Page 64 - FCW, August 2021

Craig Abod
President and Founder
CarahsoftTechnology Corp.
co-founded GovFlex, a platform that connects government contractors and agencies with independent experts to facilitate more collaboration across the ecosystem.
Kevin Allen
Program Manager, Enterprise Systems and Services
Department of the Navy
Reinventing acquisition. Allen manages a complex portfolio of IT systems for criminal justice case man- agement, fleet support, records man- agement and other capabilities for
the Navy and Defense Department. He has embraced other transaction authorities to bring in nontraditional industry partners, and his programs have rapidly transitioned to a cost- effective commercial cloud environ- ment that incorporates cybersecurity improvements, artificial intelligence, knowledge management and mobility. In recognition of his success and tal- ents, Navy leaders put him in charge of the Program Executive Office for Manpower, Logistics and Business Solutions’ Innovation Portfolio, whose goal is to use leading-edge technolo- gies to speed modernization across the Navy.
Taka Ariga
Chief Data Scientist and Innovation Lab Director
Government Accountability Office
Bringing data science to oversight.
As GAO’s first chief data scientist, Ariga plays a key role in applying technological and analytical innova- tions to improve oversight of gov- ernment programs and elevate the
agency’s audit capabilities. In 2020, he capitalized on the launch of the Innovation Lab to push key transfor- mational efforts, such as deploying a secure cloud-based computational environment to support advanced data science work and creating an oversight framework for artificial intelligence. He also helped GAO develop 20 advanced data science proofs of concept, including a real- time COVID-19 dashboard that helps GAO’s leaders and employees make data-centric safety decisions.
Katie Arrington
Chief Information Security Officer for Acquisition and Sustainment Defense Department
Siren of cyber. Arrington has cham- pioned DOD’s adoption of the Cyber- security Maturity Model Certification program, a unified cybersecurity standard for defense contractors. Her name and voice have become almost synonymous with CMMC, which aims to certify more than 300,000 compa- nies in the next five years. Although there’s much left to do, Arrington has helped set the pace for what could prove to be a revolutionary program in cybersecurity through her efforts to engage with industry, garner senior leaders’ support and push the stan- dardized yet adaptable model through the regulatory process.
Solving the cloud procurement puzzle. Carahsoft has long been a cornerstone of federal IT contracting, with roughly 500 industry partners and billions in annual sales. The ultimate driver of that success has been Abod’s intense focus on finding ways for agencies to learn about and procure IT solutions — which in 2020 produced Carahsoft’s Cloud Purchas- ing Program. CPP dramatically sim- plifies the procurement process and covers services from more than 80 vendors. The Defense Department’s Cloud Computing Program Office said CPP was the only solution to meet all its needs, and other agencies seem to agree: There were 94 awards made in the first 12 months.
Eric Adolphe
CEO
Forward Edge-AI
AI for truth. Adolphe founded his San Antonio-based startup to apply artificial intelligence to solving prob- lems of social consequence, such
as those related to national security and public safety. The problems of disinformation and mal-information stretch across those domains, so with the backing of a Small Business Innovation Research grant from the National Science Foundation, the company created its Gabriel app to protect users from scam calls and text messages sent by robocallers and other fraudsters. Adolphe also
Craig Abod Eric Adolphe
2021 FEDERAL 100
62 August 2021 FCW.COM
Kevin Allen Taka Ariga Katie Arrington