Page 68 - Federal Computer Week, March/April 2019

2019 FEDERAL 100
Chris Townsend
Vice President, Federal
Symantec
Lighting up shadow IT. Townsend uses cloud technology to help agen- cies gain visibility into the shadow IT running on — and threatening — their networks. In pre-migration audits, he and his team have identified hun- dreds of unsanctioned applications and found 50 high-risk applications in one assessment. “Chris is dedicated
to preventing this shadow IT from impacting agency networks while providing a roadmap for efficient, effective and secure cloud migra- tion,” a colleague said. Townsend also helped upgrade the communications environment for the Defense Depart- ment’s Joint Regional Security Stacks platform, a departmentwide initiative to gain better visibility into network activity, enhance cybersecurity and share information.
Clara Tsao
Presidential Innovation Fellow
Department of Homeland Security
Spreading the intel info wealth.
Tsao developed several projects that have shaped a data-driven approach to fighting terrorism online. One is
an online training program on how terrorists exploit social media and the internet. Another is a conference series called Digital Forum on Terror- ism Prevention, which has attracted about 1,000 public- and private-sector specialists to discuss information sharing. World leaders at the G7 sum-
mit and the Five Eyes intelligence alliance recognized both efforts. Tsao also launched the Countering Violent Extremism Task Force’s website with more than 90 resources on terror- ism prevention. She is now a senior adviser on emerging technology policy at DHS.
Maj. Zach V. Walker
Texas Lead and Cyber Security Project Manager, Defense Innovation Unit Defense Department
Silo slayer. Walker led four prototype projects under a DIU initiative known as VOLTRON, which seeks to auto- mate cyber vulnerability remediation on weapon systems by using a com- mon commercial platform. Walker managed activities across the entire spectrum of VOLTRON, including writing technical statements of work, negotiating terms and conditions with companies, briefing senior DOD lead- ers, communicating strategic direction and updating hundreds of stakehold- ers across the military. His efforts to build a nationwide user coalition dem- onstrated so much potential that top leaders called VOLTRON one of the government’s most important cyber- security activities and one of DOD’s highest-impact projects.
Delores Washburn
Chief Engineer, Director Tactical Systems Engineering and Integration, SPAWAR Systems Center Pacific
Department of the Navy
The intrepid transformer. In just
eight months, Washburn took the Compile to Combat in 24 Hours initiative from the pilot phase to full testing on three Navy vessels. The architecture, which seeks to deploy new software capabilities in under 24 hours, is now being adopted across the Navy and integrated into exist- ing applications. Washburn stream- lined procedures for standardized software development, trimmed security accreditation time from 18 months to 24 hours, automated test- ing, and established the Collabora- tive Software Armory and Collabora- tive Staging Environment to deliver cross-functional collaboration among developers, testers, IT operators and installers.
Margaret Weichert
Deputy Director for Management
Office of Management and Budget
Acting Director
Office of Personnel Management
Gear in the management machine.
Weichert served in two key manage- ment roles in 2018. All the while,
she remained committed to the President’s Management Agenda and specifically the cross-agency priority goals on IT modernization and data strategy. She recognized that suc- cessful IT modernization requires the right data strategy and attention to the workforce. She also backed the creation of the Government Effective- ness Advanced Research Center, a public/private partnership to address the future of citizen services.
Chris Townsend Clara Tsao Maj. Zach V. Delores Margaret Walker Washburn Weichert
68 March/April 2019 FCW.COM