MeriTalking

Podcast: CIO Crossroads – DOT Edition

The unique ability of government IT operations to ensure the delivery of vital services to citizens has formed the backbone of the larger Federal pandemic response. MeriTalk is chronicling the untold stories of that effort in our CIO Crossroads series. Please join us for our latest chapter: Department of Transportation.

When the Wheels Can’t Stop, DoT Keeps Rolling – CIO Q&A

Cars, trucks, planes, trains, ships, buses, subways, and drones – if it moves under motor power in the public space, it’s a good bet it’s under the purview of the Department of Transportation (DoT). Like every skillful regulator, when the mission is carried out well, the agency tends to remain mostly invisible.

Here’s a refresher: DoT regulates for safety the critical infrastructure of airlines, rail, and maritime systems. On the roads and highways, it strengthens the safety of trucking and automobile traffic. Round that out with pipelines and movement of hazardous materials, and you have an agency with a very tall order. It’s an even more vital one during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the movement of food, medicine, and other supplies forms a literal lifeline for citizens.

How do you take 55,000 DoT employees and send them home to take care of that job remotely? In an exclusive interview with MeriTalk, DoT CIO Ryan Cote credits foresight by agency leadership over the past three years to break down multiple interagency IT silos, and invest in modernization. Add to that VPN capacity expansions, extensive system testing, and employee training in the run-up to the pandemic.

The payoff? An immediate increase to 100 percent telework-ready status, up from 40 percent. Within that new service delivery paradigm, use of video and other collaboration tools jumped 300 percent routinely – with some up ten-fold – along with a huge increase in mobile use. DoT is also rethinking its cybersecurity approaches with focus on encryption, cloud access security brokers (CASB), and software-defined networking.

Whenever things get back to “normal,” DoT may actually retain many of its current processes, as employee productivity has increased during the pandemic. Please join us for an in-depth discussion with Cote about how the past three months has changed everything – sometimes for the better.

MeriTalk: As CIO of a large Federal agency with an incredibly diverse mission, what have been some of your largest priorities and successes during the last three months? What are you most proud of?

Cote: I’m proudest that we have continued to execute our mission without any disruption. In fact, I believe we are operating at a higher level today than pre-COVID.

We were able to leverage the technology we had and improve it so when we went to maximum telework, it simply worked instantly. From the IT perspective, our largest priority has been ensuring that the technology is always available and that it’s robust, resilient, and secured. In less than 10 days, we switched from about 40 percent telework ready to 100 percent telework ready. We were able to add a lot of bandwidth to our existing circuits and a lot of VPN licensing for connections on infrastructure that already existed.

With the first big CARES Act funding that came out of Congress, we were given a lot of extra responsibility in the transportation sector. The DoT offices that oversee specific transportation Modes had new grant money that they had to dispense in a hurry. From the Secretary, to every modal administrator, down to the IT folks – we all came together and simply did it.

When we went to maximum telework, we had to rethink cybersecurity and the network. For many years, we had built an inside-out network, where most people come into offices and work from behind firewalls on a secured network. We were able to protect a lot of what they did by virtue of ...

Podcast: CIO Crossroads – GSA Edition

It’s hard to fathom the number of critical government processes that have had to evolve – very quickly – to meet the needs of the American people during the COVID-19 pandemic. And if this crisis has a silver lining, it’s the accelerated modernization and innovation being born out of it. MeriTalk is surfacing the untold stories – and lessons – of those efforts. In the latest installment of CIO Crossroads, we turn to the General Services Administration (GSA).

GSA’s Lessons: Put People First – CIO Q&A

In the Federal IT community, we’ve all seen the analogy of the three-legged stool – technology, process, and people. After speaking with GSA CIO David Shive, it’s clear that a “people first” focus pays great dividends toward agency mission success, especially in a time of crisis.

GSA delivers the products, services, and facilities that agencies need to serve America. It oversees $66 billion in annual procurement, and it’s the largest landlord in the world, managing approximately $500 billion in U.S. Federal property. GSA’s job is to literally keep the lights on for the Federal government – every hour, every day.

As a modernization leader, GSA became mobile-enabled more than five years ago, and has moved over 50 percent of its technology workloads off premises. These shifts helped the agency adapt easily to the new requirements of the COVID-19 era, and it now has a 99.6 percent telework-ready rate.

Having quickly stabilized in the “new normal,” GSA has been on the front lines, providing other agencies with Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), IT, and other equipment in the hundreds of thousands of units. And, even as it deals with these short-term critical issues, GSA is already looking ahead to how it can sustain the modernization advancements that have been made during the national emergency.

Please join us for an in-depth conversation with David as he talks about how GSA has managed its workforce during the pandemic so its people can help serve the rest of the Federal government during this challenging time for our country.

MeriTalk: As CIO of a large agency with a government-wide support mission, can you share your biggest priorities during the COVID-19 response? What are you proudest of?

Shive: I’m most proud that we immediately focused on the safety and well-being of our workforce by starting a daily accountability tracker for all employees. This lets us see where everyone is – if they’re teleworking, on leave, or on facility – and make sure they are okay. An important aspect of this was requiring a rationale for people going into the office. We are under mandatory telework, and our Administrator meant that, so we need to make sure that anyone going to the office has a very valid reason for doing so.

MeriTalk: What successes are you seeing?

Shive: We became a mobile-enabled agency five or six years ago, so this is not new for us. We’ve made the investment in tools, policy, and practice to support our mobile workforce. When we made telework mandatory on March 17, we already had the right technology and practices in place to enable our employees to work from home, with almost no disruption of work.

99.6 percent of our workforce was telework-ready, which enabled us to continue to deliver on our mission and do the hard work of GSA across multiple business domains, regardless of where people were working.

MeriTalk: Any other examples in addition to that very impressive telework number?

Shive: During the pandemic, we have been able to onboard people completely virtually – providing the secure access they need for remote connection and shipping hardware directly to their homes. We figured out what policies we needed to change to enable that – no wet signatures, no fingerprinting, etc. We’ve been able to work through it and deliver badges in a sa...

The critical importance of Federal IT operations in sustaining vital government operations during the COVID-19 pandemic is nearing the status of universal truth. What’s much less obvious to the naked eye – and meant to be that way – are the security operations underpinning and defending the vast Federal technology enterprise. As the nation takes its first steps on the road to recovery, MeriTalk is bringing to light the untold stories of those efforts. In the latest chapter of CIO Crossroads, we examine the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s (CISA) Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation (CDM) program.

The ability of Federal IT operations to adapt almost overnight to support citizens and workforce amid the unique challenges of the national pandemic is one of the few bright spots in the past three months of turmoil. The drivers of that performance are neither easy nor accidental, and depend on steadfast leadership. MeriTalk is chronicling the untold stories – and lessons – of Federal IT success during the pandemic. Please join us for a conversation with Federal CIO Suzette Kent, who spotlights the value of teamwork, fast action, and focused leadership in times of crisis.

Underpinning the delivery of citizen services, funding, and an all-important sense of normalcy during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Federal IT enterprise has provided firm footing in uncertain times. As the nation takes its first steps on the road to recovery, MeriTalk is chronicling the untold stories and lessons of the ongoing IT odyssey. In the latest chapter of CIO Crossroads, we explore the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s IT operations three months into the fray.

Americans rely on government services 24/7, and even more so during times of crisis. The COVID-19 pandemic has proven the critical importance of Federal IT in sustaining the nation, but left its tech leaders mostly unsung. MeriTalk is surfacing the untold stories – and lessons – of those agency and leadership efforts. In the latest installment of CIO Crossroads, we turn to the National Science Foundation (NSF).

The COVID-19 pandemic has focused a bright spotlight on Federal IT. Leaders are turning on a dime so agencies can deliver vital services, protections, and trillions of dollars in financial assistance. As operations start to normalize, MeriTalk is chronicling the efforts of Federal IT leaders who are meeting the pandemic challenge head-on. How can agencies future proof government tech for what lies ahead? This edition of CIO Crossroads turns to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

The COVID-19 pandemic has focused a bright spotlight on Federal IT. Leaders are turning on a dime so agencies can deliver vital services, protections, and trillions of dollars in financial assistance. As operations start to normalize, MeriTalk is chronicling the efforts of Federal IT leaders who are meeting the pandemic challenge head-on. How can agencies future proof government tech for what lies ahead? This edition of CIO Crossroads turns to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Federal IT operations are providing a resilient fabric that enables accelerated delivery of vital services to citizens during an unprecedented public health crisis. As government IT operations reach their new steady-state and map the path to further modernization, MeriTalk is surfacing the untold stories – and lessons – of those efforts. In the latest installment of CIO Crossroads, we examine the Labor Department’s performance eight weeks into the fray.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Federal IT operations are providing a resilient fabric that enables accelerated delivery of vital services to citizens during an unprecedented public health crisis. As government IT operations reach their new steady-state and map the path to further modernization, MeriTalk is surfacing the untold stories – and lessons – of those efforts. In the latest installment of CIO Crossroads, we examine the Labor Department’s performance eight weeks into the fray.