Page 82 - FCW, March/April 2020

2020 Federal 100
Mehul Sanghani
CEO
Octo Consulting Group
New uses for blockchain. Sanghani has two passions: innovation and cus- tomer service. His efforts to bring the power of blockchain to the Depart- ment of Health and Human Services harnessed both those passions. His test case for blockchain supported the Continuous Diagnostics and Mitiga- tion program’s mandate to provide
log reports for security risk assess- ments. The project greatly reduced the time spent on auditing reports and led to an easy approval of HHS’ CDM submissions by the Department of Homeland Security. Under Sanghani’s leadership, Octo used blockchain to file about 10 million logs per appli- cation per month and showed the government it could save months per audit.
Shannon E. Seay
Program Manager, Enterprise Business Solutions Program
Department of the Navy
Cloud migration at scale. In 2019, Seay oversaw a critical effort to migrate the Navy’s enterprise resource planning system to the cloud. The ERP system is the Navy’s largest, with 72,000 users spread across six com- mands. Thanks to Seay’s dedication, the system moved to a commercial cloud 10 months ahead of schedule. Now users can track $70 billion of
the Navy’s supplies from a central system. Seay’s work has set a high bar for cloud migration at the Defense
Department and demonstrated best practices for launching or accelerat- ing IT modernization projects.
Bharti Shah
CEO
CTIS
Clinical trials transformation.
Shah’s company has a history of sup- porting the National Cancer Institute and its Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program, and it has led the charge on the digital transformation of clinical trials. Under her leadership, CTIS sup- ports the CTEP Enterprise System, which manages the development of investigational anti-cancer agents
and oncology trials. Her strategy to improve CTEP-ESYS focuses on the human side of technology — what users need and want. In 2019, her company introduced lean-agile prac- tices into CTEP-ESYS to improve the user experience, operational effi- ciency, the flow of information and IT productivity.
Lt. Gen. Jack Shanahan
Director, Joint Artificial Intelligence Center
Defense Department
The godfather of JAIC. Shanahan did not create the Joint AI Center by himself, but his leadership has been a crucial catalyst for JAIC’s rapid growth into a thriving hub for DOD’s AI technology efforts. Having led
the development of the department’s overarching AI strategy, Shana-
han because JAIC’s first director in
January 2019. He secured budget and staffing (168 permanent military and civilian positions), and JAIC quickly delivered mission applications that range from predictive maintenance for helicopter engines to natural lan- guage processing for paperwork. Sha- nahan is also synchronizing depart- mentwide AI activities and leading DOD’s efforts to include NATO and other allies in the march toward AI- enhanced defense.
Chad Sheridan
Director, Service Delivery and Operations, Farm Production and Conservation Business Center
Agriculture Department
High-yield bureaucracy hacker.
Sheridan was the creative force behind USDA’s mobile-first portal that gives the agricultural community easy access to more than 150 resources across seven digital platforms. The cloud-based Farmers.gov engages its users where they live and work and most recently delivered resources
on hemp production, facilitated subsidies to producers affected by tariffs and offered support to those suffering losses from wildfires
and hurricanes. Sheridan, who describes his philosophy as “hacking the bureaucracy to improve the government program experience,”
is now doing his hacking from
the private sector. He left USDA
in January to become NetImpact Strategies’ chief innovation officer.
Mehul Sanghani Shannon E. Seay Bharti Shah Lt. Gen. Jack Chad Sheridan Shanahan
82 March/April 2020 FCW.COM