Chief of Strategy and Innovation for the Department of the Navy, Dr. Maura Sullivan, was selected by the Nextgov editorial staff in August as one of 18 finalists for the 2015 Bold Awards from more than 1,000 nominations.
The awards — now in their third year — honor federal employees who’ve spearheaded the use of new technology, launched creative programs or otherwise taken risks to make the government run more more effectively, according to Nextgov.
One method Sullivan used was to solicit ideas from an online community. She designed a Massive Multiplayer Online Wargame Leveraging the Internet, or MMOWGLI, to capture the best suggestions for balancing the need for data sharing while also protecting information. Titled “Data Dilemna: Sharing vs. Silo,” the 15-day virtual event attracted 250 participants from six federal agencies, 14 academic institutions and members of the public. The results focused on increasing automation capabilities, improving data retention and sharing, and other objectives.
Dr. Sullivan was handpicked by the Secretary of the Navy to transform the department’s use of IT. She was a 2013-2014 White House Fellow.
Sullivan earned a Ph.D. in epidemiology from Emory University as a recipient of the Woodruff Fellowship, and a B.S and M.S. in earth systems from Stanford University, focusing in energy engineering and climate modeling.
Ten Bold Award winners were selected by the Nextgov editorial team and announced Sept. 9 on the Nextgov website.
Additionally, Dr Sullivan was further recognized with the Grace Hopper Award.
Visit the DON/SECNAV Innovation website and share your ideas, go to: http://www.secnav.navy.mil/innovation/.