Aneesh Chopra, federal chief technology officer, is about to get some help. President Obama has picked Andrew McLaughlin, currently head of public policy for Google, to be Chopra's deputy.
According to a New York Times report, McLaughin is at least the third Google alumnus to join the administration. Google CEO Eric Schmidt is an Obama adviser and a member of the President's Council of Advisers on Science and Technology, while Sonal Shah, former head of global development at Google.org, now heads the White House Office of Social Innovation.
The Times reported that the White House has not formally announced McLaughlin's appointment.
Posted by Michael Hardy on Jun 02, 2009 at 12:12 PM0 comments
Fred Schobert, one of the architects of the General Services Administration's Networx contract, is planning to retire from the agency later this month.
In an e-mail message sent to colleagues and contractors, Schobert said the Networx contract was a significant accomplishment.
"It seems to me only yesterday that we were working on an acquisition strategy that would allow us to successfully engage commercial industry in a competitive acquisition that would result in award of two of the most comprehensive telecommunications contracts ever, Networx Universal and Networx Enterprise," he wrote. " It seems even more incredible that we pulled this off with awards on time to a very demanding schedule, no industry protests, and prices below projections. This required a superior team of program managers, technical leaders, contract officers, financial experts, and other professionals."
Schobert, whose formal titile is director of the Office of Infrastructure Optimization in the Integrated Technology Services section of GSA's Federal Acquisition Service, plans to retire June 20. He said he is considering his options for private sector work, but has not made a final decision where to go.
Posted by Michael Hardy on Jun 01, 2009 at 12:12 PM0 comments
Bruce McConnell, former Chief of Information Policy and Technology in the Office of Management and Budget, will serve as the Homeland Security department's counselor to the National Protection and Programs Directorate (NPPD) Deputy Under Secretary, Philip Reitlinger.
DHS secretary Janet Napolitano also appointed Greg Schaffer as assistant secretary for cybersecurity and communications. She also announced that Reitlinger will also serve as director of the National Cybersecurity Center.
McConnell most recently served on the Obama-Biden Presidential Transition Team. He held his OMB position from 1993 to 1999, and went on to launch consulting firm McConnell International and Government Futures, which he sold in 2008. In between, he was briefly director of the Y2K Cooperation Center, coordinating regional and global critical information technology infrastructure organizations.
Schaffer was most recently senior vice president and chief risk officer for Alltel Communications.
Posted by Michael Hardy on Jun 01, 2009 at 12:12 PM0 comments
Federal 100 award winner Elizabeth McGrath has been made assistant deputy chief management officer in the Defense department's Office of the Deputy Chief Management Officer, according to a DOD announcement.
McGrath had been serving as assistant deputy under secretary for business integration in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense. She won 1105 Media's Federal 100 award this year for leading a project to automate and streamline the process for granting security clearances to Defense Department employees and contractors.
In fact, she's won the Fed 100 award more than once. In 2008, she won it for her work in implementing the Lean Six Sigma process improvement methodology in her agency.
Posted by Michael Hardy on Apr 01, 2009 at 12:12 PM0 comments