Page 29 - Federal Computer Week, March/April 2019

3,000
and counting
This is the 30th year of the Federal 100 awards, which means the winners on the pages that follow bring us to 3,000 winners who have been honored for their outstanding achievements in federal IT.
Although not into the realm of big data, that is a significant sample size. And when one compares the 2019 winners to their peers from 10, 20 or 30 years ago, distinct patterns do emerge.
Security, scalability, mission benefit and cost considerations remain touchstones for virtually every story. Legacy mindsets
are still a bigger obstacle than legacy systems. The specific technologies change over time, but technology is rarely a solution’s most important element. Time and again, Federal 100 winners make their mark with strong leadership, creative vision and a tremendous investment of personal capital.
Don’t let the patterns distract from the individual stories, though. Each of the 100 women and men profiled in these pages radically reshaped federal IT last year. Each deserves a turn in the spotlight.
More than anything, what these 100 winners represent — along with the 2,900 who have come before them — is an element of government that is all too often overlooked. Each of them proves that one person armed with suitable amounts of smarts, dedication, technical expertise and perhaps just a bit of stubbornness can make great things happen.
We need more of these people. We should celebrate the ones we have and work to encourage more of them to excel in the years to come.
— The editors
March/April 2019 FCW.COM 29
2019 Federal 100 Awards