Page 38 - FCW, March 2017

Chloe Kontos
Performance Analyst
Office of Management and Budget
BUYING TECH AS ONE GOVERNMENT. Kontos led OMB’s efforts to reconsider collaboration tools governmentwide. Recognizing that it would be constraining to separate cloud-based email from telepresence, instant messaging
and videoconferencing tools, she recruited other agencies that were willing to consider buying the cloud collaboration capabilities together so they could upgrade systems, reduce fragmentation, enhance security
and save money. Her work was incorporated into the Cybersecurity National Action Plan under email rationalization and modernization. She is also applying her thorough, measured approach to creating OMB’s agile development guidance.
Kenneth L. Korba
Former Director, VHA Healthcare Supply Chain Systems
Department of Veterans Affairs
BACK-OFFICE BUCCANEER.
Korba, who recently left federal service after a 45-year career, helped transform asset management at
VA from a homegrown system to a commercial product. Thanks to him and his small group of self-described “pirates” at the Veterans Health Administration, the agency was able to turn an idle software license into a pilot plan to modernize the way VA tracks and manages equipment and facilities. The new system will be instituted across VA in 2018, and
early results show that it improves labor utilization, decreases required inventory and produces substantial savings.
Mark E. Kosnik
Deputy Commander, Naval Information Forces
Department of the Navy
BANDWIDTH CHAMPION.
Kosnik was instrumental in guiding the maturation of Naval Information Forces in its second full year. His drive, vision and energy were essential to Navifor’s mission to deliver information warfare and cyber readiness. Despite constrained resources, he led several critical efforts that supported the Navy’s IT-related efforts in 2016, including the service’s transition to the
Joint Information Environment, acceleration of improved bandwidth delivery to ships and submarines pier-side, development of a better curriculum to provide cybersecurity and information assurance training
to sailors and civilians, and implementation of cybersecurity workforce standards across the Navy.
Sridhar Kowdley
Program Manager, Office for Interoperability and Compatibility, First Responders Group, Science and Technology Directorate
Department of Homeland Security
KEEPING FIRST RESPONDERS TALKING. In response to reports
of jamming techniques being used
to deliberately interfere with first responder communications, Kowdley
led an electronic jamming exercise at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. The exercise sought to identify gaps in training, techniques and procedures. Kowdley drew
on partnerships from across the homeland security enterprise to ensure unprecedented collaboration among federal, state and local law enforcement and first responder organizations. He also made sure there was appropriate spectrum allocation for all the equipment for more than
25 organizations and coordinated the activities of 300 participants.
Steve Krauss
Director, Category Management Strategic Execution
General Services Administration
BOLD STRATEGY, BIG SAVINGS. Krauss leads the governmentwide transformation team developing the tools, processes and strategies to support implementation of category management. Through his leadership, the program has implemented initial strategies that have saved the government $2.1 billion and developed category
plans that are projected to increase savings to $10 billion over the next three years. His work has included hands-on collaboration and guidance in making government and industry stakeholders active participants in the program. In so doing, he has changed the conversation between government and industry and driven a dialogue that has the potential
to transform the nature of federal procurement.
38 March 2017 FCW.COM
CHLOE KENNETH L. MARK E. SRIDHAR STEVE KONTOS KORBA KOSNIK KOWDLEY KRAUSS