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FCW Insider
May 13, 2008
FCW Insider: Another big name gets an "R"... Ed Meagher retiring in July
Add another name to the string of big names announcing their pre-transition retirement: Edward Francis Meagher.
Meagher, currently deputy CIO at the Interior Department, let people know this morning, although he has been actively talking about the prospect in recent months. He sent out this short e-mail to some people this morning:
I have decided to retire from the government effective July 1, 2008.
I will be joining SRA International in their Health Care Unit in mid-July.
Back in December 2004, FCW referred to Meagher as a "true public servant." And, in 2005, Meagher not only won a Fed 100 award, but he was presented with the prestigious FCW Eagle Award, which is given each year to the best of the best — the first among the 100. Meagher was recognized for his amazing work with vets — work that has gone on for years and continues to this day.
Soon after the start of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, Meagher and a contingent of his Vietnam vet friends started taking a group of wounded soldiers to dinner on Friday nights. Back in 2006, we referred to the dinners as "Friday night magic" because they help these brave warfighters begin to re-enter society.
On Friday nights for the past two and a half years — in a back corner of a restaurant in the basement of the Capital Hilton a few blocks from the White House — magic has been happening. Each week, injured warfighters have come to Fran O’Brien’s Stadium Steakhouse to get a free steak dinner. The meetings were private affairs. A burly-looking bouncer stood at the door to protect these men and women so they could enjoy their meals.
The idea of serving the free steak dinners started out small with the invitation of a single soldier. But those Friday nights have become major events — occasions to embrace the men and women who have made great sacrifices in service to their country. Many of the people who started the Friday night event are veterans themselves — many of them Vietnam War veterans. They remember how they were treated when they returned home from that war, and they have worked to ensure that others will not be treated the same way.
Ed Meagher, deputy chief information officer at the Interior Department, is a member of the team of special wizards who have sponsored magical events at that magical place. I attended the Friday night event April 28. It was an amazing experience and inspired hope. At these dinners, you see severely injured male and female warfighters — some in wheelchairs, some with prosthetic limbs, some midway through their difficult recovery, said Meagher, who won the Federal 100 Eagle award last year for his work with the injured veterans.
Meagher joined Interior back in February 2006 as deputy CIO. Before that, he had been deputy CIO at the Veterans Affairs Department, where he had also served as acting assistant secretary for information and technology, acting CIO, and special assistant to the secretary on matters related to information technology.
Meagher is an Air Force veteran who served in Vietnam; he was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., and attended the University of Dayton in Ohio.
Meagher is one of the very honorable people in this community — a person who raises the bar and makes all of us better.
Christopher J. Dorobek
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May 13, 2008
FCW Insider: Tseronis moves from DOE to... DOE
Peter Tseronis, one of the CIO communities rising stars -- informally a rising star as opposed to our official Rising Star awards -- has a new job. On Monday, Tseronis became the senior technical advisor in the Energy Department's CIO office. Tseronis, of course, has been the chief technology officer at the Education Department.
At Energy, Tseronis is assisting in the establishment of the Information Strategy and Innovation Office.
We also understand that the Energy Department's leadership is very supportive of his leadership role as chairman of the CIO Council's IPv6 Working Group.
Congratulations to Peter! And happy 41st birthday on Wednesday!
Christopher J. Dorobek
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May 13, 2008
FCW Insider: GSA's Alliant way forward announced at IAC meeting Wednesday
In what it seems is a hastily arranged session, we will apparently get word on GSA's move forward strategy for on its mega-GWAC Alliant. Well, GSA will do it before an industry group Wednesday.
GSA's John Johnson will speak to the industry audience during the Industry Advisory Council's membership meeting on Wednesday at 3:30p at the Fairview Marriott in Falls Church, VA -- right in the back yard of the 1105 GovInfo's HQ. (The link to the meeting on the IAC Web site wasn't working late Tuesday. And IAC had not sent out an announcement yet that Johnson would be speaking.)
We're not sure what exactly Johnson will be talking about given that GSA said back in March, the agency was going to re-evaluate all 62 Alliant bids, so... again, it's unclear what GSA will announce on Wednesday, but... we'll be there and we'll post soon after it happens.
Here is what we reported that GSA said back then:
“A recent decision issued by the Court of Federal Claims concerning Alliant has resulted in the Alliant team taking action that will include re-evaluating your proposal in a manner which is consistent with the court’s order,” GSA said in an e-mail message to contractors that bid on the 10-year, $50 billion governmentwide acquisition contract.
GSA awarded Alliant to 29 companies in July 2007. It added one more contractor to the list in December.
“We are reconstituting the Alliant team to review a detailed schedule and process in order to move forward with the re-evaluation,” GSA told the companies.
GSA will provide more details in two weeks, GSA said in the e-mail message.
Federal Claims Court Judge Francis Allegra enjoined the Alliant contract March 3, forbidding GSA to move ahead with the contract or placing any obligations against it. The judge, however, gave GSA and the parties an opportunity to work out a deal in a fashion they deem appropriate.
The announcement could be a draw to the meeting Wednesday, which otherwise will be filled with speeches from those running for IAC seats.
Christopher J. Dorobek
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May 12, 2008
FCW Insider: NewsBytes... An HP-EDS deal in the works?... More on Virtual Alabama... Testing Xboni... and 'on the circuit'
A fascinating story in the WSJ that Hewlett-Packard will announce a mega-deal to buy EDS, the big systems integrator.
A deal would bolster Hewlett-Packard's competitive position versus rival International Business Machines Corp. as a provider of services such as tech consulting and customer support. The transaction could spark further large deals in the technology sector as cash rich, mature companies such as Hewlett-Packard look to acquisitions for growth.
It would be an interesting deal for the government market as well. I'd be interested in what others think, but... it doesn't seem like it would eliminate any competition, but could make HP a big player in both products and services.
* More on Virtual Alabama
So I had a viewing of DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff this weekend -- we both were off the clock. But if I had a few minutes with him, I would have told him that he should get a briefing on Alabama Homeland Security Department's Virtual Alabama, which I wrote about last week... and then used for the Buzz of the Week in the 05.12 issue of the magazine.
I've been thinking about the program a lot -- and been talking about it to anybody who will listen to me. Why? The program is such a wonderful demonstration of building a collaboration platform that multiple people can use. And this doesn't have to be complex today. To the contrary, it can be simple. Essentially, Alabama has taken theFacebook model -- they build a platform where others can create the applications and uses. I think it is very innovative.
And if you haven't seen it yet, you can do so down at 1105 GovInfo's Government Leadership Summit, formerly known as the CIO Summit, which will be held down in Williamsburg, Va. on June 1-3. There will be Alabama officials there talking about what they did, giving demonstrations. I can't wait to get more information...and hear the discussion.
* Census ramifications
We reported weeks ago about the Census essentially doing away with electronic collection methods. We reported that this was having ramifications on other parts of Census. I was talking to a friend who works at the Census and he said that they are essentially deciding not to fill some -- perhaps many -- jobs becau e, the rank and file are being told, the agency is going to need to hire more people for the 2010 Census.
We all saw that one coming, didn't we?
* Testing Xobni
Flooded by e-mail? I know I am. The NYT had this story last week about this application called Xobni. (Others have written about Xobni too.) Xobni will index all your Outlook e-mail and make messages quick and easy to find.
I'm giving it a test run. I'll try it out for a week and report back next week. In the week I have been using it, it is cool, but not a 'silver bullet.' But I'm giving it another week and I'll report back.
* Circuit items
Birthdays... past and future... I failed to mention a bit one last week. Bob Suda, who now heads up DOT's Volpe Center up in Cambridge, Mass. celebrated his birthday last Thursday. Happy birthday Bob... PR guru Evan Weisel, a principal with the Welz & Weisel Communications company, celebrated his birthday May 7... GSA's Bev Godwin, director of USA.gov Content and Web Best Practices, celebrated her birthday on Sunday... and Wednesday, May 14 is the birthday of Peter Tseronis, the Education Department's director of network services and co-chair of the CIO Council’s IPv6 Working Group. Happy belated birthday... and happy upcoming birthday. If you know somebody who is celebrating, send it along. [NOTE: Updated. I didn't put Tseronis' birthday in there.]
Running for a cause... I mentioned Weisel. He is running the Marine Corps Marathon later this year and he has decided to join the Fisher House racing team to help raise money for that very worthy cause. If you don't know about the Fisher House, they provide free or low cost lodging to veterans and military families receiving treatment at military medical centers. If you want to sponsor Evan, you can donate by going to this link: https://www.active.com/donate/FisherHouse2008MCM/1EWeisel. It is a remarkable organization.
A Washington celebrity sighting... So I was with my in-laws this weekend on Maryland's Eastern Shore -- Saint Michaels, Md. to be exact -- and, as I mentioned, DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff was there. He had his contingent of Secret Service agents there too. Having grown up in LA, its cool to see these people in the flesh. My sister-in-law and mother-in-law were in the same room with him at one point. I never was, or else I would have pointed him toward Virtual Alabama.
CJD viewing this week... If you want to talk about collaboration and the government, I'm going to be speaking at the DC Social Media Club on Thursday, May 15 in Falls Church, Va. starting at 6:30p. I'm going to be talking about this blog, blogging, what the government is doing and why, and why I think it is important. As always, I would always prefer for it to be a conversation, so... come join in. More information can be found on Facebook... or get more information on SMC-DC's blog here.
Our next SMC-DC meeting will be May 15 at Viget Labs. We welcome Chris Dorobek, Editor-in-Chief of Federal Computer Week. Chris is no stranger to social media, and he will share his experience with blogging and social networks (visit him on Twitter and Facebook), as well as his opinion of government and military use of Web 2.0. The federal government strives for collaboration between the different departments and units it holds. The government is still experimenting with social media, with the wiki Intellipedia already in use for the intelligence community, and even the Department of the Navy’s CIO dipping his toes into blogging.
So how else is the government using social media? Are they ready for it, and what’s the value for them? Come discuss the current and future state of Web 2.0 as the government views it.
Christopher J. Dorobek
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May 7, 2008
FCW Insider: Virtual Alabama: The magic of collaboration
These days, it is difficult to get surprised and excited about technology. We've seen so much, and so many things just seem to be iterative of things we've seen before. This afternoon, I had the opportunity to to see a little bit of magic. It is a program called Virtual Alabama. It is remarkable because those of us ego-centric coasties needlessly discount parts of the country. So I was thrilled to see Virtual Alabama not only because it is remarkable but because it comes from a place that nobody would expect.
Virtual Alabama is an application that runs on Google Earth. Without discounting what they have accomplished, it is essentially an advanced mash-up. Virtual Alabama takes Google Earth and overlays all kinds of data over the map. So imagine if there was a horrible incident like the one at Virgina Tech last year where a mad gunman massacred scores of people. Virtual Alabama would give authorities all sorts of information to deal with the situation. Pulling on data from various locations -- mashing it up on a single platform. For example, in the school situation, if there was a gunman at the University of Alabama, authorities could tap into Virtual Alabama and get schematics on the buildings. Furthermore, they could find out what classes would be held at that time so they would know what classrooms were being used at that particular point in time. Finally, they could use Virtual Alabama to tap into cameras in the building.
Sound like something out of the TV show 24? Well, actually it is -- and it is real -- and it is being used today.
The team that created this remarkable program was at the National Academy of Public Administration this afternoon giving an amazing demonstration. (NAPA, of course, has created The Collaboration Project, which focuses on making collaboration real. FCW profiled The Collaboration Project earlier this year. NAPA's Collaboration Project's Web site will go live in the next few days. I assume they will post it on NAPA's Collaboration Project Web site.)
NAPA will post video from the presentation soon. I'll post it when they do.
I also have to mention that the officials from Virtual Alabama will be at 1105 GovInfo's Government Leadership Summit, formerly known as the CIO Summit, which will be held down in Williamsburg, Va. on June 1-3. I can't wait to get more information...and hear the discussion.
The school example is only one use of this program. Here is another school example. Alabama is in tornado country. We remember the tornado that ripped through Enterprise High School, killing several students. Virtual Alabama was able get updated footage and they could show amazing before and after shots. "I've got irrefutable proof of the damage," said Jim Walker, dire tor of the Alabama Department of Homeland Security. But Virtual Alabama also gives authorities an idea of where fire hydrants are, for example.
Walker said that there were a few challenges. One was getting all data -- the photographs of the entire state. Most of that data came from Alabama counties, but the state had to convince the counties it was in their interest.
The other interesting point -- one of the big hurdles for the program has actually been that it didn't cost enough. The state developed this program with four people and for about $150,000 in software. There have been some additional costs -- the state has had to invest in additional servers because the nearly 2,700 people using the system...well, they're using it.
It was also developed relatively quickly. Hurricane Katrina hit in August 2005, and Alabama was impacted by Katrina. The governor said that he wanted the state to be better prepared. In July 2006, the state purchased an enterprise license for Google Earth, and on Nov. 1, 2007, they launched the system with data from the state's 67 counties.
Walker said that they believe they have only started to tap into the powers of Virtual Alabama -- that there are many other applications. And I have only given you a taste of them.
FCW will have more on this program in the near future. FCW reporter Ben Bain is going to be covering more on Virtual Alabama.
In the middle of the program, I sent a text to a friend saying, "This is magic."
Really remarkable...and powerful...and empowering.
Christopher J. Dorobek
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