Page 26 - FCW, January/February 2021
P. 26

Customer-First Mindset
Executive Viewpoint
A conversation with
KRISTEN BALDWIN
CIO, Federal Aviation Administration
FAA’s CIO discusses
how the agency is using technology to adapt to
the changing needs of customers and employees
How has the pandemic
changed the FAA’s approach to ensuring that employees can be productive and engaged from any location?
The FAA has a very robust workforce
in the field, outside of the FAA headquarters complex, so we had a solid foundation in place for encouraging our workforce to engage from anywhere.
We saw a change in the volume
of remote traffic on a daily basis. Fortunately, our team had been working to implement a scalable communication platform before the change to maximum telework, so we were able to adapt pretty quickly. With that platform available, our team was able to dedicate resources to ensure we had the bandwidth needed for the increase in remote traffic.
To this end, we nearly tripled our remote access bandwidth, increasing capacity at the FAA’s Trusted Internet Connections. We also increased our remote access capacity by 50% to support 36,000 concurrent connections.
How is the FAA improving
the experience for external customers?
The agency has been able to continue external engagement activities using online collaboration tools and platforms. In some cases, we’re able to adapt the same tools we leverage every single day to collaborate internally.
The reliance on virtual communication has also led to the adoption of engagement services that allow better integration among the stakeholder community. In some cases, the online nature of our engagement has allowed
us to cast a wider net and reach a more diverse community.
How does the agency plan to extend improvements beyond the current crisis?
We’re constantly looking for ways to adapt our current toolset to support future needs of our workforce and meet the agency’s mission. Our team also helps support the employee experience by dedicating liaisons to each of the FAA lines of business and staff offices. The goal is to be able to anticipate emerging needs for technology tools so we can proactively integrate them into our toolset.
We are also focused on technology innovation from an enterprise perspective. Deploying modern approaches to technology solutions, such as robotic process automation (RPA), can help improve efficiency across the agency.
RPA has been a game-changer that allows FAA employees to “level up” and focus
on strategic work.
What can other agencies learn from the FAA’s approach?
I am just approaching my one-year anniversary at the FAA so I am still relatively new. I am still blown away
by the collaborative and problem- solving culture of our workforce. We’re tremendously lucky in IT to be able
to support such flexible and resilient colleagues. As just one example, it only took a couple of weeks in the maximum telework environment for the number of online meetings to surpass the number of legacy conference calls.
I think FAA’s continued success in this remote environment is a testament to the collaborative culture of the agency.
This interview continues at Carah.io/FAA-Baldwin.
KRISTEN BALDWIN
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