Page 78 - FCW, March/April 2020

2020 Federal 100
Timothy M. Persons
Chief Scientist and Managing Director, Science,Technology Assessment and Analytics Team
Government Accountability Office
Reinventing IT oversight. In 2019, Persons quickly built a new GAO office focused on improving Congress’ ability to assess science and emerging technology. Using an entrepreneurial approach that is unusual in GAO’s audit and oversight culture, he led the development of a technology review agenda that was inclusive of expert voices across government and indus- try. The first reports issued by STAA have been influential in helping Con- gress understand underlying issues and agency capacity behind a range
of emerging technologies. Persons is also a recognized expert and frequent speaker on those emerging technolo- gies, especially artificial intelligence.
Charlie Phalen
Acting Director, Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency Defense Department
Clearance crusader. When Phalen took over as acting director of the National Background Investigations Bureau in 2016, he inherited a govern- mentwide problem: an overburdened mission with an excess case invento- ry. Within three years, he transformed the background investigation mission by instituting innovative policies and technological solutions. As a result, the backlog of active cases dropped from a peak of 725,000 in early 2018 to 231,000 at the end of 2019. At the
same time, Phalen led the transfer of the background investigation mission from the Office of Personnel Manage- ment to DOD.
Heather Putman
Product Director, General Fund Enterprise Business System, Program Executive Office for Enterprise Information Systems Department of the Army
Shared-services surgeon. Putman shepherded the Army’s move of its sprawling GFEBS financial and pro- curement management system to a commercial cloud service in 2019. At the same time, she was responsible for transitioning the Navy’s Bureau of Medicine and Surgery into GFEBS as a shared service, and she shifted her teams into an agile development envi- ronment. Those were no small tasks given that GFEBS has 35,000 users in 221 locations around the world and manages more than $160 billion in Army and Defense Department funds.
Lt. Cmdr. Michael Pyne
Deputy Branch Head for IT Platforms and Infrastructure, Chief of Naval Personnel U.S. Navy
HR innovation. Pyne saw the poten- tial of new cloud-native technolo- gies for the Navy’s human resources platforms and a faster way of acquir- ing those technologies. He crafted the requirements into the Authoritative Data Environment 3.0, a cloud-native DevSecOps project built in Amazon Web Services and the first successful prototype under the Navy Informa-
tion Warfare Systems Command’s Information Warfare Research Project Consortium. ADE decreased code deployment by 90%, increased agility and cost nearly $20 million less than competing approaches. Pyne’s efforts ultimately made it easier for Navy per- sonnel to manage their HR and career information.
Claire Perez Redondo
Director, International Civilian and MilitaryTransportation and Networks– International Ops
U.S. Postal Service
Advanced analytics for the ana- log. Redondo oversaw USPS’ pilot blockchain initiative to help better understand the flow of international mail between USPS, air carriers and foreign post offices. She was instru- mental in implementing a program that built better encryption for users’ data while providing a secure way for foreign post offices and air mail carri- ers to track correspondence, pack- ages and operational logistics while protecting users’ data. The blockchain effort was the result of more than a year’s worth of work, and thanks to her leadership, ACT-IAC singled it out as one of the most innovative projects in government in 2019.
Timothy M. Persons
Charlie Phalen
Heather Putman Lt. Cmdr. Michael Claire Perez Pyne Redondo
78 March/April 2020
FCW.COM