Tech Transforms (Carolyn Ford)
Explorez tous les épisodes de Tech Transforms
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| 04 Oct 2023 | Unmasking the Specter: Mr. Egts' Journey into the Impact of Generative AI on Government Transformation | Halloween Series Part I | 00:49:59 | |
In the first episode of our 3-part Halloween series, Dave Egts, Mulesoft Public Sector Field CTO at Salesforce, details what's scaring the public sector most and how Salesforce is utilizing - and securing - AI to improve customer experience with their Einstein Trust Layer. Additionally, Carolyn and Dave dive into the spooky worlds of brain cell chips, mind-reading AI and more. Key Topics
Quotable QuotesConsiderations for the Public Sector While Using AI: "As you're going on your AI journey, you've got to be looking at the EULA [End User License Agreement] and making sure that, okay, if I give you data, what are you going to do with it?" On Bias & Disinformation in Generative AI: "There were some previous studies that show that people are more likely to go with the generative AI results if they trust the company and they trust the model. So it's like, 'Oh, it came from Google, so how can that be wrong?' Or 'I'm trusting the brand,' or 'I'm trusting the model.'" About Our GuestDavid Egts is MuleSoft’s first-ever Public Sector field CTO. Outside of MuleSoft, David is the founding co-chair of the WashingtonExec CTO Council, where he advises numerous companies on working with the public sector. David has received numerous industry-wide recognitions, including as an FCW Federal 100 winner, a FedScoop 50 Industry Leadership awardee and one of WashingtonExec’s Top Cloud Executives to Watch. He has won multiple employee honors from Red Hat, Silicon Graphics and Concurrent Technologies Corporation. Episode LinksDave & Gunnar Show Episodes
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| 13 Dec 2023 | So What? It’s 5:05! Edition: Beyond the Headlines of AI, Election Disinformation and SpyGPT | 00:35:25 | |
On this special So What? episode we go deeper in to some of the top stories being covered on the It’s 5:05! podcast with It’s 5:05! contributing journalist, Tracy Bannon. How are cybersecurity stress tests battling misinformation and aiding in election security? Is AI contributing to election disinformation? How is the CIA using SpyGPT? Come along as Carolyn and Tracy go beyond the headlines to address all these questions and more. Key Topics
Importance of Cybersecurity and Responsible AI UseEmbracing Cybersecurity Measures and Privacy ProtectionsIn their conversation, Carolyn and Tracy discuss the imperative nature of both individuals and organizations in embracing robust cybersecurity measures. As we live in an era where data breaches and cyber attacks are on the rise, the implementation of effective security protocols is not just a matter of regulatory compliance, but also about safeguarding the privacy and personal information of users. Tracy emphasizes the continuous need for cybersecurity vigilance and education, highlighting that it is a shared responsibility. By making use of resources like the CISA cybersecurity workbook, Carolyn suggests that individuals and businesses can receive guidance on developing a more secure online presence, which is crucial in a digital ecosystem where even the smallest vulnerability can be exploited. Addressing Biases in AI to Align With Public Interest and Democratic ValuesTracy expresses concerns over the biases that can be present in AI systems, which can stem from those who design them or the data they are trained on. Such biases have the potential to impact a vast array of decisions and analyses AI makes, leading to outcomes that may not align with the broad spectrum of public interest and democratic values. An important aspect of responsible AI use is ensuring that these technological systems are created and used in a way that is fair and equitable. This means actively working to identify and correct biases and ensuring transparency in AI operations. Plus, constantly checking that AI applications serve the public good without infringing upon civil liberties or creating divisions within society. Demystifying Cybersecurity: "We need that public understanding, building this culture of security for everybody, by everybody. It becomes a shared thing, which should be something that we're teaching our children as soon as they are old enough to touch a device." — Tracy Bannon The Proliferation of Personal AI Use in Everyday TasksThe conversation shifts towards the notion of AI agents handling tasks on behalf of humans, a concept both cutting-edge and rife with potential pitfalls. Carolyn and Tracy discuss both the ease and potential risks of entrusting personal tasks to AI. On one hand, these AI agents can simplify life by managing mundane tasks. Optimizing time and resources, and even curating experiences based on an in-depth understanding of personal preferences. Yet, Tracy questions what the trade-off is, considering the amount of personal data that must be shared for AI to become truly "helpful." This gives rise to larger questions related to the surrender of personal agency... | |||
| 05 Jan 2023 | Feed Drop: Willie Hicks On Federal Tech Podcast | 00:28:57 | |
Willie Hicks, Dynatrace’s Federal Chief Technologist recently appeared on the Federal Tech Podcast. It is such a great interview we wanted to make sure our Tech Transforms audience got to listen. Enjoy this crossover episode with Federal Tech Podcast! Episode Links and Resources | |||
| 02 Feb 2022 | Securing Our Nation with Pete Tseronis, Former CTO of the US Department of Energy and US Department of Education | 00:32:53 | |
Technology is paramount when it comes to securing our nation according to Pete Tseronis, CEO of Dots and Bridges, former CTO of the US Department of Energy and US Department of Education. On this episode of Tech Transforms, Pete explains the critical role technology plays in our lives, and how innovation underpins that foundation. Episode Table of Contents
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Pete Tseronis: From Fed to Dots and BridgesCarolyn: Our guest today has got quite the pedigree, Pete Tseronis, CEO of Dots and Bridges. Before Dots and Bridges, Pete served as a Cabinet-level federal CTO, not once, but twice. First at the US Department of Education for eight years, and then at the US Department of Energy for seven and a half years. Before those two, he was actually with the DoD since the beginning of things. Pete: It's nice to be on the other side of the mic. I have all the respect in the world for what you're doing, in addition to your other jobs and incredible pedigree you have. But I love the conversations and it's a treat to be able to tell my story a little bit, at least. Carolyn: Your unique perspective on technology and federal agencies, as well as from the commercial side, it's going to be a great conversation. Let's just start with your story. Will you give us an overview of Dots and Bridges and how it came about? Then share your journey in the government and where you are now. Pete: I tell folks I can do five hours or I can do it in about a minute. But there's about 32 years there, wrapped up. I'm a Washingtonian native. I grew up in the Washington DC area, in the suburbs of Maryland, Montgomery | |||
| 21 Sep 2022 | Government Technology News: Funding, Contracting and Defense with Ross Wilkers | 00:47:48 | |
Ross Wilkers, Senior Staff Reporter at Washington Technology talks to Carolyn and Mark about some of the hottest topics in government technology news. With insight on the 2023 Defense Funding Bill, government contracting and Alliant 3, Ross provides a unique perspective on what defense IT teams may see in the coming months. Episode Table of Contents
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| 02 Mar 2022 | Web3: The Start of the Power with Sandy Carter | 00:29:41 | |
Sandy Carter, SVP and Channel Chief at Unstoppable Domains and former Vice President at Amazon Web Services talks about the groundbreaking work she is doing with Web3. Listen in to get more information on Web3 capabilities and hear about the chaotic creation that Unstoppable Domains is taking on. Episode Table of Contents
Episode Links and ResourcesA Leading Pioneer in Web3 and Digital TransformationCarolyn: Today, we're talking to Sandy Carter, and I'm excited to have her all to myself. Sandy is a renowned technologist, bestselling author, and current senior VP at Unstoppable Domains. She is one of the leading pioneers in the digital business, and a former Fortune 25 business executive. She’s a leader focused on helping companies with innovative and digital transformation through culture and technology, like AI and Internet of Things. Sandy, you have an incredible background. You've been with IBM, recently with Amazon Web Services, and now you're working with Unstoppable Domains. I would love for you to tell us your story. What is the journey that you've had with your career? How did you get to Unstoppable Domains, and what is it? Sandy: Well, it's really interesting. You'll notice in all of my companies, IBM, and then you missed a startup. I had a startup in between and then AWS, and then now a startup with Unstoppable. All of those companies were on the leading or bleeding edge of technology. At the time I was at IBM, we were bleeding edge for social media and business, which was that Web 2.0 era. I then went to form my own company and I was doing artificial intelligence. In fact, I thought it was so cool. I was doing like a Myers-Brigg on companies to determine their culture so that we can match them with the right innovation tactic. That way, they didn't go and try something that didn't fit their culture, because culture eats strategy for lunch. Developing the Right Processes for Web3Sandy: Then I moved on to Amazon, and Amazon was all about the cloud, another tech transformation that was going on. I learned so much from each of these companies. Leadership principles from Amazon and how to develop the right processes and mechanisms from IBM. From my startup, how to be really scrappy and to do things that 80/20 rule; not perfect, but good. Good for the customer, valuable for the customer, but not necessarily reaching that perfection mark. When Web3 started out, I was really interested in it. I’ve done some blockchain at Amazon Web Services and I was fascinated with the new technology. So I started doing all of these side projects on NFT, setting up my wallet, doing all this stuff on the side. It turned out that a company approached me called Unstoppable Domains. I was fascinated by what they were doing in the marketplace. They’re focused on digital identity and how, in the Web3 world, you take your identity with you. It's not linked with a particular application. I thought that was fascinating given my history. Looking at Web3, I was like, why would I keep doing these side | |||
| 11 May 2023 | The Scoop with Nihal Krishan Part 2: TikTok | 00:35:34 | |
In this episode of Tech Transforms, Nihal Krishan, tech reporter at FedScoop, discusses how and where the American government is lagging behind in technology, but there is a focus on modernization to improve the situation. We also talk about the need for comprehensive data privacy legislation and how budget caps may impact government agencies' modernization initiatives. Additionally, we explore concerns surrounding TikTok's ownership and data privacy, as well as the addiction and potentially harmful effects of the platform. We also touch on the importance of respecting sources as a journalist and provide a few podcast recommendations. Finally, we look at the challenges in understanding algorithms used by TikTok and how they could be used to promote divisive content. Join us to learn about these transformative topics in the tech world! Introducing Our Guest, Nihal KrishanNihal Krishan is a journalist who has covered the controversies surrounding TikTok. He highlights the privacy violations committed by the company when it accessed journalists' personal information to control their narrative. Krishan also acknowledges the legitimate fears surrounding the app since TikTok's parent company is based in China. However, he notes that there is no objective evidence of the Chinese government misusing American data obtained through TikTok. He raises the question of whether American social media companies are any better at safeguarding data than TikTok. Krishan argues that the debate over TikTok highlights the need for data privacy legislation in Congress. Key Topics:
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| 29 Mar 2023 | Safeguarding Our Most Trusted Software with Open Source Technology with Stephen Magill | 00:41:41 | |
Stephen Magill, Vice President, Product Innovation at Sonatype dives into the complexities of open source and software security. Find out how government agencies are utilizing open source, and what Sonatype is doing to help secure our most trusted software. Episode Table of Contents
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| 18 May 2022 | The Speed of the Mission with Bob Stevens | 00:30:45 | |
Bob Stevens, AVP Public Sector at GitLab joins Tech Transforms to talk about the imperative mission of DevOps to combine efficiency, speed and security. With emphasis on empowering teams to fail fast, moving security to the left, and a deep dive into Platform 1, you won't want to miss this episode! Episode Table of Contents
Episode Links and ResourcesDevSecOps’ Speed of the MissionCarolyn: This week Bob Stevens, Area Vice President of Public Sector at GitLab is joining me. Bob is a seasoned veteran in public sector technology with over 25 years of experience. As the AVP at GitLab, he is responsible for helping government organizations become more productive, efficient, and effective. Bob also has experience on both the industry and the government side of things. Prior to industry he served in the United States Air Force as a computer specialist at the White House Communications Agency. I am excited today to dive in and talk about the ways that we can use DevOps to modernize and secure government IT, and what the outlook for DevOps is. How are you doing, Bob? Bob: I'm doing great. The weather's getting better in DC, so it's good to see the sun from time to time versus what we've had. But yes, doing fantastic. Carolyn: Well, good to hear it. So let's just dive in. And let's walk through what DevOps is and why implementing these practices is critical to helping modernize and improve government IT? Bob: Great. So I guess DevOps is combining efficiency, speed, and security all into one. And creating software at what I like to refer to as the speed of the mission for the government. The business side is a little different. But for the government, it's all about the mission and you being able to accomplish the mission faster and stay ahead of our adversaries. In the case of DoD and on the civilian side, it’s to ensure that all of the citizens that any given agency supports gets the best possible support that they can. If you look at the organizations like the Veterans Administration. You can imagine they've got a lot of applications that they've written. The Platform the Government Is Looking For to Improve the Speed of the MissionBob: To help the vets accomplish what they need to accomplish in a timely manner. So DevOps really will help them to produce the software at speed, more securely, more efficiently, and provide the most or the best service that they possibly can to all of the veterans out there, just as one example. Carolyn: So, you know Tech Transforms is vendor agnostic. And I would love for you to just take a couple of minutes and talk about how GitLab helps with that. And just what GitLab does. I've read the marketing statements and it's a little nebulous for me. I would love to have you explain what GitLab does and how it's helping agencies achieve this? Bob: I appreciate that you're letting me do this... | |||
| 08 Jun 2022 | Hyperautomation with Bob Stevens | 00:16:40 | |
This week, Carolyn is joined again by Bob Stevens, AVP Public Sector at GitLab, this time to talk about the power of hyperautomation. Listen in as Carolyn learns what can be gained through fast, accurate application security. Episode Table of Contents
Episode Links and ResourcesWhat is HyperautomationCarolyn: I'm excited to welcome back Bob Stevens, Area Vice President of Public Sector at GitLab. Bob is a seasoned veteran in public sector technology with over 36 years of experience. As the AVP at GitLab, he is responsible for helping government organizations become more productive, efficient, and effective. Bob has experience on both the industry and the government side of things. Prior to industry, he served in the United States Air Force as a computer specialist at the White House Communications Agency. Today, we are going to talk about artificial intelligence, machine learning, and what hyperautomation is exactly. Why Bob thinks it will be 2022's biggest trend. Bob, welcome back to Tech Transforms. Bob: I'm happy to be here. Thank you. Appreciate it. Carolyn: I'd like to talk about an episode that you just did with GovExec Daily. And on this episode, you mentioned that hyperautomation will be 2022's biggest trend. I'm going to be honest. I haven't really heard hyperautomation. And I get automation. I can deduce what hyperautomation is, but I would love for you to explain it to me. What's the difference between automation, hyperautomation, DevOps, all of that? Bob: Yes, I mean, it's the strict definition of the word. It's rapidly identifying, vetting in automated processes in order to produce whatever it is that you're working on as fast as you possibly can. And it trends today because if you think about the government space, they have a lot of compliance issues that they need to deal with. The Benefits of HyperautomationBob: If they can automate those compliance processes and ensure that when they build software, in the end it's going to be compliant and they don't have to go back and vet it. I mean, that's going to save them a world of time. Carolyn: Are you talking about missed compliances, automating some of those missed controls? There's 300 of them, I think. Bob: Yes, those. I think you're talking about FedRAMP. Carolyn: Yes. One of. Or authority to operate has all of those. Right? I mean, I don't know all the details. Bob: Yes, no. There's the STIGs. That the government has to put all software through and that's all about compliance. The government has to get the authority to operate, ATOs, for everything that they run. Carolyn: And renew them every two or three years. Bob: Or sooner. It depends on how much of a change occurred in the application. If you can hyperautomate all of that by the use of AI or machine learning. Again, and so by the time you produced that software, all those compliance issues are addressed. You know they're addressed because you've got confidence in the system and the way that it was done. It didn't require as little human intervention as possible, which is unfortunately, where some mistakes are injected. Then you've saved a world of time and you've made life really, really easy for the folks that are doing the development. As well as the folks that are using the applications in the end. Because they don't have to sit and wait to get the authority to operate, which sometimes can take a year. The Bad News: We Haven’t Tried... | |||
| 31 Jan 2024 | Harnessing AI for Cyber Innovation: Insights from Dr. Amy Hamilton at National Defense University | 00:45:13 | |
The real question is, what doesn’t Dr. Amy Hamilton do? She’s currently the visiting Faculty Chair for the Department of Energy (DOE) at National Defense University and the DOE Senior Advisor for National Cybersecurity Policy and Programs, and has had previous stops in the U.S. Army Reserves, NORAD and U.S. European Command, just to name a few. At National Defense University, Amy draws on all of this expertise to educate the workforce on AI and finding the right balance between automation and workforce training. Amy also explores how she teaches her students that cybersecurity has to be more than a 9-5 job, the balance of security vs. convenience, and how it will take the entire country getting on board to make the implementation of cybersecurity best practices truly possible. In this episode, we also dive into the realm of operational technology and the need to look to zero trust as we allow more smart devices into our lives and government ecosystems. Key Topics
Leveraging AI and Automation for Cyber InnovationEmphasizing Efficiency in the Generation of AbstractsDr. Amy Hamilton underlines the capabilities of artificial intelligence to streamline time-consuming processes, specifically the creation of abstracts. This innovation allows for a transition from mundane, repetitive tasks to pursuits that require a deeper cognitive investment. Therefore, elevating the nature of the workforce's endeavors. Dr. Hamilton's discussion focuses on the practical applications of this technology, and she cites an instance from the National Defense University's annual Cyber Beacon Conference. Here, participants were challenged to distinguish between AI-generated and human-generated abstracts, often finding it challenging to tell them apart. This exercise not only highlighted AI's proficiency but also introduced the workforce to the safe and practical application of this emergent technology. How do we use AI in a way that goes from low-value to high-value work? If I'm not doing abstract, what other things could I be doing and spending my brain calories towards? - Dr. Amy Hamilton Preparing the Workforce for Cyber InnovationDr. Hamilton stresses the necessity for workforce education in the context of AI and automation. Aiming for a future where employees are neither intimidated by nor unfamiliar with the advancing technological landscape. She illustrates the Department of Energy's proactive role in integrating AI into its training programs. Thus, ensuring that employees are well-acquainted with both the operational and potential ethical dimensions of AI deployment. Acknowledging the diverse range of operations within the DOE, including nuclear and environmental management, Dr. Hamilton notes that the appropriateness of AI application varies by context. Signifying the... | |||
| 06 Apr 2022 | Monitor Applications with Empathy with Bill James | 00:33:22 | |
What does it mean for an agency to monitor applications with empathy to achieve successful mission outcomes? Bill James is the President of Federal Business LLC and FedSmarts LLC. He is also a former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Development and Operations in the Office of Information and Technology at the Department of Veterans Affairs. He joins Carolyn and Mark to talk about the importance of application monitoring, culture, and empathy when executing a mission. Episode Table of Contents
Episode Links and ResourcesIntroducing Our Guest, Bill JamesCarolyn: So today, our guest is Bill James. He is president of Federal Business LLC. In his previous role as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Development and Operations in the office of Information and Technology at the Department of Veterans Affairs, Bill led the VA's largest information technology organization to deliver enterprise-wide technology products and services to veterans. He has been able to carry those skills into his current role as president of Federal Business LLC. And today, we're going to get Bill's perspective on why Application Performance Monitoring or APM is no longer a luxury, but a necessity. And he just recently put out a blog that, I'm going to nerd out here, I really like the blog. It's easy to understand. One of the things he says in it, or some of the perspectives we're going to get from him, is how APM for VA software applications is necessary now and critical for the future. And how it helps the VA, and I'm going to throw in there, like any organization, any agency, avoid or recover from outages, increase VA OIT productivity and observability, offer insights into investments needed for innovation and understand and improve the customer experience of veterans. I love that last bit. The customer experience. Bill: Thank you very much, Carolyn and Mark. I'm really happy to be here today, and you've touched one of my hot buttons. I'm really interested in all of it, how the technology ultimately relates and improves the end-user experience. Specifically and particularly, our veterans. And that's why I loved working at the VA so much. Focus On Veterans’ ExperienceCarolyn: Well, and that topic I feel like is especially timely Mark. Especially with the presidential executive order around user experience. I mean, you're kind on the cutting edge, Bill. I mean, you've been doing this before it was cool. You've been worried about the customer experience. Bill: That's right. I grew up as a programmer, a coder, and as a mathematician. It was always interesting to me how we could build a code and write it. And we thought our job was done when we hit the end card, back in the day when we had punch cards. But that wall, was frankly was a false wall, and what we never thought through, I think clearly enough into what that code actually did for the end-user. So I think with the new executive order and clearly the focus on the veterans' experience in the VA, that wall came crumbling down for me particularly. It was really a great place to work and a great place to exercise this whole idea of customer... | |||
| 10 Apr 2024 | Exploring AI Trends and Cybersecurity Evolution in the Federal Tech Landscape with Jason Miller | 00:46:04 | |
Jason Miller is the Executive Editor of Federal News Network and has covered the federal technology space over the course of five Presidential administrations. He brings his wealth of knowledge as he joins Tech Transforms to talk about AI, the top things government agencies are working towards this year and his predictions around FedRAMP changes. Jason also pulls on his decades of experience as he discusses events that changed the nation's approach to cybersecurity and the longstanding need to have data that is better, faster and easier to use. Key Topics
Cybersecurity Evolution: Examining Technology's Political Neutrality and AI Commitment Through Administrative ChangesConsistent Focus on Cybersecurity Evolution Across Political AdministrationsJason expressed a clear conviction that technology issues are largely immune to political fluctuation and are a continuity in government agendas. Reflecting on his experience across five administrations, he noted that the foundational technological discussions, such as cloud adoption, cybersecurity enhancement and overall IT improvement are fundamentally preserved through transitions in political leadership. He highlighted that the drive to enhance government IT is typically powered by the resilience and dedication of public servants, who generally carry on valuable reforms and initiatives regardless of the sitting administration's politics. These individuals are essential to sustaining progress and ensuring that technology remains a key priority for effective governance. Federal IT Policies Consistency: "No one comes in and says, I'm against AI, or cloud is bad, move back on premise, or cybersecurity, defund cybersecurity. I think those are the issues that stay the same." — Jason Miller Executive Orders and AI AdoptionAddressing the specifics of executive orders, particularly those influencing the implementation and development of artificial intelligence (AI), Jason examined their historical persistence and their potential to shape operational practices in the government sector. He and Mark discussed how the stability of AI-related orders through various administrations is indicative of a broader governmental consensus on the integral role AI holds in modernizing federal operations. Despite changes in leadership, the incoming officials frequently uphold the momentum established by their predecessors when it comes to leveraging AI. Indicating a shared, bipartisan recognition of its strategic importance to the government's future capabilities and efficiencies. Cybersecurity Evolution: Zero Trust Principles and Network Security Challenges in Federal AgenciesZero Trust and Cybersecurity BudgetingDuring the podcast, Carolyn and Jason delve into the current trends and expectations for federal cybersecurity advancements, with a particular focus on zero trust architecture. Their discussion acknowledged that agencies are on a tight schedule to meet the... | |||
| 23 Aug 2023 | Building a Community of Trust with Tom Billington, CEO of Billington CyberSecurity | 00:38:51 | |
Tom Billington, CEO of Billington CyberSecurity and Producer of the Billington CyberSecurity Summit, joins Carolyn and co-host Mark Senell to discuss the upcoming 14th Annual Billington CyberSecurity Summit, what goes into creating a valuable community for both the government and the commercial sector, and the important topics that will be the basis for this year's conference. Key Topics
Quotable QuotesOn Founding Billington Cybersecurity Summit: "I really started this business to be distinctly patriotic, to provide a serious dialogue in a way that I felt wasn't really being done at that time...So breaking into the federal cybersecurity community, to be honest, was hard as an entrepreneur. We had to build trusted relationship after trusted relationship. Over the course of 14 years, it's become decidedly easier now, now that we have had the privilege of having those trusted relationships." On Zero Trust: "Many of the areas that zero trust encompasses have been around since the profession has existed in cybersecurity. But at no other time has the U.S. government proclaimed the importance of this overarching field as it has in the last few years. So it becomes important for the government. It becomes important for the industry leaders who serve them." On International Cyber Collaboration: "So it's not just the U.S. team sport. It's an international team sport. The partnership with our international allies is crucially important." About Our GuestBefore launching his company in 2010, Tom Billington spent nearly two decades producing hundreds of events, publications and articles for four of the world’s leading media companies: Reader’s Digest, Phillips Business Information, BNA (now Bloomberg BNA) and Thomson Reuters. Now, Tom is the CEO and Founder of Billington CyberSecurity, a leading independent education company founded in 2010 with an exclusive focus on cybersecurity education. Every year, he hosts the Billington Cybersecurity Summit, which is known as the world's leading government summit on cybersecurity with the unique educational mission of convening the who's who in cybersecurity: the senior leadership from the U.S. government, our allied partners, and their industry and academic partners. Episode Links
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| 09 Feb 2022 | Unbelievable Lessons with Greg Crabb Former Chief Information Security Officer of the US Postal Service | 00:39:24 | |
What does it take to secure 160 million Americans privacy? Greg Crabb, former Chief Information Security Officer at US Postal Service joins Tech Transforms to talk about his experiences from his time as Projects Coordinator for International Fraud to his role in the 2020 US Presidential Election. Episode Table of Contents
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Greg Crabb in the House, Founder of 10-8 CyberCarolyn: Today, our guest is a rockstar. His background just blew me away. Greg Crabb, founder of 10-8 Cyber and strategic advisor to several organizations, but that doesn't even scratch the tip of the iceberg of who our guest is today. Greg: Thank you, Carolyn. I enjoy the opportunity to chat. Carolyn: You recently retired after... | |||
| 31 Aug 2022 | The Scoop on Defense with Colin Demarest | 00:36:09 | |
Colin Demarest, Defense Networks and Cyber Reporter at C4ISRNET joins Tech Transforms to talk about some of his recent articles focused on 5G, aerial networks, and upcoming Capability Sets. Listen in as Carolyn and Mark learn about the ever-evolving field of defense and what emerging technology can do to support the mission. Episode Table of Contents
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| 28 Sep 2022 | So What? Federal News Roundup on Zero Trust with Paul Puckett, Director of the Army’s Enterprise Cloud Management Agency | 00:56:33 | |
Paul Puckett, Director of the Army’s Enterprise Cloud Management Agency joins Tech Transforms to shed some light on one of government technology's most used buzzwords: Zero Trust. Listen in as Carolyn and Tracy learn what it really means to remove implicit trust and how agencies are prioritizing user experience and data protection. Episode Table of Contents
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| 26 Jan 2022 | Transformative Data with NTIS's Chakib Chraibi | 00:35:25 | |
With transformative technologies such as AI and Machine Learning, government agencies can help achieve goals, detect fraud, and create data-driven strategies. Chief Data Scientist and ODS Acting Associate Director at NTIS, US Department of Commerce Chakib Chraibi joins tech transforms to discuss his insights on helping the US Federal agencies and citizens use data to enhance any mission. Episode Table of Contents
Episode Links and ResourcesDelivering Transformative Data SolutionsCarolyn: Today, we got to talk to Dr. Chakib Chraibi. He’s the Chief Data Scientist in the US Department of Commerce, National Technical Information Service, or NTIS, and acting associate director for the Office of Data Services. He provides expertise and assistance to government agencies in harnessing innovative technologies and delivering data-driven solutions to achieve mission impact within the NTIS framework. Chakib, welcome to Tech Transforms. Let's start with a brief overview of your role at NTIS as well as the role of NTIS within government agencies. Chakib: NTIS is a bureau within the US Department of Commerce. We want to think about NTIS as the best-kept secret in government. What I'm going to say about NTIS is going to resonate with a lot of our listeners. NTIS is a very interesting agency that is focused on data science and data innovation. It was created shortly after the Second World War. The main task at that point was to gather all the information collected from the Second World War that dealt with technical research, et cetera. It became a repository of information for the government. They dealt with any technical papers or publications from the civilian side. But in the 1990s, the internet happened. And so, we're still doing that. We have one of the largest libraries. We're continuing collecting that information, but Congress has thought about focusing us on a different mission at that time. It is actually a great idea, and which is about data science. Our Main Focus at NTISChakib: Currently, that's our main focus at NTIS. We provide a unique pathway for federal agencies towards innovation and digital transformation. We have an authority from Congress that allows us to seek out their partners from the industry, from academic institutions, nonprofits, to help federal agencies address national data center challenges. It's available to all federal agencies seeking an agile capacity to scale. It has quick access to private sector ingenuity, and expertise, to meet critical mission data priorities. We also use a very innovative framework. It’s based on agile methodology to be able to harness emerging and cutting-edge technologies. We operate outside the Federal... | |||
| 13 Oct 2021 | What AI Is, and What it Is Not with Willie Hicks | 00:31:46 | |
AI capabilities range from providing on-the-ground safety for US soldiers, to removing the time delay of the Mars drone. But what misconceptions are there about Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning? Join as Carolyn and Mark welcome Willie Hicks Public Sector CTO at Dynatrace on to debunk myths and confirm beliefs about the power of AI. Episode Table of Contents
Episode Links and ResourcesWillie Unpacks What AI IsCarolyn: Today, we get to talk to Willie Hicks, CTO of Dynatrace public sector, on the very hot topic of artificial intelligence. Willie is going to unpack what AI really is and isn't. Apparently, I will not be having an in home version of Star Trek's Data to do light chores anytime soon, spoiler alert. But we also get into the nuances of AI versus ML, how the government is developing and using AI. Willie is going to tackle the recent National Security Commission on artificial intelligence final reports. He's going to share his biggest takeaways from the 800-page report. That's going to save us from actually having to read anything. Finally, we're going to discuss how he has seen the industry and the government partner in AI, the wins, the losses, and how we can do better. I want to go straight to our topic of the day and just have you level set us on AI. Define what we're talking about here. Willie: When I think about and talk to people about AI, often I get the question, "What is AI?" We can talk about it from the strict definition of AI, if you wanted me to rattle off the Oxford English dictionary version of it. It is a theory in the development of computer systems that can perform tasks. These are normal tasks that humans would do, so it's artificial intelligence. But in reality, AI is more than that definition. A Task-Oriented Type of AIWillie: Most people have heard or directly experienced AI in one fashion or another, and they don't even realize it. Every time you call into Amazon or some company to chat about a product that didn't arrive, or you're calling to pay a bill, you'll get an automated chatbot or an automated service. A lot of times, it asks you to speak to it, in a natural language. It is processing that information and giving you back some type of feedback. That's a very task-oriented type AI that you're interacting with. We actually interact with AI all the time, and that's growing day in and day out. If you've got devices, smart speakers in your home, you're interacting with a type of AI. Or if you are using a lot of systems today on computers that are trying to keep you from gaming the system, like they're getting a lot more complex. The CAPTCHAs and things like that are getting more complex to try to understand when other bots are trying to get into the system. All of these types of systems are some types of AI. Now, we'll get into this later. There are different types of AI. There's what you were just talking about, Data. I would love to have Data in my house, or Jarvis. Not Skynet, but one of those AIs that has a more general purpose that doesn't exist. Those types of AI don't exist today, except in science fiction. Carolyn: At all? Willie: Not really, at least not that we know of. If they're in a secret lab somewhere, we don't know about it. How People Misuse What AI IsMark: They probably do at Bill Gates'... | |||
| 11 May 2022 | Observability Explained with Mike Maciag | 00:46:23 | |
Mike Maciag, Chief Marketing Officer at Dynatrace joins Tech Transforms to talk about the power of observability. Careful monitoring is of paramount importance for any successful operation, and observability can take your agency to the next level. Listen in as Carolyn and Mark get some tips and tricks for improving cybersecurity posture with the most accurate technology. Episode Table of Contents
Episode Links and ResourcesThe Vital Role That Observability Plays in ITCarolyn: Today, we get to welcome Mike Maciag, who is Chief Marketing Officer of Dynatrace. One of our own, one of the clan is here with us today. And as CMO, Mike is responsible for Dynatrace's global marketing organization. We're really excited to hear his expert opinion on observability and the vital role that it plays in IT, and especially the cloud. Mike: Thank you, Carolyn. Mark, nice to be with you both today. And I know this is a long time in coming, but I'm excited to be sitting down and talking to you today. Carolyn: We've been able to talk to a few of our guests a little bit about APM. And just recently we talked to a former CIO at VA. He is very bullish on APM, and he talked a lot about the advances that they were able to make in the VA with APM. Just that at least within the VA, APM moved from a nice to have to a must-have. And what I'd really like to hear you talk about, just to dive right in, Mike, is so there's the APM part. But then in my mind and I might be positioning this wrong. In my mind, I think that observability is like APM 2.0. But can you speak to that APM versus observability? What's the difference? Mike: As long as we're talking about terms, we might want to mix monitoring in there as well. All terms that are thrown around, is it monitoring, is it APM, is it observability? And it's changed, it's changed a lot. Let me start with the simplest definition, then maybe we can unpack it from there. Think of observability as the umbrella term, as the broadest umbrella term that goes above all of this. Monitoring, APM, ObservabilityMike: Observability fully includes APM, and observability also subsumes monitoring, both of the things that we've been doing. There are kind of two megatrends in the industry that have been driving this move towards observability. One is the move to the cloud. More and more systems are moving to cloud architectures, probably more important digitally native architectures. We're going from monolithic systems that we could understand, that we could see, that we could touch. We could understand what's happening with them into cloud increasingly complex, even multi-cloud architectures that are driven by microservices and the like. The reason for that movement is it has made digital transformation, application development faster and easier in that regard. Which is this digital transformation fundamentally looking at everything that I've been doing in every aspects of my business. Whether it be on the front end or in the services I provide. Whether it be on the front end or in the backend machine to machine conversations is happening in cloud architectures. And we're trying to figure out how we can automate more of it and things are happening that... | |||
| 03 Nov 2021 | Kessel Run: Originally Chartered to Create Culture Change, with Captain Jazmin Furtado US SpaceForce | 00:26:51 | |
Find out how the DoD's Kessel Run Office is digitalizing longtime manual processes through AI, taking the military to the next level of its digital transformation. Listen as Captain Jazmin Furtado talks about her experience with Kessel Run, and now Space Force, spreading a culture of data driven communication. *Disclaimer* The opinions expressed in this episode are those of Jazmin Furtado, our presenter, and do not necessarily reflect those of the Department of Defense, U.S. Air Force, or U.S. Space Force. Episode Table of Contents
Episode Links and ResourcesCaptain Jazmin Furtado of the US Space ForceCarolyn: Our guest this morning is Captain Jazmin Furtado. She’s a military officer with the US Space Force and a data science and artificial intelligence leader. Before joining the Space Force, Jazmin worked as a military officer for the United States Air Force for over four years. The information expressed in this episode are those of Jazmin, our presenter. They do not necessarily reflect those of the Department of Defense, US Air Force, or US Space Force. So Jazmin, talk to us a little bit about your journey. How you started with the Air Force, what you did there and how you ended up with the US Space Force. Jazmin: I went to the Air Force Academy and graduated there in 2016. The reason I entered was because the challenge was very enticing to me. I like the idea of being challenged, not just academically, but also militarily and physically. There was a big focus on leadership that I think is pretty invaluable. After I graduated from there, I was able to go to MIT and continue with my degree in operations research. I got my master's there. Afterwards, I am a program manager in the military in the Air Force. That's a little bit of a different background than most program managers have in the military. A lot of times you'll have a management background or an economics background but I had more of a tech background. The military is trying to figure out what to do with me for a little bit. From a Traditional Program to Kessel RunJazmin: After a year of being in a more traditional program management role, I was pulled into Kessel Run. I was there for two years. So I was plopped into that organization just to do AI because I had some sort of background. One thing about this space and you see this in a lot of the organizations like Kessel Run, is that you just figure things out as you go. You're put there with a very vague job description and you just have to figure things out. So I went in there initially with my operations research cap on knowing stuff about data science, machine learning, and AI. I was like, this is great. Then really quickly realized, that's just the tip of the iceberg in terms of capabilities that are needed to make AI actually applied. You need to put in, invest in the other 90% of the iceberg, which is the data infrastructure and that architecture piece. I spent a lot of time, the two years I was at Kessel Run,... | |||
| 09 May 2023 | The Scoop with Nihal Krishan Part 1: ChatGPT | 00:28:45 | |
Nihal Krishan, Tech Reporter at FedScoop joins Carolyn for a special two-part episode to talk about some of the hottest topics in government tech. In Part 1, Nihal gives some eye-opening insight on all things ChatGPT including security, privacy, and national bans. Episode Table of Contents
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| 16 Feb 2022 | Cybersecurity News Round Up with Willie Hicks | 00:26:13 | |
Willie Hicks, CTO of Public Sector at Dynatrace, joins Carolyn and Mark to discuss the top Cybersecurity news stories so far in 2022. Willie offers his expert opinion on the White House Executive Order on Improving the Digital Government Experience, the recent Log4j vulnerability, and the Pentagon's new Zero Trust office. Episode Table of Contents
Episode Links and ResourcesUnpacking the Biggest Headlines in Cybersecurity NewsCarolyn: Today we talked to Willie Hicks, Dynatrace public sector CTO. He’ll unpack some of the biggest headlines of late from the Executive Order on Transforming Federal Customer Experience and Service Delivery to Log4j. I know Willie, you're so sick of this topic, but we're going to cover it anyway, and then Zero Trust Thunderdome Awards. I want to go first to the Executive Order requiring improving the digital government experience. Willie, will you give us the big takeaways from this Executive Order? What does it mean for our agencies? Willie: First of all, I think that the Executive Order on Transforming is transforming the federal customer experience. It is going to impact the agencies, but I also think it's going to impact the digital citizens of the day, the real customers of the federal government. I think President Biden reiterated this, it’s supposed to be a government for the people, by the people. We're trying to put people back into the equation. I think the big takeaway for me is that the federal government is coming back into or getting to a point where they're really understanding that customer experience, well, they already understood it. But they’re really starting to internalize and figure out how to make customer experience like the customer experience most citizens expect to see with anybody who shops on Amazon, anyone who does a Google search. A Fundamental Shift in Customer ExperienceWillie: They expect, with the push of a button, that they got all the groceries shipped to them the next day or the same day. That kind of experience you do not get with the federal government today. I think that we're seeing a fundamental shift now, not just that kind of digital experience, but I think across the board. Like when you even walk into a brick or a mortar building, when you interface on the phone with a government employee, I think we're going to start, hopefully, seeing more customer-focused, customer-centric type attitudes. This is really long overdue. I've been in this business for many years. I remember one of my early visits to a federal agency that will remain nameless, but I was speaking to this agency about what we call our digital user experience. How we need to focus on the real metric who's the end user. Right now, you are focused on the back end. You're focused on, is the server up... | |||
| 06 Oct 2021 | A Culture Built on Moxie with Tracy Bannon | 00:30:15 | |
Building a culture starts with communication and a willingness to change. Tracy Bannon Senior Principal / Software Architect & DevOps Strategic Advisor at MITRE and ambassador for the DevOps Institute talks with Carolyn and Mark about her recent event #StraightTalk4Gov hosted by the DevOps Institute. Listen as Tracy outlines ways to create a culture of comfortability in the government technology workspace. Episode Table of Contents
Episode Links and Resources - Culture Built on MoxieA Straight Talk Featuring a Culture Built on MoxieCarolyn: Our guest today, Tracy, is a returning guest. She's senior principal, software architect, and DevOps strategic advisor at MITRE. Tracy Bannon is just an all-around badass. She’s an ambassador for the DevOps Institute. We had her a few weeks ago, we talked a little bit about a conference that was her brainchild. She facilitated it. Straight Talk, that's what we want to talk about today. Which, by the way, the conference is still on demand. You can rewatch these sessions that we're about to talk about. Tell us how it went overall, and what was some feedback that you've been getting from attendees? Tracy: Overall, it went very well. We didn't expect the spike in folks who registered for it. Even during special sessions, when folks saw the different sessions happening. We're getting real-time registrations happening and people joining. There's such a thirst for going beyond the technology. That's what this was all about, taking a step past the technology. Overall, it went very well. The feedback that we're getting has been, I want more, can I meet with X, Y, Z, I want to talk to Brian directly. So, folks who have done the different sessions, where they want to talk to Don, they want to meet up. They want to keep going, which is exactly what we wanted to have happened. We wanted to start those organic connections with people. Mark: What made Straight Talk for government different than other events that you've participated in? A Shiny Quarter Organization with A Culture Built on MoxieTracy: Let me track it back to why I was so passionate to get this going in the first place. Every time I deal with a government sponsor, with the government client, they'll often say, I need to do some DevOps. I need to be like this group over here. It's almost always, exclusively, pointing at something in the commercial area that's a shiny quarter organization, I want to be like Netflix. Well, do you really need to be like Netflix? What's important about that? But there's also a focus on the technical pieces of it. I can go and get an excellent Udemy course, I can go to Cloud Guru. And I can get really awesome technical advice on how to accomplish the building of the pipeline. But what's missing is the front matter, the architecture, the engineering, the people, the process, and culture.... | |||
| 14 Sep 2022 | The Power of Partnerships: Bringing Speed and Security with Amy Belcher | 00:27:57 | |
Amy Belcher, Independent Software Vender Sales and Go To Market Leader at Amazon Web Services joins Tech Transforms to talk about her team's mission to satisfy compliance for agencies across the globe. With speed to deployment, flexibility and security, Amy and her team support organizations maximizing local control and global reach. Episode Table of Contents
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| 29 Nov 2023 | Patrick Johnson on Unlocking the Potential: Enhancing Cyber Workforce and Technology in the Department of Defense | 00:47:01 | |
Have no fear, your new wingman is here! AI is by your side and ready to help you multiply your abilities. Patrick Johnson, Director of the Workforce Innovation Directorate at the DoD CIO discusses how his team is working to further implement AI ethically and safely in areas such as human capital to expedite finding talent. Patrick also shares his passion for building cyclical pipelines to ensure that talent, and ideas, flow seamlessly between the government and private sector. Join us as we dive further into AI’s benefits and how government and industry can be cyber workforce innovation partners. Key Topics
The DoD's Cyber WorkforceCyber Workforce Improvement Is CrucialPatrick states that the Department of Defense's (DoD's) total cyber workforce, comprising military, civilian and industry partner contractors, is around 225,000 people. He notes that the DoD has the biggest gap in the civilian cyber workforce, which makes up about 75,000 people. According to Patrick, one of the key problems when bringing new cybersecurity technologies online is failing to adequately train the existing workforce on how to use and get value from those technologies. Training and Upscaling the Current Cyber WorkforceRather than pursuing full re-skilling of employees which can set them back, Patrick advocates for upskilling the current DoD cyber workforce. This involves assessing talent and capability gaps. Then providing the workforce with the necessary training to perform new technologies appropriately. Patrick states that partnering workforce members with automated processes like AI can help them become more effective by highlighting key info and threats. The Importance of Training and Upscaling in the Cyber Workforce: "Well, it's great to put new technology on the table. But if you don't take the time to train the workforce you have in the programs or the systems you're bringing online, you lose that effectiveness and you don't really gain the efficiencies or the objectives that you need to be."— Patrick Johnson Automation and AIAI Is Seen as a Partnership With the Human Cyber WorkforcePatrick views AI as a partnership with the human workforce rather than a threat. He emphasizes that AI should be seen as a "wingman or wingperson" that boosts productivity and acts as a force multiplier. Patrick explains that AI excels at rote, tedious tasks allowing the human workforce to focus more on creativity. AI Helps With Rote and Tedious TasksAccording to Patrick, AI is adept at attention-to-detail tasks that would be tedious for a human to manually perform. He provides the example of a cybersecurity analyst or defender whose productivity can be enhanced by AI highlighting anomalies in data... | |||
| 01 Mar 2023 | Veterans Affairs: Better, Faster, Safer with Dan McCune, Deputy Chief Information Officer | 00:45:04 | |
Dan McCune, Deputy Chief Information Officer at U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs joins Carolyn and Mark to discuss the transformative work happening at the VA. With millions of end users, Dan explains how his dedicated teams are working to make the VA better, faster, and safer for our veterans. Episode Table of Contents
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| 16 Mar 2022 | Government Technology In Sight with Mike Gruss | 00:37:59 | |
Mike Gruss, Editor-in-chief at Sightline Media Group has eyes on news related to all things DOD. He and his reporters are asking the smart questions when it comes to government defense technology. IT savvy leadership, user experience, and gamification are just some of the topics Mike unpacks in this episode of Tech Transforms. Episode Table of Contents
Episode Links and ResourcesThe Biggest Trending Topics in Government TechnologyCarolyn: Today we get to talk to Mike Gruss, editor-in-chief at Sightline Media Group. He’ll discuss some of the hottest topics in the IT industry. Sightline Media Group is the leading news organization covering military, defense, public sector, federal technology, C4ISR, and cyber defense. Today, Mike unpacks some of the biggest trending topics in government technology. We also get his perspective on the DoDs advancement in technology. Mike, I love having you on the show because you have such a broad knowledge. You really have your finger on the pulse of what's happening in the government. So you're over a lot of publications. Can you tell our listeners briefly about your role as editor in chief of Sightline Media Group and the different publications you oversee? Mike: Sightline oversees a number of brands, as you mentioned. I like to think of us as the largest national security newsroom in the country. We have two or three different buckets that our publications fall into. What we've really concentrated on the last year or so is working collaboratively across the newsroom. You may recognize specific brands, but I think our reporters are working across several brands or across the newsroom. There's the military times brands, which are Military Times, Army Times, Air Force Times, Navy Times, and Marine Corps Times. Those are geared toward the troops and you'll see those publications, obviously online. They're available at commissaries, and then there's also our business to government groups. What’s Happening With the Government TechnologyMike: Those are publications like defense news, which covers the defense industry and what's happening at the Pentagon and on Capitol Hill, the business and politics of defense acquisitions. And also C4ISR net, which focuses more on that network warfare aspect of the defense industry. The last publication we have is Federal Times. It focuses on the federal workforce and what they need and what's happening there on a day-to-day basis. It's a lot, but we have a really passionate and skilled newsroom that thinks hard about these issues. They work really hard to get scoops up and to get enterprise news stories that will help people understand what's happening at their job and make better decisions every day at work. Carolyn: I love the specialization. Obviously, you get a lot of stories that are going to be broad across. But when you take it and get specific to the mission of the different branches and the different missions, I really appreciate that. Mike: I don't like to use the word expert because I think it's overused. But I'd say all of our reporters have a tremendous amount of knowledge in their field. They work really hard to ask smart questions, to be able to explain issues | |||
| 01 Jun 2022 | A Company Culture We Can Trust with Sara Jones | 00:46:48 | |
Sara Jones, CEO of InclusionPro joins Carolyn and Mark to talk about all things diversity, equity, and inclusion. Sara explains gaps in authenticity and perception and gives tech leaders everywhere new goals to strive for when it comes to company culture. Episode Table of Contents
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Why We Always Go Back to Company CultureCarolyn: Today I am really happy to have Sara Jones with us. Sara's a friend and we've spoken before. Almost all of our guests, even though we're talking about tech, they always go back to culture. We're going to talk about that with Sara today. Sara Jones is the CEO of InclusionPro. She has over 20 years of experience in technology, business development, law, and leadership. You were a practicing attorney, right Sara? Sara: For 10 years. I'm still recovering. Carolyn: So as the CEO of InclusionPro, her mission is to guide leaders in building inclusive company culture that promotes team performance and team innovation. She's written a book recently called Inclusive Leadership and the Authenticity Gap, that we get to talk about today. Sara: Thank you. And this is a fun opportunity for me to merge my love of technology with diversity, equity, and inclusion. As most folks know, it is pretty hard to do. I've had a couple of decades talking about this, so hopefully, we can share some really great learnings. Most importantly, I think for the folks listening that might be thinking "DEI again." Carolyn: Which stands for? Sara: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. A lot of things have shifted. I think a lot of folks come to this type of conversation with the old thinking in mind. I'd just like to invite listeners to get rid of what you know. Just be open to hearing some new thoughts around diversity, equity, inclusions, and things that we're able to do now that we weren't able to do even five years ago. That's my little plug for saying, "Open-minded today?" InclusionProCarolyn: That leads really nicely into my first question about being a recovering attorney, your love for tech. What inspired you to create InclusionPro? Sara: InclusionPro is the end of a long 20-year journey having diversity, equity, inclusion as part of my personal career journey. Now, it may not be part of everyone's and a significant part of that is because I did start in patent law. Having an engineering degree and a law degree, put me in an industry that had only 5% women and people of color. I get... | |||
| 14 Dec 2022 | Armchair Quarterback: Tech Trends with John Curran | 00:33:24 | |
John Curran, Executive Editor at MeriTalk joins Carolyn to discuss 2022 technology trends and shares his predictions for federal technology in 2023. Episode Table of Contents
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| 24 Aug 2022 | AI: Success is in the Research with Daniel Chenok | 00:47:17 | |
Daniel Chenok, Executive Director at IBM Center for The Business of Government joins Carolyn and Mark to talk about the importance of AI in the field. From democratizing data to improving office operations, application research is a key component for any government agency looking to integrate artificial intelligence into their mission. Episode Table of Contents
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| 22 Jun 2022 | Security Metrics: Measure Twice, Cut Once with Rick Stewart | 00:45:30 | |
Rick Stewart, Chief Software Technologist at DLT Solutions joins Tech Transforms to give insight on Open Source, Platform One, and DORA initiatives. Listen in as Carolyn and Mark learn about the importance of focusing on the right metrics when managing security bottlenecks. Episode Table of Contents
Episode Links and ResourcesOld Ways of Doing ThingsCarolyn: Today, we get to talk to Rick Stewart, a good friend. Rick Stewart is a Chief Software Technologist at DLT for more than 34 years. Do you really want me to tell people that Rick? That makes you sound super old? Rick: No, it has some relation to the old way of doing things, traditional ways. Carolyn: He knows the old stuff and the new stuff with 34 years of diverse experience in the IT industry. He’s progressing through technical and leadership roles in telecommunications, mobile entertainment, the federal government, and the manufacturing industries. Today, Rick is joining us to talk about DevOps research and assessments, or DORA, a term that is new to me. He’ll also talk about the four key metrics for increasing efficiency and delivering service. He will discuss how Platform One has advanced the cultural transformation to DevOps. Mark: Welcome Rick. By the way, Rick started this when he was six. Carolyn: That's right. I'm going, to be honest. I've been in the industry for a while, and I have never heard the term DORA. DevOps Research and Assessments make sense. I just haven't heard the acronym. They have four key metrics for increasing efficiency in delivering service. Those metrics are deployment frequency, lead time for changes, change failure rate, and time to restore to service. Will you unpack those for us? Rick: It's interesting that you say that because I attend several different events and conferences where we have, especially in the public sector, astute people that have lots of experience. Security Metrics As a First-Class CitizenRick: They're on this journey of DevOps or in the public sector. It's more DevSecOps, bringing security up as a first-class citizen. They were talking about the things that they capture, the journey that they're on, and their improvements. On one of these occasions, DORA was brought up. I think it may be a Q&A panel. It was surprising that a lot of them didn't know what this organization does, especially being so well versed in the cultural transformation, not knowing some of the things to focus on. I thought it was really important to shine a light on. Carolyn: Is it a federal organization? Rick: No, it's more of a community-based organization, an industry-based organization. We've got people like Jez Humble and Gene Kim and others that are involved with this. What they do is, they go out and they do surveys of not just the public sector, but the private sector, all organizations globally. They basically give them surveys and they talk about their... | |||
| 19 Jan 2022 | Intuition and Experience with US Army's Kris Saling | 00:44:41 | |
In an AI driven world, the role of intuition and experience can be hard to define. Kris Saling, Chief Analytics Officer for the Army Talent Management Task Force and Director of People Analytics in the office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army M&RA joins Tech Transforms to give insight on talent management within government agencies. Episode Table of Contents
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The Analytic and Technology of Talent ManagementCarolyn: Kris Saling is Deputy Director Army, People Analytics, and the Chief Analytics Officer for the Army Talent Management Task Force. She coordinates analytic and technology solutions, rights policy, and resources innovation to promote data-driven decision-making across the Army's people enterprise. Kris, welcome to Tech Transforms. Kris: Thanks so much, and I'm really happy to be here. This is going to be fun. Carolyn: So I want to start off with a two-part question. Let's start with the awesome poster behind you, of Sherlock Holmes. Tell us the story behind that. Kris: There are a bunch of stories behind that. The big one is people ask me why I went into data science out of all the things I could have gotten into. My usual answer for them is because I read too much Arthur Conan Doyle when I was growing up. I just love the idea of sifting through all this information, finding clues, and solving problems, and that just persisted. That's up there for some motivation, but also a huge Robert Downey Jr. fan. He established a smart AI, a corporation that specializes in sustainability work through AI. It's called Footprints. He took the whole Tony Stark thing and decided he was going to make that his real life. Carolyn: I'm loving him even more. I've always been a big fan. How can you not be? Kris: Yes, save the planet through AI, how can you not love that? Carolyn: Before we move on to your job, do you have a favorite Arthur Conan Doyle story? What's your favorite Sherlock Holmes? A Long and Unusual StoryKris: There's so many of them that stick, but I'm trying to remember the title of it. It's one of the first ones where he first meets Watson and just some of their banter. It is... | |||
| 08 Sep 2021 | DevOps: Pushed by Circumstance or Pulled by a Dream, with Tracy Bannon | 00:36:24 | |
Tracy Bannon Senior Principal / Software Architect & DevOps Strategic Advisor at MITRE and ambassador for the DevOps Institute talks through the original DevOps timeline. Join as Carolyn and guest host Steve Mazzuca find out what happens when Dev fraternizes with Ops. Episode Table of Contents
Episode Links and ResourcesDevOps Strategic Advisor and AmbassadorCarolyn: Today, I have Steve Mazucca or The Mas as I like to call him, co-hosting with me. It's always fun to have a conversation with you Steve. The hard part is going to be getting you to be quiet, so we can get our guest Tracy Bannon. He is Senior Principal, Software Architect and DevOps Strategic Advisor at MITRE, as well as an ambassador for the DevOps Institute. So welcome Tracy. Tracy: I'm thrilled to be here today. It's always fun to have these conversations. Carolyn: You are a striking woman with pink hair and you were in development, which makes you in my mind, kind of a unicorn. I would really love to hear your story. Tracy: I'll start with the pink hair and go backwards from there. I've had little bits of color in my hair for years. My mom was an art teacher. My dad's more on the math and the sciences side of it. I kind of have that left brain, right brain, need to express myself. Over probably the last two or three years, as I've been doing more remote work, I was having more fun with the pink and decided that it's the pandemic. Let's stretch things a little bit more. I'm just loving it. So that's a little bit about that piece of it. But as for me being a woman in technology, I actually like to come at it in reverse. To say that I'm a real technologist and not say I'm a woman technologist. It matters, but it doesn't matter. What's important to me, is I've always been so interested in tech. A Woman DeveloperTracy: Someone asked me, "When was the first time you realized that you liked computers and that you were into computers?" It's a long story, but I'll make it very short. I can remember building a computer out of a box and cutting and putting mag tapes on the outside. Yes, I just told you how old I was. And arguing with my brother on who got to sit inside it and be the brains. So I remember being real and I couldn't read yet. I remember that very vividly. It goes a long way back. Carolyn: Did you end up being the brains? Tracy: Yes I did. I happened to be a little bit bigger than him. Even though he's two years older, I happened to have the weight advantage. As for being a woman developer, I've always been in tech. I never thought anything about the makeup of the team. That’s because I always tagged around with my older brother and his buddies. I considered myself one of the guys. One of the gang would be a better way to put it. I realized about midway through my career that there was a little bit of uniqueness to it. As I would look around the room, I would be the only woman on the team. Now, occasionally there would be fantastic women involved, more on the database side of things, who had grown into that. Very few from a development perspective. We did see some spikes in industry, we saw that. But we're seeing that decline recently. But across my career, I tend to come at it that I'm a technologist. If you need to give me an adjective, make it real, instead of woman. But that's a little bit about me. A Technologist at DevOps Who Happens to Be a WomanCarolyn: I love that you want to take the emphasis off... | |||
| 06 Dec 2023 | The Future of Government Technology: FedRAMP, AI and Compliance in Focus with Ross Nodurft | 00:41:57 | |
As technology rapidly innovates, it is essential we talk about technology policy. What better way to get in the know than to have an expert break it down for us? Meet Ross Nodurft, the Executive Director of the Alliance for Digital Innovation. Ross dives in, explaining the evolution of FedRAMP controls and the recent, giant, AI Executive Order (EO) from the White House. Listen in to find out what this EO means for the government, the industry and the workforce as the U.S. attempts to implement policy ahead of AI innovation. Key Topics
The Future of Government Technology: Shifting to FedRAMP High and Accelerating Cloud AdoptionShift from FedRAMP Moderate to High for Sensitive WorkloadsWhen FedRAMP was established over a decade ago, the focus was on managing the accreditation of emerging cloud infrastructure providers to support the initial migration of workloads. The baseline standard was FedRAMP Moderate, which addressed a "good amount" of security controls for less risky systems. However, Ross explains that increasing volumes of more sensitive workloads have moved to the cloud over time - including mission-critical systems and personal data. Consequently, agencies want to step up from moderate to the more stringent requirements of FedRAMP High to protect higher-risk systems. This includes only allowing High-cloud services to interact with other High-cloud applications. The Evolution of Cloud Computing: "So right now, we're at the point where people are existing in thin clients that have access to targeted applications, but the back end compute power is kept somewhere else. It's just a completely different world that we're in architecturally." — Ross Nodurft The Future of Government Technology: Streamlining FedRAMP for the SaaS-Powered EnterpriseAccording to Ross, the COVID-19 pandemic massively accelerated enterprise cloud adoption and consumption of SaaS applications. With the abrupt shift to remote work, organizations rapidly deployed commercial solutions to meet new demands. In the federal government, this hastened the transition from earlier focus on cloud platforms to widespread use of SaaS. Ross argues that FedRAMP has not evolved at pace to address the volume and type of SaaS solutions now prevalent across agencies. There is a need to streamline authorization pathways attuned to this expanding ecosystem of applications relying on standardized baseline security controls. High-level Security Controls for Sensitive Data in the CloudAddressing Data Related to Students and ConstituentsRoss states that as agencies move more sensitive workloads to the cloud, they are stepping up security controls from FedRAMP Moderate to FedRAMP High. Sensitive data includes things like personal HR data or data that could impact markets, as with some of the work USDA does. Willie gives the example of the Department of Education or Federal Student Aid, which may have sensitive data on students that could warrant higher security controls when moved to the cloud. Ross confirms that is absolutely the case - the trend is for agencies to increase security as they shift more... | |||
| 16 Nov 2022 | Application Management for Federal Government | 00:40:32 | |
Andrey Zhuk, Federal Security Architect at CTG joins Tech Transforms to unpack the topic every agency is talking about: cybersecurity mandates. Listen in to learn more about Andrey's recent eBook breaking down who mandates affect, why they are important, and how agencies can successfully meet requirements. Episode Table of Contents
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| 25 May 2023 | Automated Governance with Michael Edenzon | 00:38:44 | |
This week, Michael Edenzon, Co-Founder of Fianu Labs, joins Tech Transforms to talk about why automated governance is so critical to mission success. Michael also provides some great insight into his recently co-authored book Investments Unlimited. Key Topics
Quotable QuotesOn what counts as evidence in the context of software governance: "Our real focus in that regard is trying to get people to realize that evidence isn't just this random metadata that's captured from here and there, but instead it's going through all of the enrichment and providing all of the context that's necessary for an auditor to come and reproduce those results that you're using to base your enforcement off of." - Michael Edenzon On how automated governance relates to Authority to Operate: "It [automated governance] is a method for achieving the ATO. So it can accelerate your ATO process and it can help you reach it faster, but what automated governance really is, is a means of achieving continuous ATO." - Michael Edenzon About Our GuestMichael Edenzon is a senior IT leader and engineer that modernizes and disrupts the technical landscape for highly-regulated organizations. Michael provides technical design, decisioning, and solutioning across complex verticals and leverages continuous learning practices to drive organizational change. He is a fervent advocate for the developer experience and believes that enablement-focused automation is the key to building compliant software at scale. Episode Links | |||
| 18 Oct 2023 | Insider Threats, Critical Infrastructure and Evolving AI, Oh My! with Grant Schneider Halloween Series Part II | 00:44:49 | |
In the second episode of our 3-part Halloween series, Grant Schneider, Senior Director of Cybersecurity Services at Venable and former federal CISO, discusses the frightening implications of insider threats, how we are protecting critical infrastructure, and what it was like working on cybersecurity in the White House under both President Obama and President Trump. Key Topics
Introduction to National Cybersecurity Awareness MonthPurpose of Raising Awareness About CybersecurityGrant explained that one of the great things about National Cybersecurity Awareness Month is exactly raising awareness and providing an opportunity to hopefully spend time thinking about and discussing cybersecurity. He noted that for organizations already focused on cybersecurity daily, the awareness month may not raise their awareness much more. However, many organizations don't constantly think about cybersecurity, so for business leaders and executives who may now recognize the existential threat a cyber incident poses, the awareness month offers a chance to have important conversations they may have previously avoided due to lack of understanding. National Cybersecurity Awareness Month: "You're only one bad kind of cyber incident away from your organization not existing anymore."— Grant Schneider Opportunities for Organizations to Have Conversations About CybersecurityAccording to Grant, leaders who don't grasp cybersecurity risks may personally fear initiating conversations to ask what the organization needs to do to address risks. National Cybersecurity Awareness Month provides an opportunity for these leaders to have the necessary conversations and gain education. Grant said the awareness month is a chance to discuss basics, like implementing multifactor authentication, patching and updates. He observed that much of the content produced for the awareness month focuses on cybersecurity fundamentals, so it allows organizations to dedicate time to shoring up basic defenses. Overall, Grant emphasized National Cybersecurity Awareness Month facilitates essential cybersecurity conversations for organizations and leaders who otherwise may not prioritize it consistently. Evolution of Insider Threat in the Intelligence CommunityScreening Out Bad Actors During the Hiring ProcessGrant explains that in the early days of his career at the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), insider threat mitigation focused on screening out bad actors during the hiring process. The belief was that malicious insiders were either people with concerning backgrounds trying to get hired, or nation-state actors attempting to plant individuals within the intelligence community. The screening process aimed to identify and reject potentially problematic candidates. Nation-State Actors Planting Individuals Within the CommunityHe mentions the... | |||
| 07 Jun 2023 | Power in the Age of AI with Author Paul Scharre | 00:47:20 | |
Paul Scharre, Vice President and Director of Studies, at Center for a New American Security (CNAS), joins Carolyn and Mark to dive into his newest book, Four Battlegrounds: Power in the Age of Artificial Intelligence. From the first time he recognized the power AI could hold, to the ways AI may put us on a path to global peace, Paul offers valuable insight and perspective on the field of artificial intelligence and machine learning. Key Topics
Quotable QuotesOn Paul's main focus when working at the Pentagon: "How can we use robotics to help create more distance between our service members and threats?" - Paul Scharre Role of humans in AI: "Having data and computing hardware, having chips alone, doesn't get you to some meaningful AI tool. You also need the human talent" - Paul Scharre On adversary AI advancement: "Fundamentally, both the US and China are going to have access to AI technology, to robust AI ecosystems, big tech companies, startups within each country, and the bigger challenge is going to be: How does the military take this technology, work with its civilian AI scientists, and then translate this into useful military applications?" - Paul Scharre About Our GuestPaul Scharre is the Vice President and Director of Studies at the Center for a New American Security. Prior to this role and becoming an award-winning author, Scharre worked in the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) where he played a leading role in establishing policies on unmanned and autonomous systems and emerging weapons technologies. He led the Department of Defense (DoD) working group that drafted DoD Directive 3000.09, establishing the department’s policies on autonomy in weapon systems. He also led DoD efforts to establish policies on intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance programs and directed energy technologies. Episode Links | |||
| 13 Apr 2022 | Women in Tech Part 1 with Space Force's Jazmin Furtado and U.S. Army's Kris Saling | 00:41:23 | |
Women in tech unite on this special episode of Tech Transforms featuring Kris Saling, Chief Analytics Officer for the Army Talent Management Task Force and Director of People Analytics in the office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Manpower & Reserve Affairs), and Jazmin Furtado, Liaison at AI Accelerator and Data Strategy Lead at US Space Force. Carolyn, Kris and Jazmin discuss the impact of self-awareness and the importance of data education and fostering change when it comes to government technology. Episode Table of Contents
Episode Links and ResourcesIntroducing the Women in Tech: Kris Saling & Captain Jazmin FurtadoCarolyn: This week we are going full girl power, so Mark got uninvited. Today we have our Women In Tech panel featuring a couple of guests who have previously been on our show, Kris Saling, Deputy Director of Army People Analytics, and Captain Jazmin Furtado, a Data Strategy Lead at the U.S. Space Force and Space Force Liaison at the MIT AI Accelerator. Welcome back Jazmin and Kris to Tech Transforms to talk about your journeys in government technology. I'm really excited to talk to both of you again, but before we get into that let me do a little housekeeping. So I just want to remind our listeners that the views of both Kris and Jazmin are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of their agencies. I'm just going to say that for myself, too. Because I warned this, too, before we started. I'm like, "I got some stuff I need to get out." And I want to be able to talk freely today. Let's start talking about challenges that both of you have faced being a woman in the technology space. The fact that we even have to say, "Being a woman in the government technology space," other than, we're in the technology space and we kick ass. I hate that we have to do that but I still feel like we do. I'm already getting up on my soapbox. But, let's start with you, Kris. Some of the challenges that you've faced. Kris: So, it's one of those where I don't want to say there aren't any challenges. But I've encountered so many of these challenges throughout my career. I just hit 20 years last summer, I'm going to hit 21 years this coming summer. Yes, it's almost the summer again. Kris Saling’s Challenges for Being One of the Women in TechKris: So it's been a long time of sitting there with the typical, the anxieties, the imposter anxiety, the "What is my balance between being assertive. And how do I not come off as, "Insert your," kind of "The common anxieties"? It really hasn't been all that different. I've been trying to figure out the right balance of how to present different things. How to present facts so that they are listened to. How to present data to an audience where not only do we have the schism between having an audience that's operational and I'm on the technical side. But sometimes it's very obvious that I know quite a bit more about the subject than the people I'm talking to. I think one of the biggest challenges is I really didn't get to know myself and how I wanted to present these... | |||
| 15 Sep 2021 | United by The Mission, With Troy Schneider | 00:35:19 | |
The U.S. Government is leveraging technology to improve and accelerate the citizen experience. Listen as Carolyn and Mark learn more about the ecosystem of the mission from Troy Schneider, Editor-in-Chief of FCW and General manager of GCN. Episode Table of Contents
Episode Links and ResourcesThe Oldest and Most Influential Publications United by the MissionCarolyn: Today's guest is Troy Schneider, Editor-in-Chief at Federal Computer Week, FCW, and Government Computer News, GCN. Troy began his career in print journalism, and has written for a wide range of publications, including the New York Times, Washington Post, Slate, and Political. Troy, I would love to hear about your professional career. How did you become the Editor-in-Chief at FCW and GCN, two of the oldest and most influential publications in the public sector IT? You've had this long career. I'm really interested to know how you got into the government side of things, especially. Troy: I started in what most people think of as more of the traditional Washington journalism, more of the politics, and the campaign, the lobbying side of things. I worked for National Journal almost straight out of college, and was there when it was a weekly print magazine, not much else, and just starting to tiptoe into the digital space. I’ve spent about a decade, a little more than that, with different parts of National Journal, which grew into Atlantic Media Company over the years. I was lucky enough to be there at the creation of the digital business, moving to publishing and even online publishing before websites were the settled-on channel. Covered Congress, covered campaigns, all of that sort of work, and then made a pivot to a think tank. I’ve worked for A New America Foundation, which is now called New America, and went there to help them with their publishing efforts. The Policy SideTroy: I really liked the ideas and the policy side of things. It’s a very media-centric organization, where they knew they couldn't just be contributing op-ads to places, but really needed to have their own publishing channels. I did that for seven years or so, and got a call about a job with FCW, to come on as the number two editor. If everyone liked each other, to move into the senior role. It’s a little bit of a daunting transition to focus on the true government side. My focus for the first part of my career had been about all the stuff that happens to figure out what goes into the budget. To figure out what goes into the laws, to figure out who's going to be elected to those positions. In that politic-centric view, "What happened after the bill was signed?" The agencies got it. That’s just implementation details. Then you dive in, you realize just how big that set of details is, and just how important the operations are. FCW at the time, they wanted to be less about computers, because IT is so much more than that now. More about the policy, the business, and the leadership side. I’ve done a lot of work with emerging technology during my time at New America. We’ve crept a lot closer than we would have been when I was at National Journal. We would've seen each other in two completely different spaces, but there was enough overlap that it was interesting to both parties. I came in, in 2012, as the Executive Editor of STW. Stepped... | |||
| 10 Nov 2021 | Technology Lessons From the Smithsonian with Rayvn Manuel | 00:30:52 | |
Senior application developer at the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and Army veteran Rayvn Manuel explains why her job is the best job. From serving our country as a soldier, to serving our history through dynamic storytelling, Rayvn has a passion for development that shows in her work. Listen in as Carolyn and Mark learn about the innovative technology behind the newest addition to the Smithsonian. Episode Table of Contents
Episode Links and ResourcesThe Purpose of Technology Is HugeCarolyn: Today we have a guest who, as soon as I heard about this guest, I'm like, I want to talk to her. We've been trying for a little bit. Ravyn Manuel, welcome and thank you so much for being here. Ravyn: Thank you for having me here. This is actually exciting. Carolyn: Ravyn Manuel is Senior Application Developer at Smithsonian Institute National Museum of African-American History and Culture. The NMAAHC is the 19th museum of the Smithsonian that has been open since 2016. Since opening, it has collected over 36,000 artifacts and gained nearly 100,000 members. It was awarded the People's Voice Webby Award in 2017. Mark: Can you describe your role in the context of a modern museum experience? What that means and what your role is at the museum? Carolyn: Why do we even need an application developer? Having been through it, I have to look back and I'm like, oh yes, the technology was huge. I didn't notice it at the time. Looking back on it, the technology is what really bathed me and immersed me a lot in the experience, especially as I moved up. Ravyn: That is awesome. It was so integrated, that you felt it was just part of that experience from what I was hired for. Our museum is not just the only one that has application developers. There are other museums because every museum and gallery has a website. We have to have somebody on staff to actually maintain the website. I don't work on the website, I actually have three hats. The Whole Purpose of SmithsonianRavyn: One, when there are smaller exhibits and they are interactive. Those things that you touch, which are going to be contactless, moving forward. Those are the things that I develop. Or I will work with a designer like the UI, UX designer then develop these interactives. These will bring home the message that the education department would like people to take away from an exhibit. The whole purpose of the Smithsonian itself is for education. When we make an exhibit, it isn't just to have you have a feeling. It's also for you to have an opinion for you to be immersed in that history. To walk away with some knowledge that you didn't know before, or to change your opinion about what you felt before. My role as an application... | |||
| 28 Feb 2024 | Beyond Compliance: Elevating Cybersecurity Practices with Travis Rosiek | 00:42:26 | |
As technology rapidly evolves we as a nation need to anticipate the attacks that may come about as a result of that innovation. Travis Rosiek, the Public Sector CTO at Rubrik and former Leader at the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), joins Tech Transforms to talk about how the government’s approach to technology and relationship with industry has evolved over the last twenty years. He also discusses compliance, including FedRAMP compliance, managing the vast amount of data that is generated daily across the government and industry, and the importance of the U.S. Government building cyber resilient systems. Catch all this and more on this episode of Tech Transforms. Key Topics
Evolving Cybersecurity Practices: A Shift to 'Cloud Smart' StrategiesTravis's Perspective on Cloud MisconceptionsTravis discusses the early days of cloud adoption, which were often fueled by misconceptions about its benefits. The migration toward cloud computing was commonly believed to be a cost-effective solution that would reduce expenses and simultaneously enhance security. However, he points out that this was not always the case. Many organizations have since realized that the initial cost of moving to the cloud can vary greatly based on specific use cases and applications. This realization has led to a strategic shift toward what Travis refers to as a "cloud smart" approach. Highlighting the need for a more discerning and tailored evaluation of how cloud resources are utilized. The Role of Commercial Companies vs. Government in Problem-Solving: "Industry is great about solving problems. You know, driving that capitalism type of culture, building capabilities, selling solutions. And they're quicker to implement, adapt and deploy capabilities where the government is very slow in implementation of these you know, they can figure out the problem." — Travis Rosiek The 'Cloud Smart' Strategic ApproachTaking a "cloud smart" approach indicates a maturation in the perception of cloud services by government agencies and businesses alike. Rather than a blanket strategy of cloud-first, Travis indicates that there is now a more nuanced consideration of when and how to use cloud services. He underscores the importance of aligning cloud adoption with an organization's unique needs. Including the potential scalability, security and cost implications. This approach suggests a collaborative and informed decision-making process. Recognizing that the cloud offers a variety of solutions, each with different features, advantages and trade-offs that must be carefully weighed against organizational goals and objectives. Navigating Cybersecurity Practices in Cloud MigrationThe Balance of Technical and Non-Technical Implications in Cloud MigrationTravis discusses the intricacies involved in organizational cloud migrations. Emphasizing that these undertakings are not solely about technological transitions but... | |||
| 20 Oct 2021 | Strategize a Secure Foundation with Lonye Ford | 00:28:28 | |
When it comes to industry and government technology, who is the glue that holds it all together? Lonye Ford joins Carolyn and Mark to give her insight on roles and responsibilities within the cybersecurity field. From Lonye's time at the U.S. Air Force help desk, to her current role of CEO at Arlo Solutions, she offers a unique perspective on cybersecurity career path. #CybersecurityAwarenessMonth Episode Table of Contents
Episode Links and Resources: Secure Foundation
The Ever-Evolving Landscape of a Secure FoundationCarolyn: Today, we have Lonye Ford, CEO of Arlo Solutions. Lonye served for over 10 years in the U.S. Air Force and was named one of the top 50 in tech visionary at Intercom 2021. Since it's cybersecurity awareness month, we're super excited to talk to Lonye about her 20-year career in the cybersecurity field. Her experience on both the government and industry teams, and insights on the ever-evolving landscape of government cybersecurity. Lonye: Thank you Carolyn, for having me. Hi, Mark. When I heard the intro, I think I'm going to ask next time to move out with that 20-year experience. Makes me sound super old. Carolyn: You caught Mark and I discussing your age because we looked you up on LinkedIn, we're like, there's no way she's been doing this for 20 years. Lonye: I appreciate being invited, so thank you, I'm looking forward to this conversation. Carolyn: It's October. We have the best holiday of the year, which is Halloween, but also, super important, cybersecurity awareness month. We'd like to start out with you talking about your cybersecurity career journey. Why do you think it's such an important component of our lives? Lonye: Halloween is actually my favorite holiday as well. I have two little ones and so I get all into Halloween. Carolyn: What's your costume this... | |||
| 25 May 2022 | So What? Federal News Roundup on Remote Work with Elizebeth Varghese | 00:48:31 | |
Join us on Tech Transforms Federal News Round-up segment, So What? Hosted by Carolyn Ford and Tracy Bannon. This week, we talk to Elizebeth Varghese, Global and Americas Leader – HR Transformation Client Offerings at IBM about one of the biggest topics in federal news: remote work. Listen in to find out how agencies can implement a smarter protocol, how remote work impacts the trust equation and the role technology can play in the workforce culture. Episode Table of Contents
Episode Links and Resources
The Future of Work for Federal EmployeesCarolyn: This month, we're hosting Elizebeth Varghese, Global & America's Leader: Client Offerings in Talent and HR Strategy at IBM. And outside of IBM she's an active board member at South Asian Youth Action, a nonprofit providing after-school programming, education, and college support. She was recognized as Global Top 100 Influencer in HR for 2020. And we are glad to have you joining us today, Elizebeth, to discuss returning to the office, the great resignation, and companies potentially switching to a four-day workweek hybrid, all of that. Welcome Elizebeth, how are you? Elizebeth: Great, thank you so much, Carolyn. Wonderful and delighted to be here. Great to be back on here with Tracy as well, friend from a couple of years ago as we've been going through some of these pandemic podcasts. So thank you for inviting me and I am looking forward to this. Carolyn: Yes, well this one's going to be a fun one and it might get a little heated. I've already seen some stuff on LinkedIn. I'm like, oh, that gets my blood boiling about returning to the office. And I want to start off with a question, there's an article called "Three ways the future of work must change for federal employees." The article states that at the end of the day, we need to have an IT and HR Alliance. This was due to exceptional communication between the agency's chief information officer and HR functions. In | |||
| 21 Dec 2022 | So What? Taking A Closer Look with Nicolas Chaillan, Former Air Force Chief Software Officer | 00:52:05 | |
Nicolas Chaillan joins Carolyn and Tracy to shed some light on his experience in the Air Force and gives his thoughts on government movement in the past year. Nicolas talks about the importance of social media privacy and protection. Episode Table of Contents
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| 01 Dec 2021 | On the Record with Lonye Ford | 00:13:38 | |
Lonye Ford, CEO of Arlo Solutions speaks to some of the challenges she faces as a woman in the government technology workforce. Lonye has had success and challenges from her time at the U.S. Air Force help desk, to her current role of CEO at Arlo Solutions. Carolyn and Mark get a uniquely human perspective surrounding government technology. Episode Table of Contents
Episode Links and ResourcesLonye Ford Brings the Team TogetherCarolyn: Today, we have Lonye Ford, CEO of ARLO Solutions. Lonye served for over 10 years in the US Air Force. Thank you for your service, Lonye. She was named one of the Top 50 in Tech Visionary at InterCon 2021. You talked about your superpower which is to get the teams, all these experts with these egos, to come together. I'm wondering, when you walk in a room you have to be a little bit disarming. You look super young, you're a woman and you're African-American. When you walk into a room, do you think those things help you with bringing the teams together? Have you seen it played against you? Lonye: It's so important to ask those questions. To be honest, I have been feeling weird about addressing that directly. You come up in the military and you don't talk about sex, religion, color. Now, I'm asking a lot of diversity questions this year, because diversity has really been pushed to the forefront. It's really the first time I have been asked those questions before. We talk about it, but not in the open forum. I'm getting more comfortable with addressing it. When I first started, it did not help me. It was very difficult to gain respect. So when I walked into the room, I would tell people I had to be over-prepared. Not Because I’m a WomanCarolyn: Dismissed because of the way you look. Tracy and I talked about this a little bit. I want to be known for what I can do, not because I'm a woman. So I haven't even wanted to address those questions. It's like you know what, it's not about me being a woman. It's about me being capable. Lonye: I struggle with that. I'm going to give you an example. We're in an award for Moxie Group for DC, we're finalists. The category that we're in is women owned. My partner went back and she said, "Actually, I don't want to be in this category." That's how much we struggle with it. She was like, "I don't want to be in this category." We went back and forth. She's like, "Why would we get an award based on our gender?" So then, we went back and explained, this is where we're struggling too. I told her to think about the message also, that people are trying to integrate and highlight the work that women are doing. Is it perfect? No. Sometimes it'll come across as odd. No, but you also don't want to always push back when someone is trying so hard, explain to them. And then, we're still competing with other women. But her thing is, "I don't want to compete with other women, I want to compete with everyone. I don't want to be put in that category." I'd say that we struggle with that, too. We do. Lonye Ford Probes for the IntentCarolyn: I don't want to be on a panel for women in technology. I want to be on a panel for superheroes in technology. Lonye: It's important if we think about the intent. Personally, I don't. But if you think about it, if our intent is to serve and to provide this ability, there are a lot of women and young women that are looking at that. That has a very positive impact on them. So if you take out how you... | |||
| 20 Apr 2022 | Women in Tech Part 2 with Space Force's Jazmin Furtado and U.S. Army's Kris Saling | 00:26:02 | |
Listen in for part 2 of our women's panel with Kris Saling, Chief Analytics Officer for the Army Talent Management Task Force and Director of People Analytics in the office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Manpower & Reserve Affairs), and Jazmin Furtado, Liaison at AI Accelerator and Data Strategy Lead at US Space Force. In this episode, Carolyn, Kris, and Jazmin get real about the power of the collective, emerging solutions, and the importance to assess and provide within federal government technology. Episode Table of Contents
Episode Links and ResourcesMeditation Is Really GoodCarolyn: We are in part two of our women in technology panel, with Kris Saling, Deputy Director of Army People Analytics, and Captain Jazmin Furtado a Data Strategy Lead at the US Space Force and Space Force Liaison at the MIT AI Accelerator. On today's episode, we're going to dive more into government technology in general. I get Kris and Jazmin to do a little fortune-telling on where tech is headed. What advancements they've seen in their careers. And we get real with some salary talk. Just a little reminder, the views of Kris and Jazmin are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of their agencies. Now let's get to it on Tech Transforms with our women panel. I know that meditation is really good for the monks that live in caves in India. And I know that I should probably do it. Until I saw the science behind it and what it can really do for my brain. I dabbled in it. I never fully embraced it. And once I started understanding why it was working and that there was true science behind it, man, I'm all in. I'm just thinking of just one example of things that are good for me in my life, that I've been able to embrace and bring into my life because I understand them. I understand how they work rather than like you said, Kris, the leadership saying, "No, we don't give a shit about how you got there. Just give us the answer." Make The Process More EfficientCarolyn: But now you're getting people who really want to understand why. I would imagine that the program for the answers that you've been spoonfeeding them. The programs are becoming a lot more powerful and effective. Because the people who are taking those in the past spoonfed answers. Now really understanding them can truly implement them at a level that is a lot more powerful. Is that true? Kris: I would say that's definitely true because we're working on a couple of projects right now where we are trying to integrate machine learning into promotions and selections as a decision support tool. I'd never in a million years, would've thought we'd get a chance to work on that data and introduce something that is an algorithm into a just intrinsically human process. But we have enough people thinking along this vein. We have enough people looking at the data we've collected about how we read records and how we read files. And they're like, "There's got to be an easier way to do this. There's got to be something we can do to support the... | |||
| 01 Sep 2021 | Best Practices, Better Experiences, With Jonathan Alboum | 00:21:52 | |
What matters most when it comes to providing the better experiences for our citizens? Listen as Jonathan Alboum of ServiceNow outlines the importance of preventing information from getting lost in the sea of data. Episode Table of Contents
Episode Links and Resources
Moving Fully Into Better ExperiencesCarolyn: We're excited to have Jonathan Alboum, who is the federal CTO of ServiceNow. He was formerly the CIO of the U.S. Department of Agriculture before moving fully into the service industry in 2019. I don't like that term, "moving fully into the service industry". When I read through your bio, I feel like you've been in the service industry your whole career. Jonathan: Good point, I began my career after college. I went to UVA, same place that Mark went to school, but he went a few years before I did. Mark: You had to point that out Jonathan, thank you. Jonathan: He went when it was really, really fun. I went when it was just fun. But you know, when I exited college with a systems engineering degree, I joined a professional services firm. I worked at Pricewaterhouse and I learned management consulting, and we were doing services. We were implementing systems and different technologies for customers. Eventually, I moved to a smaller company. I was working on the same kinds of projects, doing professional services, helping organizations do modernization. We weren't focused on this big grandiose term of IT modernization or digital transformation, which were the same kinds of things we were doing. We wanted people to have better access to data and systems so things could happen more efficiently. It's the same kinds of things we're doing today, even if we use different words. I was in a service role before the government. When I joined the government at the food and nutrition service part of USDA versus the deputy CIO and then the CIO for that agency. Providing a Strong Service and Better ExperiencesJonathan: We're a service provider to the programs at the food and nutrition service. So if the office of information technology at food and nutrition that I was responsible for wasn't providing a strong service, the programs would find another way to get their job done. We could be shut out of that conversation. That's a terrible place for a CIO to be at. Cut out of the technology or the core business processes or the budget. So I always had a strong focus on service and that reality continued through my career. As I moved to general services administration, or back to the department of agriculture, to be the CIO for the entirety of the department, you have to be able to provide a service. I eventually exited government and found my way to ServiceNow. I’d say the lessons I learned along the way are in terms of what it takes to provide a service that people want to use, and that they will partner with you on. Those things really informed the way I go about doing my job at ServiceNow. ServiceNow, it's a technology provider that supports this idea of service management. It's not customer relationship management. We have tools for that, but you have customers, you want to provide them a service. Well, you have to think about the end to end workflow. How does the person interact with the system and what are they trying to get out of it? You think about it comprehensively. I feel like I'm... | |||
| 29 Sep 2021 | Autonomy of the Moon, with Mary Hagy | 00:36:11 | |
Mary Hagy went from serving in the U.S. Army, to showing our future generations that the sky is not the limit. Carolyn is joined by guest host Eric Monterastelli to learn about Moon Mark's mission and have imagination personified in Mary Hagy. Episode Table of Contents
Episode Links and ResourcesI Want to Be Mary HagyCarolyn: I have Eric Monterastelli as my co-host. Thanks for being here. You actually introduced me to today's guest, Mary Hagy. I listened to your podcast. You interviewed her on Break/Fix. Honestly, I'm telling you right now, I want to be Mary Hagy. She's cool. Like she has one of the coolest jobs ever. Mary Hagy is a veteran of the U.S. Army. She is a creative entrepreneur, storyteller, and civic enthusiast. She conceives, capitalizes, and executes profitable projects that have inspirational, entertainment, and educational impact across broad audiences. Her current project is Moon Mark. What we're here to talk about today will capture global audiences. With the stories of six teams of high school explorers who compete to become the final two that will design, build, land, and race to autonomous vehicles on the moon. Let me just repeat that. She's got a project that has six teams of high school kids who are going to compete. To become two teams of finalists that will design, build, land, and race two autonomous vehicles on the moon. They'll communicate peer-to-peer with young people who will become explorers in space and on earth. And open a talent pipeline for the workforce of the future. Welcome, Mary Hagy, CEO of Moon Mark. Mary: Thanks so much, Carolyn. I really appreciate that introduction. Carolyn: Let's start with, what is Moon Mark? Can you give us an overview? Mary: What you just described is very much a capsulation, if that's a word of what we're doing. When you think about Moon Mark, the idea really came from the notion that humans right now are on the precipice of commercialization of space. The DNA of Moon MarkMary: Yes, governments will be involved. They have been involved for 60 years. But also, the way that the opportunity for really getting to whether it's the moon or an asteroid or Mars or Pluto or whatever, we're on that precipice. It's the commercial industries that are going to get us there. We came up with Moon Mark and the DNA of Moon Mark remains that of the high school kids that happen to be that age. Human beings that happen to be that age, wherever they are on the face of the earth, they’re going to accept stewardship of space exploration. There are aspects to space exploration that are, I'm going to call them mistakes and paradigms. The space industry has really been all about the agencies of countries. Whether it's NASA, the Canadian Space Industry, the European Space Industry, whatever agency it is. What has occurred is that young people, there's no real access for them to be able to understand that they can be a part of this. Until now, it's been very much about, "If you want to go to space, you have to be an astronaut. And if you have to be an | |||
| 27 Mar 2024 | So What?: Understanding Disinformation and Election Integrity with Hillary Coover | 00:40:42 | |
Can you spot a deepfake? Will AI impact the election? What can we do individually to improve election security? Hillary Coover, one of the hosts of the It’s 5:05! Podcast, and Tracy Bannon join for another So What? episode of Tech Transforms to talk about all things election security. Listen in as the trio discusses cybersecurity stress tests, social engineering, combatting disinformation and much more. Key Topics
Navigating the Disinformation QuagmireDissecting Misinformation and DisinformationHillary Coover brings attention to the pivotal distinction between misinformation and disinformation. Misinformation is the spread of false information without ill intent, often stemming from misunderstandings or mistakes. On the other hand, disinformation is a more insidious tactic involving the intentional fabrication and propagation of false information, aimed at deceiving the public. Hillary emphasizes that recognizing these differences is vital in order to effectively identify and combat these issues. She also warns about the role of external national entities that try to amplify societal divisions by manipulating online conversations to serve their own geopolitical aims. Understanding Disinformation and Misinformation: "Disinformation is is a deliberate attempt to falsify information, whereas misinformation is a little different." — Hillary Coover The Challenges of Policing Social Media ContentThe episode dives into the complexities of managing content on social media platforms, where Tracy Bannon and Hillary discuss the delicate balance required to combat harmful content without infringing on freedom of speech or accidentally suppressing valuable discourse. As part of this discussion, they mention their intention to revisit and discuss the book "Ministry of the Future," which explores related themes. Suggesting that this novel offers insights that could prove valuable in understanding the intricate challenges of regulating social media. There is a shared concern about the potential for an overly robust censorship approach to hinder the dissemination of truth as much as it limits the spread of falsehoods. The Erosion of Face-to-Face Political DialogueThe conversation transitions to the broader societal implications of digital dependency. Specifically addressing how the diminishment of community engagement has led individuals to increasingly source news and discourse from digital platforms. This shift towards isolationistic tendencies, amplified by the creation of digital echo chambers, results in a decline of in-person political discussions. As a result, there is growing apprehension about the future of political discourse and community bonds, with Hillary and Tracy reflecting on the contemporary rarity of open, face-to-face political conversations that generations past traditionally engaged in. The Shadow of Foreign Influence and Election IntegrityChallenges in India’s Multiparty Electoral SystemIn the course of the discussion, the complexity of India's... | |||
| 22 Sep 2021 | Racing! Crossover Episode with Break/Fix: The Gran Touring Motorsports Podcast | 00:36:19 | |
On this crossover episode Carolyn and Mark learn about the power of racing. Eric Monterastelli, Public Sector SE at Dynatrace and host of Break/Fix: The Gran Touring Motorsports Podcast, joins the Tech Transforms team to talk about where the rubber meets the road in government technology. Episode Table of Contents
Episode Links and ResourcesAcross the Side of RacingMark: We have invited our friend, Eric Monterastelli to join us on a crossover episode for this morning's Tech Transforms. Carolyn: His podcast is Break Fix. Thanks for being here, Eric, and we're super excited to talk to you today. Eric: That's right, folks. It's not uncommon to see IT branding plastered across the side of race cars in many motor sports disciplines. Names like AWS, CrowdStrike, and SailPoint immediately come to mind. But for application performance monitoring and artificial intelligence, the relationship between technology and racing goes far beyond stickers and sponsorship dollars. As Carolyn pointed out, this is a crossover episode between Break Fix and Tech Transforms. I'd like to personally thank Mark and Carolyn for having us on their show to explore this idea. Carolyn: It's a little bit geeked out for me, so let's just get really basic. Talk about cars and racing first. Tell me how you got into cars and racing in general. Eric: I'll keep it brief because I think that could be a whole episode into itself. Gran Touring Motorsports was founded in late 2013, officially 2014. Our mantra is to continue to spread motorsports enthusiasm. The idea is that people understand that there's multiple disciplines to racing. Racing is a big part of our world, whether you believe it or not. The chemistry, the science, the technology, the engineering that trickles down into your daily car is incredible. It all stems from manufacturers using the racetrack as their test center. Think about it from that perspective. Here at GTM, we want to continue to spread that enthusiasm because if we don't, racing will dry up. Tied Into the Racing CommunityEric: That advancement in technology ceases to exist. We've been around now for almost eight years. We have our own podcast, Break Fix, we talk about all sorts of different things. Ranging from these super technical episodes, all the way up to advice episodes. Like, what should I buy, and things of that nature. Personally, I got into cars by way of genetics. From my grandfather to my dad, and to me. Hopefully I get to pass it onto my daughters along the way. We've been tied into the racing community for a very long time. I’ve been a high-performance driving instructor for almost a decade. Before autocrossing, I was a cart racer nationally. It's unfortunately in the blood. What I find most interesting about it is that there's a huge intersection between the automotive and the IT world. I also followed in my father's footsteps, who was a mainframe programmer. I’ve had the IT side, and also the racing side. As a younger racer, I was involved in things like timing and scoring. I went to work for British Aerospace, where I tried desperately to get in on their helicopter... | |||
| 05 Jan 2022 | Supply Chain from Fuel to Forces with Scott Hume | 00:40:41 | |
Logistics of supply chain could be the difference in a successful mission for on the ground forces or the cyber warfighter. Scott Hume, managing director of operations in contested environments at MITRE, speaks to the importance of tactical planning and innovation to assist our troops. Carolyn and Mark discover the best ways industry can assist the warfighter. Episode Table of Contents
Episode Links and ResourcesGlobally Contested Logistics StrategyCarolyn: Today's guest, Scott Hume, is the managing director of operations in contested environments at MITRE. Scott has been with MITRE for more than 20 years. He’s responsible for shaping the company's globally contested logistics strategy, particularly for one of its sponsors, the US Air Force. Today we're going to talk to Scott about how our government and our military enhance their capabilities in contested environments through partnerships with industry and academia. We’ll also discuss how the industry can best connect with the DOD to help safeguard our nation and support our military. Let's start out Scott with how MITRE does a lot of work with the Department of Defense. Can you tell us what areas and with which military branches you do work with? Scott: Let me first start out because some of the audience may not be aware of MITRE. In fact, when I came to MITRE over 20 years ago, I was disappointed that we weren't the company that made soccer balls and soccer cleats. I quickly learned that MITRE operates R&D centers for the government. One in particular is the Department of Defense, which is our National Security Engineering Center. Particularly of the 20 years, I spent the majority working with the Air Force. But MITRE works across all branches of the Department of Defense as well as the combatant command and the joint Chief of Staff. Throughout the Air Force, I always say that I've had seven different careers. At MITRE, I've been able to work in IT, cyber, command and control, programs, as well as counter improvised explosive devices. So counter IEDs during the war on terrorism. Remembering Pearl HarborCarolyn: What area of the military and the branches are you working with? Scott: Primarily I'm working with the Air Force, leading an opportunity to develop MITRE's globally contested logistics. Let me break that apart for you. When we talk about logistics, it's really anything from fuel, water, ammunition to food. It’s getting equipment as well as our forces to the locations that they're going to have to fight in. The contested pieces, I'll pause for a second and remember the day of December 7th, 80 years ago. So on this day today, an adversary decided to bomb Pearl Harbor and our forces there. That was the last time that we actually were in a contested environment across the globe. Where we didn't have freedom of maneuver, freedom of navigation and we're in that environment today with our pure adversaries. We no longer have the full freedom to move our forces or supplies, like some would call the greatest generation. Perhaps we can meet that same call as we look at how to, first of all, develop the capabilities our DoD needs to deter that fight with a pure adversary. But if that pure adversary chooses to fight, we have the capabilities to win and execute that fight. If you look at the logistics piece of it, it goes all the... | |||
| 18 Aug 2021 | The Marvel of Risk, With General Stan McChrystal | 00:41:14 | |
Risk taking is unavoidable when it comes to modernization. Best selling author and retired four-star U.S. general Stan McChrystal outlines 10 control factors to help citizens and agencies alike take smarter risks. Carolyn and Mark also get some early insight on Stan's upcoming book Risk: A User's Guide. Episode Table of Contents
Episode Links and ResourcesStan McChrystal of the Team of TeamsCarolyn: We are joined this morning by retired four-star U.S Army General Stanley McChrystal. We've had the pleasure of talking to General McChrystal on a few occasions. Good morning, General McChrystal. Stan: Call me Stan, and it's an honor to be with you again. Carolyn: Let me give our audience for those that have been living under a rock, just a few more of your credentials. So Stan is a former commander of the U.S and International Security Assistance Forces, ISAF Afghanistan. He’s the former commander of the nation's premier military counter-terrorism force, JSOC. He is best known for developing and implementing a comprehensive counter-insurgency strategy in Afghanistan. For creating a cohesive counter-terrorism organization that revolutionized the inter-agency operating culture. Is it fair to say, Stan, that’s the basis for your book Team of Teams? Stan: It was certainly the foundation of it, and then our study beyond that. Carolyn: Honestly, Team of Teams, just a little plug here, is the best book on leadership that I have read. If you haven't read that one, do that. But we're here to talk about a new book that will be out this October that is also sure to be a bestseller. Mark and I got to have a sneak peek. We got to read an early copy of the manuscript. We're here to talk about your new book, Risk: A User's Guide. We’d like you to talk to us a bit about the 10 risk control factors, and the four measures that are the foundation for your new book Risk. Calculating RisksStan: We decided to take on Risk as a subject because through my career, there had been processes to follow. Calculating risk and acting on that too, to be able to measure the threats or risks to your organization. But it never connected with | |||
| 31 Oct 2023 | It's Time To Bust the Ghosts in Our Cars with Eric Monterastelli Halloween Series Part III | 00:39:22 | |
In the final, crossover episode of our three-part Halloween series, Eric Monterastelli, Public Sector SE at Delinea, Founder, Crew Chief of Gran Touring Motorsports and Host of the Break/Fix Podcast, joins Carolyn Ford and Tracy Bannon to discuss the scary reality of car security. Is your car spying on you? Can a nefarious actor take over your car? Does your car know your deep personal data like your immigration status, race and more? Hint: It can and it does. Key Topics
The Intersection of Cybersecurity, Car Security and the Ghostbusters MissionGhostbusters Mission: Car Security & Car HackingEric Monterastelli talks about how cars have evolved to include more computing technology, which opens them up to potential attacks. He gives the example of a Jeep that was hacked to shut off while driving, demonstrating the real dangers. Tracy Bannon contrasts U.S. car manufacturers that use many third-party components versus Tesla's more integrated system. She argues Tesla's approach may lend itself to more car security. The hosts explore different potential attack vectors into vehicles, like Bluetooth connections. Mozilla Participants Share Automotive InfoSec InsightsEric Monterastelli shares findings from a Mozilla report about the wide range of deep personal data that can be collected from cars. Including things like facial expressions, weight, health information and more. The hosts are alarmed by the privacy implications. Tracy Bannon advocates that car manufacturers need to make cybersecurity a priority alongside traditional safety. She indicates cars are data centers on wheels, collecting information that gets sent back to big cloud data centers. They emphasize the need for vigilance from car owners about what information they allow their vehicles to collect. Concerns About Data Collection in Modern VehiclesModern Car Security: Braking, Speed and Steering PatternsEric discusses the extensive data that is now collected by modern vehicles, especially EVs. He notes that information is gathered on things like stopping distances, brake pressure applied, vehicle speed and overall driving habits. This data is no different than the type of driver performance analysis done in race cars. Automakers are collecting real-world usage data from customer vehicles to analyze driving patterns and vehicle responses. Tracy adds that the average new vehicle contains over 100 different computers and millions of lines of code that are all networked together. This networked data covers areas like powertrain functions, safety features and infotainment systems. All of this interconnected data presents opportunities for tracking very detailed driving behaviors. Privacy Risks in Driving: Collecting Personal Data and ConcernsEric cites a concerning report that modern vehicles can potentially collect extremely sensitive personal data simply through normal driving. Including information on immigration status, race, facial expressions, weight,... | |||
| 13 Mar 2024 | Advancing USPTO's Mission: Insights from Deputy CIO Deborah Stephens | 00:45:12 | |
Deborah Stephens, the Deputy Chief Information Officer for the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), “grew up” so to speak in the USPTO. Deborah led the USPTO on its agile journey. As the agency took on its “New Ways of Working, '' by moving people and resources closer to the work, she helped empower employees to build and deploy software. Deborah shares how she guided the agency through this 4-year change journey, gaining buy-in from the organization, which was proved by an engagement rate increase from 75% to 85%. Deborah also talks about what it means to be a HISP, running USPTO as a business that is entirely self-sustaining, and, in honor of Women’s History Month, the women who have inspired her along the way. Key Topics
Growth in Patent and Trademark RequestsSurge in Applications at USPTODeborah Stephens highlights a significant increase in the number of patent and trademark applications received by the USPTO over the years. This growth, from approximately 350,000 to 400,000 applications in 2012, with numbers continuing to rise, underscores the vibrant culture of innovation and creativity in the United States. The upward trend of applications is a positive sign of the country's ongoing commitment to innovation. However, it also presents logistical challenges for the USPTO. Including the need to process a higher volume of applications efficiently while ensuring the quality of examination does not diminish. Transition to New Ways of Working in U.S. Patent and Trademark Office: "And so in around late 2018, 19, we began our, what we referred to as our agile journey. We named it our New Ways of Working, which essentially is an entire USPTO effort. Including our business unit with 12 other business units, moving people and the resources closer to the work. Giving them that empowerment, to build, deliver, deploy software, product services for our business stakeholders, and that's both internally and externally." — Deborah Stephens USPTO is Adapting to Increased DemandIn response to the growing demand for intellectual property protection, the USPTO has been proactive in seeking ways to maintain and improve service delivery. Deborah discusses the agency's approach to managing the influx of applications, focusing on scalability and efficiency. Despite the challenges posed by the increase in applications, the USPTO's designation as a High Impact Service Provider (HISP) has had minimal impact on its existing customer experience strategy. The agency's foundational commitment to delivering exceptional service to inventors and entrepreneurs remains steadfast. With an emphasis on continuous improvement and the adoption of new strategies to better meet the needs of the U.S. innovation community. USPTO's Fee-Funded Model and Fiscal StrategyUSPTO’s Fee-Funded OperationsDeborah highlights the United States Patent and Trademark Office's (USPTO) operational model, which is uniquely self-sufficient. Relying entirely on fees collected from patent and trademark applications. | |||
| 02 Nov 2022 | So What? Federal News Roundup on Psychological Safety | 00:56:35 | |
Duong Hang, Deputy Director at the Department of Defense Platform One joins Tech Transforms to address a topic that's been circulating recent headlines: Psychological Safety. Listen live as Carolyn and Tracy learn how agencies and organizations can implement psychological safety to improve retention and operations. Episode Table of Contents
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| 23 Feb 2022 | On The Record with Rayvn Manuel | 00:18:59 | |
American culture and history is meant to be shared, according to senior application developer at the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and Army veteran Rayvn Manuel. She talks with Carolyn and Mark about some of her goals in her work at the Smithsonian and the importance of sharing our stories and understanding our history. Episode Table of Contents
Episode Links and ResourcesOn the Record With an Army VeteranCarolyn: We had the pleasure of speaking with Rayvn Manuel in November of last year. She’s a senior application developer at the National Museum of African American History and Culture and an army veteran. Following our regular recorded episode, Rayvn spoke to us about her opinion on some topics surrounding our history and culture in America. I went to the museum. When I got there, I felt a little bit like an intruder. It’s like I had no right to be there. Can you talk about that? Have you talked to other people who have felt that? Rayvn: Yes, I have. One of my really good friends, Chelsea, we were talking. I make costumes, and I make costumes for Renaissance Fair. Carolyn: I want to see pictures. Rayvn: I don't even let my kids see pictures of me in my costumes, but I love it. I was making her costume and she was just telling me how uncomfortable she feels. She's not African American, she's Caucasian American. She was telling me how she is confused about what to do because she has so much empathy for what's going on with Black Lives Matter. There are certain people in the African American community that will embrace people who are trying to understand. Then there are also other people who actually will make you feel like you feel, Carolyn. It’s like, you'll never understand so don't even try to understand. She's like, "Well, what do I do? So I don't want to come like I'm condescending and I don't want to feel like whatever." I think that what you do, part of that is guilt. A Big HeartRayvn: That you feel some sort of guilt for something that you had nothing or have anything to do with. You have a big heart and so much empathy that you just want to understand. Not only understand, because I don't think I could ever understand anyone that went through the Holocaust. I didn't feel like I didn't belong in that museum because it was an experience that I wanted to see. And I was in the army and I was stationed, actually, in Germany. I went to Dachau, and that is a place to get a better understanding of the culture, of the society. That culture and that society makes up our culture and our society, and we engage. I engage. In New York, I engaged with people who had grandparents that had to deal with things from the fallout from the Holocaust. I learned that my grandmother, this hurt me to my soul, this is why I became what's called woke. My grandmother told me that they were in North Carolina, her and my mom. My mom was little, and my uncle, they were not allowed to sit in the front of the bus. Up until that point I understood that that's what happened. I understood that from an educational perspective. When my grandmother told me about her and my mother, things changed. Mark: It became personal. Rayvn: Yes, I did. I couldn't because that's the generation before me. You can't feel... | |||
| 08 Feb 2023 | UK Home Office: Metrics Meets Service with Dimitris Perdikou | 00:36:54 | |
Dimitris Perdikou, Head of Engineering at the UK Home Office, Migration and Borders joins Carolyn and Mark to discuss the innovative undertakings of one of the largest and most successful cloud platforms in the UK. With over 3,000 technical users, and millions of end users, Dimitris sheds some light on his experience with SRE, User Experience, and Service Monitoring. Episode Table of Contents
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| 12 Jul 2023 | So What? Generative AI with Tracy Bannon | 00:35:18 | |
Tracy Bannon, Senior Principal/Software Architect & DevOps Advisor at MITRE, returns to Tech Transforms for our So What segment to discuss all things generative AI. Following Tracy's presentation at the RSA Conference 2023, she and Carolyn discuss everything from software development lifecycle to the potential that various AI models may have. Key Topics
Quotable QuotesDefinition of generative AI: "Generative AI is under the umbrella of large language models. And a large language model is just that. It is a model where vast amounts of text data have been fed in and it uses statistical analysis to figure out the likelihood that words or phrases go together." - Tracy Bannon On generative AI models: "It's only as good as the information that's going in, garbage in, garbage out." - Tracy Bannon Generative AI advice: ''Know that we have to really get focused on the ethics of using these tools. Know that there are big security risks, but get familiar. Get familiar. It isn't going to take your job today. It is going to augment many jobs, but it's not going to take them completely away." - Tracy Bannon About Our GuestTracy Bannon is a Senior Principal with MITRE Lab's Advanced Software Innovation Center. She is an accomplished software architect, engineer and DevSecOps advisor having worked across commercial and government clients. She thrives on understanding complex problems and working to deliver mission/business value at the speed. She’s passionate about mentoring and training, and enjoys community and knowledge building with teams, clients and the next generation. Tracy is a long-time advocate for diversity in technology, helping to narrow the gaps as a mentor, sponsor, volunteer and friend. Episode Links
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| 07 Mar 2022 | Unstoppable Women of Web3: Learn and Be Curious with Sandy Carter | 00:16:09 | |
Sandy Carter, Unstoppable Domains SVP and Channel Chief again joins Carolyn and Mark, this time to discuss the importance of diversity in technology. She gives us an exciting inside look at her event, Unstoppable Women of Web3. Sandy walks the walk when it comes to getting women and girls involved in tech. Follow her on social media to get the latest updates! Episode Table of Contents
Episode Links and ResourcesThe Vision for Unstoppable WomenCarolyn: So we have Sandy Carter back. The last time we talked to her, she gave me the 101 on Web3 and FTs, crypto. My head's still swimming a little bit but I'm actually really excited about it. She did a great job and one of the key things that Sandy talked about was for Web3 to be the vision that she has for it and to be really strong, it needs diversity. Today, we're back with Sandy Carter, renowned technologist, bestselling author, and current senior VP at Unstoppable Domains. She's one of the leading pioneers in the digital business and also a former Fortune 25 business executive. She is a leader focused on helping companies with innovation and digital transformation through culture and technology like AI and the internet of things. So let's jump into it. As an advocate for diversity and women in technology and your involvement within girls in tech, what advice would you give to women pursuing roles in technology today? Sandy: There's a couple of things. Technology is moving at such a pace that I think you need to develop this learn and be curious notion. Probably, what you're studying today in school or what you're doing today at your job will change significantly. Top Jobs Today for Unstoppable WomenSandy: I was on the diversity group for the World Economic Forum and one of the interesting pieces of data that they shared with us was that the top jobs today in technology didn't exist five years ago. So unless you're going to be stuck in an old legacy role which will decline over time, you've got to be continuously learning and curious about what's coming so that you're ready to go in a lot of those new areas and those new fields. Carolyn: How do we stay current? Getting a degree is a good foundation and things are changing so often. What are some conferences or certifications that you would recommend for women in tech? Sandy: There is a lot of really good material out there. There's so many classes and things that you can take just to refresh yourself, like YouTube. One of the things I do is to dedicate time every week. I mark an hour in my calendar every week. It probably could be more, but at least, an hour every week to check out something that I don't know about. Maybe it's quantum computing or spatial computing or a new thing that's happening in Web3. I'm always constantly on that front edge. I still remember when I was with IBM and I got selected to lead a lot of our artificial intelligence work. People were like, "Wow, you're so lucky to get to do artificial intelligence." I would say, "No, I'm not lucky. I've been studying this. I... | |||
| 25 Jan 2023 | N.W.O.W. with Jamie Holcombe, Chief Information Officer at USPTO | 00:45:56 | |
Jamie Holcombe, Chief Information Officer at USPTO joins Carolyn and special guest host Willie Hicks to talk about Zero Trust, PMO, encryption and more. Listen in to learn about the innovative steps USPTO has taken to develop New Ways of Working. Episode Table of Contents
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| 12 Apr 2023 | Design, Build, Deploy, and Maintain with Commander Jonathan White at U.S. Coast Guard | 00:50:09 | |
Commander Jonathan White, Cloud and Data Branch Chief at the United States Coast Guard joins Carolyn and Mark to talk about the groundbreaking developments his team is doing with C5I. Commander White stresses the importance of public-private partnerships, and gives tips on how agencies can better approach the future of technology. Episode Table of Contents
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| 14 Feb 2024 | From Special Ops to Cybersecurity: A Veteran's Journey in National Security | 00:50:48 | |
Sebastian Taphanel has spent his life on the cutting edge of technology and innovation. This week on Tech Transforms, Sebastian is sharing tales and lessons learned from his 20 years in DoD Special Ops and intelligence and 20 years implementing sound security engineering practices focused on implementing zero trust and highly resilient environments. Join Sebastian as he recounts his time in Special Forces taking his units out of the dark ages from secure fax communications to setting up an intranet, and how he continued with that innovative spirit through his 40-year career. He also shares his new passion, encouraging the industry to utilize disabled veterans to help fill both the cybersecurity and AI workforce gaps. They, after all, already have a call for the mission. Key Topics
Enhancing Secure Communication and Cloud Environments in Special OpsSpecial Ops Agility: Adapting to Remote Collaboration with Secure Cloud-Based WorkspacesSebastian Taphanel’s experience spans twenty years in DOD Special Ops and Intelligence, followed by consulting in security engineering. The focal point of this episode is his role in advancing cybersecurity practices at the ODNI. Particularly emphasizing resilient cloud-based environments. Sebastian describes the quick adaptation during the pandemic which led to the rollout of an ad hoc cloud-based workspace to ensure the ODNI's mission could endure despite the workforce being remote. GCC High, or Government Commercial Cloud High as conceived by Microsoft, is revealed as the successor to the initial setup. Providing a more secure platform managed strictly by U.S. persons. The approach highlighted the agility of cloud technology for remote collaboration within federal agencies. Cybersecurity in Intelligence Sharing: "Essentially, reciprocity is a process and also a culture of accepting each other's risks. And that's really the bottom line on all that." — Sebastian Taphanel Unfolding the GCC High EnvironmentThe intricacies of implementing Microsoft Azure and M365 (Office 365) are detailed as Sebastian underlines their pivotal use in creating an intranet with controlled document sharing and editing. These implementations include robust Mobile Device Management. Then a BYOD Mobile Application Management system that protects sensitive data in government and personal devices. Thereby, ensuring operational security and flexibility. Special Ops Communication EvolutionSebastian advanced from using secure faxes for interstate communication within military units to establishing a multi-state secure WAN. This resulted in a significant leap in communication efficacy for special operations. Sebastian shared the... | |||
| 06 Sep 2023 | Keeping Your Eyes Open For Opportunity with Sandi Larsen, Vice President of Global Security Solutions at Dynatrace | 00:33:13 | |
Sandi Larsen, Vice President, Global Security Solutions at Dynatrace, joins our host Carolyn Ford to share her perspectives on the relationship between zero trust and defense in depth. She also discusses her storied career, leadership and what it's like to be a woman in technology (although she dislikes the term). Additionally, Sandi shares her advice on identifying mentors, finding your voice and battling imposter syndrome. Key Topics
Quotable QuotesOn Finding Inspiration: “You just can't sleep on these pivotal people in your career whether they're ahead of you or beside you or even behind you, I’ve been inspired by people that I am mentoring.” On Having Mentors: “Find mentors, they are just invaluable and will be throughout your whole entire career, no matter what stage you're in. At the beginning, at the middle, later in your career, they will always be indispensable for you.” On Using Your Voice: “Speak up. Just have a voice. And if that voice in your head is planting doubt, don't listen to it. If it's coaching you on what to say and what not to say, and being wise about that, listen to that. But if it's planting seeds of doubt, you've got to you have to push it aside. And you have to take that step. Because if you don't, you might be missing out on the next best thing.” About Our GuestSandi Larsen currently serves as the Vice President of Global Security at Dynatrace. Prior to joining Dynatrace in November 2020, Sandi held various positions, including sales and systems engineering roles in cybersecurity and financial services organizations. Episode Links | |||
| 15 Nov 2023 | Unraveling SBOM Challenges: AI, Transparency and Policy Perspectives in Software Security | 00:46:45 | |
Meet the man on a mission to make software bill of materials (SBOMs) boring. In this So What? episode, Tracy Bannon and Carolyn Ford sit down with Allan Friedman the Senior Advisor and Strategist at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). Allan tells us about how he is working to change how all software on the planet is made and sold, no big deal right? Join us as we dive into the world of SBOMs, xBoMs, and Secure by Design. Key Topics
Challenges and Implementation of SBOMsSelf-Attestation for SBOMsAllan Friedman explained that there is currently a self-attestation model for SBOMs, where companies can sign a form stating that they have implemented SBOMs, rather than providing the actual SBOM data. This allows flexibility for organizations that are not yet ready to fully comply. However, it means buyers have to trust the attestation rather than seeing the SBOM details directly. Secure Software Development Model Compliance: "The challenge there is turning the framework back into a compliance model. Because, again, at the end of the day, everyone wants to think about things. Right? Understand your risk, but you still need to make that yes or no decision."— Allan Friedman Tracy Bannon noted some companies have concerns about sharing their SBOM data with customers, worrying that the customer may not have secure enough practices to properly protect the SBOM. Allan Friedman explained SBOMs do not need to be public - they can be shared privately between supplier and customer. Known unknowns in the SBOM can also help address concerns about revealing proprietary information. Debate About the Risk of Sharing SBOMs as a Road Map for AttackersAllan Friedman argued that sophisticated attackers likely do not need the SBOM, as they have other ways to analyze and reverse engineer software. Automated attacks also do not leverage SBOMs. He noted defenders actually need the visibility an SBOM provides into components and dependencies. There may be some risk of exposing attack surface, but the benefits seem to outweigh that. The Importance of SBOM for Product Security: "If we had this, we had SBOM across our products today, it would save us thousands of hours a year Because whenever the next Log4j comes out, if you have a centralized machine readable, scannable system, It's not that hard." — Allan Friedman Allan Friedman noted there has been some lobbyist pushback against SBOM mandates, often coming from trade associations funded by companies already implementing SBOMs. He said while healthy debate is good, many of the lobbyist complaints seem misguided or overblown. The Potential Role of AI in Creating SBOMs and Its Implications for SecurityCarolyn Ford asked whether AI could help automate SBOM creation, especially for legacy systems. Tracy Bannon cautioned that AI is not yet at the point where it can reliably generate code or understand large complex... | |||
| 09 Aug 2023 | Developing the Collective Defense with Ann Dunkin, CIO at the U.S. Department of Energy | 00:38:25 | |
Ann Dunkin, Chief Information Officer (CIO) at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), joins Carolyn and guest host Willie Hicks to discuss the National Cybersecurity Strategy and what it takes to secure a large agency like the DOE, as well as how agencies balance cybersecurity compliance and risk management. She also highlights the DOE's role in the Partnership for Transatlantic Energy and Climate Cooperation (P-TECCC) and the agency's relationship with its industry partners. Key Topics
Quotable QuotesOn the Collective Defense: "The principles of collective defense, which underlie the cybersecurity strategy are incredibly important. That concept that we can't individually be safe, we have to work together. Once upon a time, you'd say, oh, if my cybersecurity's better than the guy down the street, they'll go down the street and forget about me. And we just can't do that. We're too interconnected. There's too much work we do together. There's too many interconnections between our systems. We absolutely positively have to develop that collective defense. In addition, part of that collective defense is ensuring that the burden of defense falls to those most able to deliver on that." - Ann Dunkin On balancing risk vs. compliance: "The reality is we can't do all the compliance. And so we absolutely have to look at risk to prioritize it. But I would argue that you should always look at your risk and balance that against your compliance exercises. Because number one, if you do all the compliance and then you start risk mitigation, you may be missing something big. But number two, because you probably don't have enough money to do all the compliance anyway." - Ann Dunkin On workforce development: "I firmly believe that we need pathways to move people in between the private and public sectors. And we need to make it easier for people to cycle between those places over the course of their career to leave government, to come back to government and to learn from each other. And also for the government through DOE and through other places to help build a workforce within the government that looks like America. And then to help the rest of America grow their workforce capabilities." - Ann Dunkin About Our GuestAnn Dunkin serves as the Chief Information Officer at the U.S. Department of Energy, where she manages the Department’s information technology (IT) portfolio and modernization; oversees the Department’s cybersecurity efforts; leads technology innovation and digital transformation; and enables collaboration across the Department. Ms. Dunkin is a published author, most recently of the book Industrial Digital Transformation. Episode Links | |||
| 15 Mar 2023 | The Scoop on Federal Technology with Billy Mitchell | 00:43:49 | |
Billy Mitchell, Editor-in-Chief at FedScoop joins Carolyn to discuss surveillance, national intelligence, the benefit of partnerships, and more. Billy gives his perspective on today's hot topics in federal technology, and what he thinks may be coming next. Episode Table of Contents
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| 30 Mar 2022 | Consolidation, Innovation and Perspective with Eric Trexler | 00:51:52 | |
Consolidation, innovation, and perspective all need to work together in government IT according to Eric Trexler, VP of Global Governments and Critical Infrastructure Sales at Forcepoint. IT acts as an enabler of business in the challenging landscape of government technology. Listen in to find out what Eric believes the United States IT space should be focusing on in order to stay ahead of the adversaries. Episode Table of Contents
Episode Links and ResourcesAll About Innovation with Eric TrexlerCarolyn: Today, our guest is Eric Trexler, Vice President of Global Governments and critical infrastructure at Forcepoint. Eric is an expert in the technology industry with more than 25 years of experience with both the public and private sectors. And Eric and I used to host To The Point Cybersecurity podcast together. So today is actually a real treat for me to see your face again, Eric. So, good morning. Eric: Good morning. And it's bizarre being back on the air with you, Carolyn. Carolyn: So, today, we're going to talk about the perplexing and growing cost of cybercrime and how we can shift the paradigm. But before we jump into that, Eric, you have actually a pretty fascinating background. So, can you just tell us a little bit about your journey? Eric: My journey in IT? Or where would you like me to start? Carolyn: Let's not go all the way back to birth. Let's start at your Airborne Ranger days. How about that? And then how you got to where you are today. So yes, technology. Eric: So, I was an aimless kid at about 17 with no potential to pay for college. No easy path at the time. And I said, I'm joining the army against my mother's wishes to become an Airborne Ranger. The Requirement to Be a Navy SEALCarolyn: At 17? Eric: Yes. She had to sign the paperwork so I could join the delayed entry program. The military throws at you when you have a high ASVAB score, that's the entrance. And I had a high ASVAB score. So, I saw the Navy and they wanted me to be a nuclear engineer. And I just wanted to be a Navy SEAL back in the day before people knew what the Navy SEALs were. But you had to pick a rating, I believe they call it in the Navy. So, I'm sitting in front of the recruiter, and he's like, "Okay, but what do you want to do?" And I'm a dumb kid, I'm 17 years old. "I want to be a Navy SEAL." "Well, you can't do that. You have to have a rating. You have to have this skill at trade." And nothing, absolutely nothing was interesting to me. So, I left. I went to the army recruiter and enlisted. Because they'd let me be an airborne, I was unassigned airborne, technically.... | |||
| 21 Jun 2023 | Developer User Experience With Alan Gross | 00:44:21 | |
Alan Gross, Solutions Architect & Tech Lead at Sandia National Laboratories, joins Carolyn to talk about how DevOps is being leveraged to support the Department of Energy's contractor operated research lab. Alan dives into some of the initiatives at Sandia National Laboratories, and how he is applying his personal philosophy around user experience ops, or "UX Ops," to support the mission. Key Topics
Quotable QuotesAlan on DevOps: " DevOps is about trying to deliver quickly and learn from your mistakes as fast as you can. So shifting left is part of that philosophy. If you have security issues with your software, you want to know about that as quickly as possible, because if you've already deployed to production, it's almost too late." - Alan Gross On what advice Alan would give to new developers: "It's about failing fast and failing forward...How quickly can you learn new things, get new code and new products out in front of your users, and understand how they engaged with that." - Alan Gross About Our GuestAlan works as a full stack developer and technical lead at Sandia National Labs, with six years of experience in web technologies development. He develops within Python, Angular and .NET ecosystems, with a focus on enabling the developer experience at Sandia with novel solutions for the labs’ diverse development, software governance, security and business intelligence needs. Alan leads a team that is committed to reducing technical debt by emphasizing DevSecOps, modern application architecture (such as microservices) and data-driven outcomes. Episode Links
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| 26 Jul 2023 | Supply Chain Meets Modernization with Dr. Aaron Drew | 00:51:23 | |
Dr. Aaron Drew, Technical Director for the Supply Chain Management (SCM) Product Line at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Information and Technology, joins Carolyn to discuss the challenges of supply chain, modernization and risk management. Dr. Drew outlines the steps an organization can take to modernize and maximize applications for end users as well as capitalize on data analytics to better prepare our nation for times of need. Key Topics
Quotable QuotesOn identifying a need for a new tool: "If the tools you had before don't address that shift [in business], that change of dynamics, then that's when we have this gap. That's that delta between how you did business then and how I expect to do business tomorrow that will signify or call that ignition of this solution acquisition process." - Dr. Aaron Drew On understanding user needs: "Either you are meeting them [users] where they are, which is very important, or you've lived it, which allows you to relate and commiserate with those who are working across a day-to-day basis, that's what's going to bring you organically to the problem. That's going to allow both parties then to own the solution." - Dr. Aaron Drew About Our GuestDr. Aaron J. Drew is the Technical Director for the Supply Chain Management (SCM) Product Line at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Previously, Dr. Drew simultaneously served as the Chief Engineer & Chief Architect for the Financial Management Business Transformation Special Program Office (FMBT-SPO) and the Chief Engineer & Chief Architect for the Supply Chain Modernization Program. Episode Links | |||
| 04 May 2022 | Threat Team Purple with Richard Ford | 00:36:11 | |
Richard Ford, Chief Technology Officer at Praetorian joins Tech Transforms to talk about the cyber security threat landscape. Red team versus Blue team is a common and effective threat protection practice, but what could cyber security experts gain from team Purple? Listen in as Carolyn and Mark learn about the importance of managing your attack surface, implementing multi-factor authentication, and protecting against cyber phishing attacks. Episode Table of Contents
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Our Biggest Cybersecurity Threat in the Last QuarterCarolyn: So today our guest is actually an old friend, Richard Ford, who is Chief Technology Officer at Praetorian. For over 25 years, Richard has been able to design and implement NextGen product strategies and provide customers with the best threat detection available. Today, we're going to talk to Richard about the cyber threat landscape and what a good defense looks like. Richard: Hi, it's nice to be back on a call with you Carolyn, and Mark, it's good to see you. Carolyn: Yes, really good to have you today. So let's just jump right in. I want to know what your view is, what are our biggest cybersecurity threats? What does the cyber security threat landscape look like and how do we defend ourselves from it? So there's like three-part question there. Richard: So, we're starting with an easy question. I think the threat landscape is incredibly messy and I think that the most important part to think about is change. So if you think about just the last quarter or two that we've gone through you had, like log4shell someone we're all running around looking for log4j vulnerabilities. Then it's Spring4Shell, which wasn't as serious, but was still pretty nasty if you were impacted. The problem, we have this tremendous rate of change so the thing that was important to you yesterday may not be the thing that's important to you today. It's unlikely to be the thing that's most important for you tomorrow. So when we think about the threat landscape, the first thing to say is, if I give you an answer, it's like looking at a single, still image from a movie and telling you've watched the movie, right? Cyber Security Threat LandscapeRichard: Then as soon as we go click, you know that threat landscape will change. With that said, I do think there are some common themes that keep coming back, right? So there's a threat we have around being desperately short of people. There's a threat around, we don't know what assets we have. Even if we did know what assets we have, we don't know what they're running. Then the business conditions are driving us forward so quickly that... | |||
| 15 Jun 2022 | Improving the User Experience in a Zero Trust World: Event Recap with Willie Hicks | 00:29:59 | |
Willie Hicks, CTO of Public Sector at Dynatrace joins Carolyn and Mark to unpack the recent ATARC event: Improving the User Experience in a Zero Trust World. At this federal breakfast summit, sponsored by Dynatrace and Amazon Web Services, we heard from some of the most prominent technology leaders focused on Zero Trust including Nicole Willis, Jamie Holcombe, Mickey Iqbal, and more. Listen in as Mark and Willie give highlights and takeaways from the event. Be sure to follow the link in the show notes to see the full event On-demand! Episode Table of Contents
Episode Links and ResourcesGuest Speakers at the ATARC Event: Improving the User Experience in a Zero Trust WorldCarolyn: So today we're reviewing top takeaways from ATARC 's Federal Breakfast Summit, Improving the User Experience in a Zero Trust World. Which those two things, user experience, and zero trust, are kind of a direct conflict for me, but we'll get to that. The conference was sponsored by AWS and Dynatrace, and it's available on-demand for our listeners at ATARC.org. Also, we have Willie Hicks, our Federal Chief Technologist at Dynatrace. Willie, you were a keynote speaker at the event. I'm too biased to say you were my favorite so I won't say that. I mean, everybody was really good. Jamie was super exciting. Let me just review who our speakers were. So our keynote speaker around zero trust was Grant Schneider. He brought a really interesting perspective because he's former white house. So he was the senior director of cybersecurity services. So former federal CISO, and now he's in industry at Venable. Then we had our next keynote around the user experience was the very entertaining Jamie Holcomb. He's the CIO at U.S. Patent and Trademark office. And then my favorite, Willie, Federal Chief Technology Officer here at Dynatrace. Then we had a panel that brought the user experience and zero trust together and how we reconcile those two and how they work together. And on that panel, we had Nicole Willis, Chief Technology Officer, OIG, at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Is User Experience Unrelated to Zero Trust?Carolyn: Jamie came back on the panel. We had Mickey Iqbal, he's the Public Sector Solution Architect and Chief Technologist at Amazon Web Services. Willie on the panel. And then we had our moderator, Tom Suder, who's fantastic. He's been in this business so long that he had a lot of really good insights too. Now that I've given our listeners the overview of who participated, first of all, I was thrilled to see that we had a packed room. We had a standing room only, and that was really, really nice to see. It was lovely to have people in person and to be able to interact with one another personally.... | |||
| 11 Aug 2021 | Knowing the Unknown, With Andrey Zhuk | 00:31:18 | |
When you have billions of data dependencies, and one goes amiss, how do you figure out where the issue is? Listen as Mark and Carolyn are joined by Andrey Zhuk of CTG Federal to discover how artificial intelligence is opening new doors for data security and recovery. Episode Table of Contents
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The Road to AIOpsCarolyn: I'm excited to introduce today's guest, , principal solutions architect at CTG and author of several eBooks. Today, we're going to talk about one of his latest eBooks, Software Intelligence for the Federal Government: The Road to AIOps. It focuses on cloud development migration in the federal government. Carolyn: Let's start with the easy stuff. Tell us your story. What do you do? Where are you talking to us from? How did you get to where you are now? Andrey: Sure. My background is actually electrical engineering. I used to design satellite systems and the networks that go along with them for the Department of Defense. From that, I went to the side of sales. I was actually selling a lot of Palo Alto products and some optimization solutions. From there, I transitioned to the world of cloud. That's kind of where I got into the whole application performance management space. I was at a startup called Skyhigh Networks. They were one of the early cloud X security brokers. We were dealing with cloud apps and security cloud apps for government customers. That's where I had the experience of dealing with the federal government workers, trying to modernize their applications. Then Skyhigh Networks got bought by McAfee. I was a solutions architect for cloud technologies with McAfee for a year or so. Then I moved on to CTG Federal to take on a principal architect position to help build their cybersecurity business with a little bit of the APM sprinkled in. We had a Dynatrace partner. Knowing the Unknown About Satellite StuffCarolyn: Yes, we wish we could say that right upfront that we are partners. But before we get into it, I got to go back to the satellite stuff. How does that compare to what you're doing now, how long did you do that? Andrey: Wow, probably six years, but ultimately everybody needs Facebook and satellite platforms get outdated like once every 10 years. So it's all about software. Carolyn: Oh, so this is a lot faster for you then like, quicker pace. Andrey: Yes. Mark: The world that you're playing in now, Andrey, is it more high-level conceptual as opposed to the engineering work that you might have done, working on satellites? Andrey: So it's interesting. The... | |||
| 26 Apr 2023 | Baked-In Security with Col. Frost at U.S. Cyber Command | 00:50:42 | |
Col. Candice Frost, JIOC Commander at United States Cyber Command joins Carolyn and Mark to talk about her journey as a lifelong-learner, and how she is applying her skills to the innovative work at Cyber Command. From the importance of public-private partnerships, to teaching our kids healthy cyber security habits, Col. Frost offers her valuable insights on how we can all think innovatively and better secure our nation. Episode Table of Contents
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| 08 Dec 2021 | Solving the People Problem with Retired Navy Chief Katy Craig | 00:35:23 | |
"Technology is easy: Everyone is doing it, culture is the challenge” says retired Navy Chief, now Defense Consultant, & Cyber Educator at Deloitte, Katy Craig. When it comes to implementing new technology, a trusting environment can make all the difference. In this episode, Carolyn and Mark learn why prioritizing people is always a step in the right direction. Episode Table of Contents
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Helping Teams AccelerateCarolyn: Our guest today is Katy Craig, a retired Navy chief. She's now a defense consultant and cyber educator at Deloitte. We're going to talk about her work, helping teams accelerate to deliver value safely and securely to customers. She provides guidance on tools, technologies, and methods such as cloud security, agile methods, SDX, Zero Trust, and DevOps practices. One of my favorite topics and Mark's as well, is shifting security left for DevSecOps and continuous everything. Today, we're going to dial into how she helps teams embrace a DevSecOps culture, some of the biggest pitfalls, as well as best practices. I read something on your bio and I was like, "I love that!" You say in your bio, "Technology is easy. Everyone is doing it. Culture is the challenge and where I can help most." Talk to us about that. Katy: I'm trying to think if I can legally hashtag it, the people, s**. I actually Googled it. Somebody did back in the '90s after President Clinton said, "It's the economy, s**." Somebody actually said, "It's the people, s**." But I want to bring it back into the lexicon and into the vernacular. Because a lot of these buzzwords that we're hearing in the zeitgeist, DevOps, I need to go buy some agile. We're going to do some DevOps. They're selling Zero Trust, let's go buy that. It is rarely turnkey solutions out of the box. It's rarely the technology that all these vendors are... | |||
| 27 Sep 2023 | So What? China's Grip on Telecommunications with Jon Pelson, Author of "Wireless Wars" | 00:49:16 | |
In this So What? episode, Jon Pelson, author of the best-selling book "Wireless Wars," discusses China’s impact on the telecommunications space. He also shares the frightening security concerns around Chinese components in 5G networks and discusses why the FCC's ban on these components may not be enough. Key Topics
Quotable QuotesOn Huawei's Tower Placement: "Our nuclear missile bases, our special operations command at the nuclear sub base are all served by Huawei cell equipment." I said, 'That's impossible. They have like 0.1% market share. How could they have every nuclear missile site?' I started looking into it. The reason I called the book 'Wireless Wars' is because it's a war that's being fought through what appears to be business means. This is not business." -Jon Pelson On Why We Should Protect Data: "People say, 'I have nothing to hide.' Especially the younger generation says, 'Look, my privacy, in that regard, is not that important.' I was asked at the end of an interview, 'What would happen if China got control over us the way they're trying to?' I said, 'You don't have to scratch your head and do scenario planning. Look at places where China has control over the population.' -Jon Pelson About Our GuestJon Pelson spent nearly 30 years working as a technology executive, including serving as vice president at Lucent Technologies and chief of convergence strategy for British Telecom. His work with China’s telecom industry during this time led Pelson to write his best-selling book "Wireless Wars" China’s Dangerous Domination of 5G and How We’re Fighting Back." Episode Links
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| 25 Aug 2021 | Beans, Band-Aids, and Bullets: How Your Data Can Work for You | 00:33:09 | |
Listen in as Carolyn and Willie find out the true power of data. Sean Applegate, CTO of SwishData, explains how data can be utilized across an entire mission to empower the warfighter. Episode Table of Contents
Smart People With Great IdeasCarolyn: I'm Carolyn Ford and this week, my guest co-host is Willie Hicks, public sector CTO at Dynatrace. I'm super excited that we get to talk to Sean Applegate, CTO of SwishData. Sean: I'm excited to be here, it should be a blast. Carolyn: Honestly, this is the best part of my week. This is the best part of what I do. I love talking to really smart people with great ideas about how technology can better our lives and how the government specifically can do that. So, Sean, you've written a lot of stuff. You're a pretty prolific writer, blogs articles, and a recent blog that I saw, I'm not going to lie, it kind of broke my head. It was a lot of technical stuff, but there were a couple of things in it that were kind of gotchas for me. I'd love for you to drill down into a little bit. At the beginning of your blog, you write, the name of the blog is Optimizing Mission Outcomes with Intelligent Insights. In one of the beginning paragraphs, you say transforming the DoD to a data-centric organization requires that data is visible, accessible, understandable, linked, trustworthy, interoperable, and secure. So I would love for you to dive into that. Sean: I would say the one thing that DoD is noticing, and you'll see this with some of their DevSecOps reference architectures is it requires culture change. Whether that's the business leaders or the mission leaders, the contractors, the developers, the people running infrastructure, or delivering a service. Your Data Can Work For You But It Has To Be AccessibleSean: They've identified that the data has to be accessible across all of those different parts of the mission. That getting that data collectively together is extremely important. It's valuable for both mission velocity and a competitive advantage around the world, whether that's DoD or civilian agencies, we see that as well. So data is critical, be able to find it first. Carolyn: If you've got the data, what do you mean it's not accessible? Do you mean like across agencies or across groups? Sean: A lot of it is making it not just within your command, but outside the command. So it's trusted. For example, I'm using an application performance management issue. I'm delivering an application, I have lots of stuff on the application. I may not have a lot of stuff on the user community, or maybe somebody wants to analyze the success of my mission. That mission can be measured, lots of different ways. How do I merge those data points together? So I can draw, make a business decision from that, that's very impactful. That may be something at a very strategic echelon such as the Pentagon. Or maybe very tactical, down at the tip of the sphere, the unit deployed overseas. I need to make a decision right this minute. How do we do that? That's very complex. Carolyn: One of the things that gets bounced around a lot these days, you guys have both talked about AIOps. Using AIOps to get us to this place, all of these things that you list. Can you talk about how AI ops enables this? Your Data Can Work for You Through Problem Solving Complex ThingsSean: On the AIOps side, what we find is, it allows our human workers to better focus on problem-solving and the complex things you can easily... | |||
| 27 Apr 2022 | So What? Tech Transforms Federal News Round-up with Katy Craig | 00:36:12 | |
Join us on Tech Transforms Federal News Round-up segment, So What? Hosted by Carolyn Ford and Tracy Bannon. This week, we talk to Katy Craig, retired Navy Chief, now Adjunct Faculty at National University, & Director, Security Architecture at Aquia, Inc. about some of the biggest news in the federal space. Listen in to hear her thoughts around deep fakes, non-traditional warfare, and President Biden's recently released announcement to protect against cyber attacks. Episode Table of Contents
Episode Links and ResourcesMonthly Federal News RoundupCarolyn: This week, we are launching our newest series, 'So what?' It is Tech Transforms' federal news roundup. Every month, Tracy Bannon, senior principal at MITRE joins me to unpack some of the biggest trending news topics in federal technology. Tracy, we've been trying to do this, make this happen for a while. I am so happy that this is our inaugural episode. Tracy: Thank you. I'm really excited because there's so much incredible stuff going on and we keep talking and now we want to talk with others and I'm doubly excited to have a good friend and mentor with us today for our first episode, Katy Craig. Carolyn: Yes, and Katy is a return guest. We've had her in the past on Tech Transforms and Katy is Acquia's chief of staff, cyber security expert, and retired Navy chief. Today, we're going to talk about, really the number one headline in the news these days. We keep hearing terms like nontraditional warfare, which is essentially the fifth domain of cyber, and President Biden's recent cyber security fact sheet. And just what it all means, like why is it all happening right now? And I want to just go straight to President Biden's recent announcement, this fact sheet that is. It's titled 'Act Now to Protect Against Potential Cyberattacks'. I want to go to you Tracy, and just unpack this for us. What does it mean? Federal News #1: President Biden’s Cyber Security Fact SheetTracy: So I believe it was March 21st, the White House released this set of guidance and it is really practical, general guidance. And it really is focused on two different areas. It's kind of like for everybody, for corporate America back up your data, use multifactor authentication, encrypt your data. There's also a call to arms, to tech companies and software organizations that says, you know what, there's a NIST standard and we have an order out here, it's order 14028. We can provide all the links later. But those two things, they're saying we got to get real about this. And the reason that it came out now is that we need to hear it now with all of the things that are going on in the Ukraine. It was an opportune time. We've had all kinds of security incidents and breaches and other things over the last year or two, but... | |||
| 17 Jan 2024 | Earned Trust: Reimagining Data Security in the Zero Trust Era with JR Williamson | 00:44:01 | |
Have you heard? Data is the new oil. JR Williamson, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Security Officer at Leidos, is here to explain where data’s value comes from, the data lifecycle and why it is essential for organizations to understand both of those things in order to protect this valuable resource. Join us as JR breaks it all down and also explores the concept he dubbed “risktasity,” which he uses to describe the elasticity of rigor based on risk. As he says, “when risk is high, rigor should be high, but when risk is low, rigor should be low.” Key Topics
Tracing the Cybersecurity Evolution and Data's AscendancyEvolution of CybersecurityJR provided a snapshot into the past, comparing cybersecurity practices from the 1990s to what we see today. With 37 years of experience, he recalled a time when IT systems were centralized and the attack surfaces were significantly smaller. Contrasting this with the present scenario, he spoke about the current state where the migration to cloud services has expanded the attack surface. JR noted an increase in the complexity of cyber threats due to the widespread distribution of networks. Plus, the need for anytime-anywhere access to data. He stressed the transition from a focus on network security to a data-centric approach, where protecting data wherever it resides has become a paramount concern. Data Life Cycle: "So part of understanding, the data itself is the data's life cycle. How does it get created? And how does it get managed? How does it evolve? What is its life cycle cradle to grave? Who needs access to it? And when they need access to it, where do they need access to it? It's part of its evolution. Does it get transformed? And sometimes back to the risktasity model, the data may enter the content life cycle here at some level. But then over its evolution may raise, up higher." — JR Williamson The New Oil: DataIn the world JR navigates, data is akin to oil. A resource that when refined, can power decisions and create strategic advantages. He passionately elucidated on the essence of data, not just as standalone bits and bytes, but as a precursor to insights that drive informed decisions. Addressing the comparison between data and oil, JR stressed that the real value emerges from what the data is transformed into; actionable insights for decision-making. Whether it's about responding with agility in competitive marketplaces or in the context of national defense, delivering insights at an unmatched speed is where significant triumphs are secured. Importance of Data SecurityJR Williamson on Data and "Risktasity"JR Williamson stresses the heightened necessity of enforcing security measures that accompany data wherever it resides. As the IT landscape has evolved, the focus has broadened from a traditional, perimeter-based security approach towards more data-centric strategies. He articulates the complexity that comes with managing and safeguarding data in a dispersed environment. Where data no longer resides within the confines of a controlled network but spans across a... | |||
| 17 Nov 2021 | Looking Forward: 2022 Predictions with Willie Hicks, Lonye Ford, Jazmin Furtado, Rayvn Manuel, and Tracy Bannon | 00:34:39 | |
On this special episode of Tech Transforms, Carolyn and Mark look to the new year with trends and predictions for government technology. Willie Hicks Public Sector CTO at Dynatrace, Lonye Ford CEO at ARLO Solutions, Jazmin Furtado Military Captain at Space Force, Rayvn Manuel, Senior Application Developer at NMAAHC and Tracy Bannon, Senior Principal / Software Architect & DevOps Strategic Advisor at MITRE talk about their predictions as we move into 2022. Episode Table of Contents
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Willie Hicks’ 2022 Predictions for Government TechnologyCarolyn: Today, we have a special episode to cover some topics of tomorrow. We asked a few of our guests their predictions for the U.S. Government technology in 2022. First, we have Willie Hicks, public sector CTO at Dynatrace. The AI arms race. Will you talk about that a little bit and talk about where you see the U.S.' position in the AI arms race? I know this ties into the massive, National Security Commission's on Artificial Intelligence final report. Willie: Yes. The term AI arms race is actually in academia and industry, it's a debated term. Are we in an arms race? Some people are more purists when they think of an arms race. You think about the Cold War, you think about past arms races. There are certain criteria around that. Like the money that's being spent on, if you think of a conventional type arms race, both sides. Or multiple sides are investing millions, billions of dollars on arms, on different weapon systems, on trying to keep up, or keeping a step ahead of the adversary. You could argue two things. One, that you don't see that kind of spending today in AI, at least from the government. You do see spending across the board, industry-wise, a higher increase on spending. But some would argue that just by that definition, it's not really an arms race. You can make the argument that AI itself is not a weapon. AI is a tool that could be used to make weapons more lethal, more effective, but in itself, AI is not a weapon. By the textbook, there's some debate if there is, but let's just set all that aside to answer your question. How to Stay AdvancedWillie: Leave out spending. There is definitely increased competition. If we want to say that there is a race from a technology standpoint, that's from industry and from the government, and that's underway today. We see that daily in the advances and the money that's being spent in AI. But also you see that in the national security report that you had mentioned. There are a lot of studies going on. How do we technologically stay advanced or ahead of our adversaries? Or, at least, we've got to make sure that we stay | |||
| 20 Dec 2023 | Public Sector Tech Outlook: 2024 Predictions for AI, Cybersecurity and FedRAMP Evolution | 00:42:28 | |
What will 2024 have in store for technology development and regulation? Our hosts, Carolyn Ford and Mark Senell, sat down with Roger Cressey, Partner at Mountain Wave Ventures, Ross Nodurft, Executive Director of the Alliance for Digital Innovation and Willie Hicks, Public Sector Chief Technologist for Dynatrace, to discuss their 2024 predictions. Discover what the experts think will occur next year in terms of FedRAMP, AI regulation, Zero Trust and user experience. Key Topics
2024 Predictions for the Public SectorRevamping of the FedRAMP ProgramRoss predicts that in 2024, FedRAMP will be completely reauthorized based on a pending OMB memo that is expected to be finalized in late 2023. This revamp is intended to streamline and improve the FedRAMP authorization process to facilitate faster adoption of cloud-based solutions in government. However, Roger believes the changes could temporarily slow things down as agencies take time to understand the implications of the new FedRAMP structure on their systems and assess risks. This could require investments from industry as well to meet new requirements that emerge. FedRAMP 2024: "I think it's going to have a lot of agencies take a hard look at their risk and decide where they want to elevate certain high-valued assets, high-valued systems, high-valued programs, and the authorizations themselves are gonna raise in their level." — Ross Nodurft Shift From Moderate Baseline to Higher Baseline of ControlsAs part of the FedRAMP reauthorization, Ross expects many agencies will shift their systems from a moderate baseline to a higher baseline of security controls. With more interconnected systems and datasets, agencies will want heightened protections in place. Roger concurs that the increased scrutiny on risks coming out of the FedRAMP changes will lead organizations, especially those managing high-value assets, to pursue FedRAMP High authorizations more frequently. Increased Demand for a FedRAMP High EnvironmentGiven the predictions around agencies elevating their security thresholds, Willie asks Ross whether the pipeline of solutions currently pursuing FedRAMP High authorizations could face disruptions from new program requirements. Ross believes there will be some temporary slowdowns as changes are absorbed. However, he notes that the goals of the reauthorization are to increase flexibility and accessibility of authorizations. So over time, the new structure aims to accelerate FedRAMP High adoption. 2024 Predictions: Navigating FedRAMP Changes While Maintaining Industry MomentumAs Ross highlighted, the intent of the FedRAMP reauthorization is to help industry get solutions to market faster. But in the short-term, there could be some complications as vendors have to realign to new standards and processes. Willie notes that companies like Dynatrace have already begun working towards FedRAMP High in anticipation of rising customer demand. But sudden shifts in requirements could impact those efforts, so he hopes there will be... | |||
| 20 Sep 2023 | Insights from the Billington Cybersecurity Summit with Willie Hicks, Federal CTO at Dynatrace | 00:22:32 | |
On this special episode, Willie Hicks and Carolyn Ford discuss the Billington Cybersecurity Summit, as well as insights from panels, led by Willie, on workforce automation and zero trust. Key Topics
Quotable QuotesOn the Human Factor: "I think this is always the case, that the human's usually going to be the weakest link. We're always the weakest link. But that's why that constant reverification is so critical." On Generative AI: "We can't fear these things like generative AI. We've got to embrace it. We've got to use it. We've got to figure out how to use it and use it right and use it appropriately. But we have to figure out how to use it because you know who's using it? Our adversaries." About Our GuestWillie Hicks is the Public Sector Chief Technologist for Dynatrace. Willie has spent over a decade orchestrating solutions for some of the most complex network environments, from cloud to cloud native applications and microservices. He understands tracking and making sense of systems and data that has grown beyond human ability. Working across engineering and product management to ensure continued growth and speed innovation, he has implemented Artificial Intelligence and automation solutions over hundreds of environments to tame and secure their data. Episode Links
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| 23 Mar 2022 | Unparalleled Innovation with Jennifer Ewbank, Deputy Director for Digital Innovation at Central Intelligence Agency | 00:46:34 | |
Jennifer Ewbank, Deputy Director for Digital Innovation at Central Intelligence Agency joins Carolyn and Mark to talk about the unparalleled work in integration and integration she and her teams are doing. Jennifer talks about the importance of partnerships in IT, data and cybersecurity and how Digital Innovations, the newest branch of the CIA, is transforming security. Episode Table of Contents
Episode Links and ResourcesJennifer’s Opinions on DDI’s Unparalleled InnovationCarolyn: Today, our guest is Jennifer Ewbank, Deputy Director of CIA for Digital Innovation, also known as DDI. Jennifer is responsible for accelerating the development and integration of digital and cyber capabilities across all of the CIA's mission areas. We're so excited to hear from you today, Jennifer, and get your opinions on the DDI and its contributions to the CIA. Jennifer: Thank you so much for the invitation, I'm really excited about our conversation today. I love nothing more than sharing a little bit about the great work that the men and women of the CIA are doing on behalf of the American people. To talk about how this intelligence landscape is changing dramatically along with the digital transformation we see around the world. We're here on the 1st of March. I wanted to acknowledge that, as we have a conversation today about one of these topics I love tremendously. It's really critically important for the intelligence business, it is taking place against the backdrop of events unfolding in Eastern Europe. So, just about a week ago, Russian troops invaded a sovereign nation and brought war back to the European continent in a completely unprovoked act. I just wanted to assure anyone who might be listening to the podcast that the CIA is intensely focused on our national security around the world. We're focused on that crisis and working as part of an integrated US government team to do what we can to bring about a rapid end to these senseless hostilities and the return of Russian troops to the Russian Federation. Unparalleled Innovation on What Matters MostJennifer: I just wanted to ensure, whenever people listen to this, that they understand that we are focused on what matters most at the moment. I'm taking a few minutes out of an otherwise very hectic day to talk about this topic. It’s really important from a strategic perspective but is perhaps not the most urgent topic on our plates today. Carolyn: Honestly, what you do is... | |||