News
SIGNAL Magazine Update: January 20, 2012
The chapter’s SuperNOVA Award recipient for January is Artin Boghozian. Boghozian is a business development analyst for the Army Division at CSC. He has stepped up this year and taken on a number of activities to support the chapter. He was the Young AFCEAN lead for this year’s Army IT Day, and his organization and leadership helped make this a great event not only for the attendees but also for the Young AFCEANs who were on his team. Currently, Boghozian is the chapter’s Young AFCEAN co-lead on the Valentines Ball Committee, and he is working with the Finance and Information committees on some of their new initiatives. Boghozian’s dedication to the success of this chapter and to its members is making a difference.
SIGNAL Magazine Update: January 20, 2012
The chapter’s honored Young AFCEAN for January is Stephanie Spano. Spano is the manager of marketing and communications at Engility Corporation. She is another Young AFCEAN that really stepped up this year. She runs the chapter’s Social Media Committee, where she changed the entire look and feel of the Young AFCEAN webpage on the chapter’s site. She also is solely responsible for the increased presence and activity on LinkedIn and Twitter. In addition, Spano joined the chapter’s Sweat for a Vet team, took on the role of networking lead and served as the back-up scriptwriter for this year’s luncheon. Her hard work is greatly appreciated, and she is very deserving of this award.
Read the full story on SIGNALOnline at http://www.afcea.org/signal/chapternews/index.cfm?action=details&id=1873
LTG Susan Lawrence Gives Keynote Address at IT Day
LTG Susan Lawrence was the keynote speaker for our annual IT Day focused on the Army. It was another successful event with almost 900 people attending.
LTG Lawrence discussed the new environment based upon current budgets and emphasized that life is different. She said that the Army must be cost conscious and the need to partner with industry to meet the mission of the Army and the mission of our nation in this economic crisis.
The goals of Army must meet the goals of the nation. Everything must be done to carry on beyond current assignments. She also recognized that this is hard to do after 10 yrs of OCO funding. She is applying the rules for success by encouraging people to be the person who finds a way and be solutions oriented.
GSA CIO Discusses GSA's Move to Cloud-Based Services at Army IT Day
Casey Coleman, GSA CIO, spoke at our 11th annual IT Day focused on the Army. Ms Coleman discussed GSA’s Leadership in Moving to The Cloud.
In June 2011, GSA moved 17,000 users to the cloud-based Google email and collaboration platform with a projected five year savings of $15 million. This move reduced waste/redundancy including decommissioning 45 servers. The yearly carbon savings is equivalent to taking 60 cars off the road. It also included cost avoidance of roughly $5M to refresh legacy infrastructure.
The move provides improved productivity, collaboration and security. This architecture supports Telework, Mobility, and the New Office Space enabling GSA employees to do their work in a secure environment on any device. GSA’s Drive to the Cloud enables the transformation of the Headquarters at 1800 F Street with the needs of a mobile workforce in mind.
Photo Credit: Bloomberg
SIGNAL Magazine Update: December 16, 2011
In December, the Honorable Elizabeth A. McGrath, deputy chief management officer for the U.S. Defense Department, addressed the chapter’s luncheon attendees. She reminded the audience of approximately 500 people that the managing the Defense Department requires a focus on efficiencies and effectiveness while always looking at the holistic view. One example of improved efficiencies has been to reduce the security backlog from 365 days to 54 days. The strategy for the back office is critical and must support the core mission. There is also a full court press on the auditability requirement.
Read the full story on SIGNALOnline at http://www.afcea.org/signal/chapternews/index.cfm?action=details&id=1872
SIGNAL Magazine Update: December 16, 2011
At the December luncheon, the chapter recognized its Young AFCEAN and SuperNOVA award recipients. Shana Muhammad received the Young AFCEAN Award. She is a business development manager for Strategic Resources. Muhammad co-lead for the Beltway Collaboration Reception and the chapter’s last Warfighter IT Day. In addition, she serves as the Young AFCEAN lead for the Luncheon Committee. She provides exceptional support to make sure the luncheon programs continue to be successful. Connie Zhong, director of federal healthcare solutions for the Capital Region at Emergint Technologies, received the SuperNOVA Award for December. Zhong is one of the chapter’s outstanding AFCEANs, volunteering for almost every event over the last few years.
SIGNAL Magazine Update: December 14, 2011
In December, Lt. Gen. Susan Lawrence, USA, chief information officer/G-6, U.S. Army, served as the keynote speaker for the chapter’s annual IT Day focused on the Army. It was another successful event with almost 900 people attending. The general discussed the new environment based upon current budgets and emphasized that life is different. She said that the Army must be cost conscious and stressed the need to partner with industry to meet the mission of the Army and the mission of the United States in this economic crisis. The goals of Army must meet the goals of the nation. Everything must be done to carry on beyond current assignments. She also recognized that this is hard to do after 10 years of overseas contingency operations funding. She encouraged attendees to be the person who finds a solution despite the challenges.
SIGNAL Magazine Update: December 14, 2011
In December, Casey Coleman, chief information officer, U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), spoke at the chapter’s 11th annual IT Day focused on the Army. Coleman discussed GSA’s leadership in moving to the cloud. In June 2011, the GSA moved approximately 17,000 users to the cloud-based Google email and collaboration platform with a projected five-year savings of $15 million. This move reduced waste/redundancy including decommissioning 45 servers. The yearly carbon savings is equivalent to taking 60 cars off the road. It also included cost avoidance of roughly $5 million to refresh legacy infrastructure. The move provides improved productivity, collaboration and security. This architecture supports telework, mobility and the new office space, enabling GSA employees to do their work in a secure environment on any device.
AFCEA NOVA Volunteers Support "Sweat for a Vet" Event
Sweating for Vets – the Northern Virginia Chapter continues to support the Wounded Warrior program. AFCEA NOVA sponsored a team of seven riders that took part in a three-hour endurance event on Saturday November 12th for Project VisAbility. Sweat for a Vet is a nation-wide event focused on providing fitness equipment for Veterans Affairs (VA) hospitals and other facilities supporting our Wounded Warriors’ rehabilitation.
Team members included Major Chad Rogers, Steven Wells, Paul Smith, Ryan Cox, Jake Zimmerman, Omar Quintero, and Stephanie Spano.
Congratulations to our team and thank you to everyone who sponsored. More information can be found at sweatforavet.org .
SIGNAL Magazine Update: November 18, 2011
Maj. Gen. George Allen, USMC, director of plans and policy, U.S. Cyber Command, addressed the chapter at its November luncheon. He discussed the command’s training and exercises and the way ahead. During the luncheon, the chapter celebrated the Marine Corps’ birthday, including the tradition of the oldest Marine passing a piece of cake to the youngest Marine. Gen. Allen presented the chapter with the Commander’s Award for outstanding support of the Toys for Tots Program. In addition, Steve Costolo received this month’s chapter Young AFCEAN Award. Costolo runs the audio-visual equipment for many of the chapter’s events. He also serves as an escort at IT Days, and he is an instrumental part of the sponsorships committee.
