Page 40 - GCN, October/November 2018

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GCN OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2018 • GCN.COM
Public Sector Innovations
That’s just not going to sell.”
Since Colorado instituted the audits
in 2017, Shellman said other states have expressed interest in the approach, and Colorado has sent representatives to
speak with other election officials about implementing their own versions. The state is also working with a vendor to build and enhance the software’s reporting capabilities for future elections.
PROJECT: Software-Defined Networking for DISN and DODIN Defense Information Systems Agency
Speed, security and next-
gen networks for DOD
PROJECT: Unmanned Aerial Vehicles for Health Care Delivery U.S. Agency for International Development
USAID is making medical deliveries via drone a reality
The last leg of the supply chain is often the trickiest, especially in rural
areas where infrastructure is not as mature and bad weather can leave areas inaccessible by ground vehicles. Drones can help solve that logistics issue, and the U.S. Agency for International Development is working with multiple countries to put the technology to use.
The agency is using a Wingcopter 178 Heavy Lift to deliver medical specimens to labs across sub-Saharan Africa. The drone, which can carry about 13 pounds, also flies medical supplies to a district hospital in Tanzania.
Delivering medical samples helps ensure that important tests are performed and analyzed in a timely manner, but some locations don’t have the infrastructure to send or receive the results electronically, so the same drone can be used to deliver hard-copy results to isolated medical centers. It might also prove useful for delivering supplies, such as anti-venom, that are expensive and often not kept on site, but are needed quickly when required.
The use of drones for imaging and mapping is common, but the use case for cargo is not as well defined, said Scott Dubin, team lead for warehousing and distribution at Chemonics International. The company is working with USAID on the Global Health Supply Chain Program.
Because of that newness, USAID has faced significant hurdles in countries that might never have had to approve anything like this before. “Getting anything done, even getting some paperwork signed in a country, can be difficult,” Dubin said. “Doing something that’s not usually done requires a lot of collaboration.”
When the Defense Information Systems Agency needed a software-defined environment with automation and synchronization across the Defense Information Systems Network (DISN), the backbone of the Department of Defense Information Network (DODIN), it turned to Leidos.
Government and industry experts worked together for nearly six years to develop and deploy DISN’s first software-defined network in 2017. The results were automation through virtual private networking services and an ability to transition validation work and integrate it with the DISA Storefront. The solution eliminated significant man- hours and streamlined and automated the activation process.
Central to the solution was Leidos’ partnership with telecommunications provider AT&T, which combined best practices for developing the software-defined network and strategically targeted internal research and development investments.
DISA officials said the initial project’s success has been the foundation for plans to expand software-defined networking across DODIN to stay ahead of threats and effectively meet mission goals.