technology, engineering, and science solutions and services leader working to solve the world’s toughest challenges in the defense, intelligence, civil, and health markets. The company’s 44,000 employees support vital missions for government and commercial customers. Headquartered in Reston, Virginia, Leidos reported annual revenues of approximately $13.7 billion for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021. For more information, visit www.leidos.com. 

Taking a look at the importance of inclusive teams when looking at tech in the fedhealth tech space with the Director of Product at CivicActions.

 

Liz Tupper, Director of Product

Civic Actions

Liz Tupper is a strategic technology leader with over 20 years of experience working in the civic tech, social good, AI (artificial intelligence), IoT (internet of things), web, mobile application, and video game industries. She leads the Product team at CivicActions and works to co-create experiences that make an impact alongside our clients, the people they serve, and our project teams. She is passionate about removing barriers and making technology accessible to people of all backgrounds and abilities. Well-intended software can be oppressive, and Liz is working to change that.

Civic Actions

About CivicActions: Founded in 2004, CivicActions is a digital services company that helps the government deliver better public services through open technology and design. With expertise in digital accessibility, free and open source software, and human-centered design, CivicActions is committed to use technology to help build a world that works for all.

Susan Sharer talks to Joe Salgado, a successful capture manager with Red Team Consulting, on T4NG as well as the subsequent on-ramp about the recently released T4G2 Draft RFP to provide his thoughts on the differences in approach and substance of the two procurements and what that might mean for offerors and Veterans Affairs.

Link to the 2nd draft:  
https://sam.gov/opp/ec26c57e247540e99fe559c21d2a3358/view
 

Today Susan Sharer, the CEO of FedHealthIT, took Keeping IT Brief on the road and met with Brandon Utt, the Vice President of Growth from MKS2 to discuss the T4NG2 contract the morning after the T4NG Happy Hour, where industry came out in huge numbers to discuss this exciting opportunity.

Brandon Utt, Vice President of Growth

Brandon has been part of the MKS2 team since December 2019 and has been responsible for driving the company's overall growth objectives for all target customer markets, as well as acting in the capacity of VA Capture Manager. Prior to joining industry in 2016, Brandon was a contracting professional at the VA Technology Acquisition Center, working primarily on the original T4 program, and before that, in the same capacity at the CECOM Acquisition Center, Ft. Monmouth, supporting the Army and Department of Defense. 

MKS2

MKS2 is a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business headquartered in Austin Texas. Led by Founder and CEO, Brendan Mullen, MKS2 is an IT service provider performing Cyber Security, Software Development, Cloud Modernization, Infrastructure Support, and Instructional Design in support of our Federal Government customers in the Department of Veterans Affairs, Defense Health Agency, Army, Navy, and SOCOM. 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandon-utt-9a350ba8 

Compliance requirements and siloed communication have resulted in major interoperability and scalability challenges for government agencies, and these issues have persisted during IT modernization initiatives.

In the wake of the pandemic, abrupt changes were made to digitize necessary resources, but as the federal health landscape looks forward it is imperative that any modernization solution implemented is based on scalable infrastructure. Furthermore, systems and applications should be designed to work together seamlessly in order to drive innovation and efficiency.

Judy Jiao

Ms. Jiao serves as the National Government Services Chief Information Officer. Judy is leading the NGS organization through a digital transformation based on Human Centered Design, which is in alignment with the government’s path to modernization. With over 20 years of experience in health care industry, she leads a talented and innovative team of software engineering, security, data analytics, IT infrastructure and services, and agile project management to deliver and expand NGS business. Driven by her passion to help people improve their health conditions, she takes pride in providing the best business technology solutions possible to advance the effectiveness and quality of health care.

National Government Services (NGS)

For more than 50 years, National Government Services has been empowering federal healthcare agencies to improve lives and communities. Its core business areas include digital health, providing federal IT solutions and services for healthcare, and business process Solutions. This includes its role as a Medicare contractor for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Part of the Anthem family of businesses, NGS is headquartered in Indianapolis, IN, and employs more than 1,500 associates across the country.