MeriTalk recognized 14 Federal agencies for their excellence in IT during the FITARA Awards ceremony at Tech Tonic on Thursday, joined by Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., ranking member of the House Oversight Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Information Technology, and Government Innovation.
The FITARA Scorecard grades are compiled with input from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and have been published semi–annually – usually by the House Oversight and Accountability Committee – since 2015.
Rep. Connolly issued the 17th edition of the FITARA Scorecard in February, in which many Federal agencies received lower grades. However, this was due in large part to the creation of the new cloud computing category.
We chatted with some of the CIO teams to learn what receiving a FITARA Award means to them, and to hear who they have to thank for all of the hard work that goes into building an excellent CIO shop.
“I’m very proud. I’m proud of the team. I’m proud of FITARA. The thing I love about FITARA as the CIO going into several agencies is it provides a foundation for us to build on top of,” said Jason Gray, the CIO at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
“I definitely appreciate Congressman Connolly for all of his support and advocacy over the years because it provides the foundation on where you should go, what you should focus on, in addition to all the other stuff we do, but FITARA is really the foundation that kind of anchors that all together,” Gray added.
When asked if there was anyone he’d like to shout-out, Gray said, “My team. I mean, because the reality is none of this happens alone. It’s the team, it’s the people at USAID. I would also say my leadership is absolutely supportive as well, which is critical in the agency for the urgency and importance that they put behind FITARA.”
USAID took home the “Best Overall” FITARA Award. It was the only agency to receive an overall “A” grade on the latest scorecard.
“It is an amazing feat. It’s a team sport, right? We work all year round for this moment. So, I brought my team, we brought our departmental budget center here as well, and it’s an amazing feeling to be here. Thank you for recognizing us,” said Gundeep Ahluwalia, CIO at the Department of Labor (DoL).
“I would like to shout out my entire OCIO team, particularly also my partner on the money side, Geoff Kenyon,” Ahluwalia added. “I think it takes a village, but everybody in OCIO, they’ve just come together, and all the program areas in DoL who cooperate and work with us, because at the end of the day, that is why we exist.”
DoL won a “Most Improved” FITARA Award. On the most recent scorecard, DoL earned a “B.”
“It’s great to be recognized to share the progress we’re making on the FITARA scorecard. It’s been a great experience to really try to strive for the best to show that we’re paying attention to the metrics that we’re trying to drive to protect our customers,” said Brian Peltier, acting deputy CIO for strategy at the Social Security Administration (SSA).
“Our cybersecurity team, our infrastructure team are all putting in the efforts to really try to drive up our scores,” Peltier added. “So, it’s a team effort.”
SSA was recognized in MeriTalk’s “Best in Modernizing Government Technology” category. The agency received an “A” in this category, and a “B” overall.
“We have a lot of people who work very hard on the various components of the FITARA scorecard, and a lot more. So, it’s great to be recognized and to have them recognized for the great work that they’re doing,” said Cordell Schachter, CIO at the Department of Transportation (DoT).
“I think it’s such a team effort. I don’t want to even single myself out, because there’s lots of people who play very important roles. We have, I think, four or five different teams represented tonight, because they all have a very important role in our success and the services that we provide to DoT and the American public,” Schachter added. “So, it’s great to see them all have an opportunity to take a breath, get a picture with Representative Connolly, and we’re very appreciative of MeriTalk for highlighting progress in IT and governance.”
DoT won a FITARA Award in the “Most Improved” category. It received an “A” in the modernizing government technology category on the latest scorecard, and a “D” overall.
“It’s great that all of the hard work that we do is being rewarded. My team works really hard, as well as all of those across the agency that really support these initiatives, so it’s great to be recognized,” said Tonya Manning, CISO at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
“I’d like to shout out my entire team and the Office of Information Security and Privacy and all of the EPA information security officers and IT staff and our CIO. He’s great. He’s very supportive,” Manning added.
EPA won a FITARA Award in the “Most Improved” category during MeriTalk’s ceremony. On the most recent scorecard, EPA earned a “B.”
“It is great to see all the work that we’ve done at OPM to modernize legacy systems get recognized. We won the award for the Technology Modernization Fund, which we’ve used very effectively and without it, we couldn’t have made the progress that we’ve made,” said Guy Cavallo, CIO at the Office of Personnel Management (OPM).
“I would like to recognize my deputy, Melvin Brown, my governance lead, Larry Allen, and the rest of the team,” Cavallo added.
OPM was recognized in MeriTalk’s “Best in Modernizing Government Technology” category. OPM received an “A” in this category on the most recent FITARA scorecard, and a “C” grade overall.
“This shows that we’re managing IT at a high level. We need to strive to do better in other areas, but this is a very prestigious award. It shows that we’re making a lot of progress at USDA,” said Gary Washington, CIO at the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
“I want to shout out my team. My team that does FITARA and my governance team and the leadership at USDA for supporting us to make the changes necessary to achieve this award,” Washington added.
USDA received its first FITARA award during MeriTalk’s Tech Tonic on Thursday night. The agency was recognized in the “Most Improved” category. On the most recent scorecard, USDA earned a “B.”
“It’s always nice to be recognized for the work that we put in. It truly takes a village,” said Melinda Rogers, CIO at the Department of Justice (DoJ).
Rogers gave a special shout out to DoJ’s John Carlson, Sean Whaley, and Jim Walterman. “They’re the folks that really drive the IT investment review for the Department of Justice. And I would be remiss if I didn’t mention a couple of folks, such as Dwayne Spriggs, in our service delivery side, they’re the ones that actually execute on the delivery of our various information technology and modernization efforts,” Rogers said.
DoJ was recognized in MeriTalk’s “Best in Modernizing Government Technology” category. DoJ received an “A” in this category on the most recent FITARA scorecard, but a “C” grade overall.
The Defense Department also received its first FITARA Award last night and was recognized in two of MeriTalk’s categories: “Most Improved Overall” and “Best in Cloud Computing.”
DoD was the only agency to receive an “A” in the FITARA scorecard’s new cloud computing category. With 22 of the agencies receiving a “D” or “F,” the new cloud computing category brought most of the agencies’ scores down. However, DoD rose from a “C” to a “B.”
“It feels really good, and it awards the entire department all the work they did from a cloud perspective – getting JWCC up and running, all the work that was done of the Air Force, the Navy, the Army, getting everything going from a cloud perspective, doing the migrations and using those principles to modernize the environment,” said Bill Dunlap, acting deputy CIO for the information enterprise at DoD.
“We are focused on mission enablement. We’re focused around modernization, transformation, and to have the work that we do be recognized in a way like this, it’s humbling. So, really very appreciative,” said Bo Berlas, CISO at GSA.
Berlas gave a special shoutout to GSA’s leadership team, “beginning with Administrator Robin Carnahan and Deputy Administrator Katy Kale, David Shive our CIO. It’s always amazing to have forward leaning leadership within the agency that really is focused on what’s next and allows people like me to be able to go through and take intelligent risks on behalf of the agency. So that’s awesome,” Berlas added.
GSA was recognized in MeriTalk’s “Best in Cyber” category. GSA received an “A” in this category on the most recent FITARA scorecard, and a “C” grade overall.
“It feels amazing, and I think the culmination and the journey of togetherness is really what stands out with this award,” said Steven Hernandez, CISO at the Education Department.
“It’s everybody in the departments, it’s all the teams – infrastructure, procurement, risk, privacy – everybody coming together to make it all happen, and it’s great to see FITARA reflecting that and being rewarded for it today,” Hernandez added.
Hernandez gave some special shout-outs, including to the Education Department CIO Luis Lopez. “He is the shining star and the visionary behind this success, so if there’s anyone I want to point out it’s him, but certainly also our Deputy Secretary Cindy Marten, who has been our champion, and Chris DeRusha, who’s my partner in crime for everything cyber,” he said.
Education was recognized in MeriTalk’s “Best in Cyber” category. Education received an “A” in this category on the most recent FITARA scorecard, and a “C” grade overall.