IRMCO 2005 Awards
U.S. Air Force Captain Joseph D. Kays, an Operations Officer for the Defense Contract Management Agency, and a team from the National Center for Earth Resource Observation and Science team (U.S. Geological Survey) received first place awards in the individual and team categories at the 44th IRMCO conference in Cambridge, Maryland, on May 2, 2005.
The annual conference's theme this year was "Shaping the Business of Government, By working on the Right Issues...at the Right Time," and is sponsored by the General Services Administration in partnership with the Federal Chief Information Officers Council, the Chief Financial Officers Council, the Federal Acquisition Council, and the Chief Human Capital Officers Council. It is attended by executives and managers from essentially every federal agency, along with academia and many states, local and international government organizations. Each year individuals and teams are nominated by their peers to compete for these coveted awards.
In the individual category, Captain Kays, won for his contributions to implementing and utilizing Performance Based Management techniques across the Defense Contract Management Agency, and for his tactical expertise in moving convoys through hostile combat zones in Iraq. Two other finalist included Ms. Ellen Mulvenna, Director of the Enforcement Systems Branch at the Department of Homeland Security who has led the technical effort to implement the US Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology (US-VISIT) Program, and Chief Master Sergeant Sandy Ware, of the Pacific Air Forces Regional Supply Squadron who meticulously supported over 387 USAF and Pacific Air Force transient and home station weapon systems, affecting over 127,000 sorties.
The Team winner was the National Center for Earth Resource Observation and Science (EROS) team which worked for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for months following the December 2004 tsunami. Within the first 8 weeks they shared over 600,000 files, 4.8 terabytes of data to U.S. and foreign disaster relief agencies and humanitarian organizations needing information to strategically begin and continue response, relief and recovery efforts. Also nominated were teams from FirstGov en Español, the U.S. government's first-ever web portal for Spanish speakers which serves as a gateway to over 120,000 federal, state and local web pages available in Spanish, and also the USDA Office of the Chief Information Officer which participates in 21 of 25 of the President's e-Government Initiatives plus the Federal Health Architecture Initiative.
This year's award and top finalists all demonstrated leadership in operating across organizational boundaries; showed a willingness and ability to treat obstacles as challenges, and not barriers; and demonstrated measurable improvements in performance linked to mission objectives/results. For further information about IRMCO, please visit the IRMCO Conference website (a nongovernment website).
Last Reviewed 12/23/2008